Far-Flung Postcards is a weekly sequence wherein NPR’s worldwide correspondents share snapshots of moments from their lives and work all over the world.
Inside an hour of touching down at Chopin Airport in mid-April, I discovered myself right here alongside the centuries-old Krakowskie Przedmieście avenue, among the many flag-waving supporters of Poland’s conservative and nationalist Legislation and Justice Occasion, recognized by its acronym PiS.
I’ve been to many occasions like this one over the previous a number of years of protecting Poland, however I had by no means been amongst so many purple and white Polish flags. As I elbowed my means by way of the 1000’s of marchers, dozens of flags caressed my face and hair, and one managed to cowl my head for a number of seconds, quickly blinding me because the chanting crowd moved round me.
They’d come right here to have fun the 1,000th anniversary of the coronation of Poland’s first king, Bolesław the Courageous. Many have been exhibiting next-level patriotism, sporting conventional, colorfully embroidered costumes and fur hats — symbols that appeared to serve, on at the present time, the political message concerning the significance of nationwide id delivered by the presidential candidate they’d come to see forward of considered one of their most essential elections in a technology.
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