Nicolaus Copernicus, a Prussian, placed the sun instead of the earth in the center of the solar system in 1542, making a monumental contribution to world scientific knowledge. Is this a Polish face? No, it is a Germanic face.
By Carolyn Yeager
US PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP WAS IN POLAND ON THURSDAY, JULY 6 and got his history wrong again. He did it in Jerusalem in May and now he's done it again ... in order to cater to post-WWII historical distortions. In Warsaw, speaking to thousands, he said:
Despite every effort to transform you, oppress you, or destroy you, you endured and overcame. You are the proud nation of Copernicus — think of that — Chopin, Saint John Paul II. Poland is a land of great heroes. And you are a people who know the true value of what you defend.
Poland has been claiming Copernicus as a Polish son for a long time because, well, he did live in the territory called the Kingdom of Poland during most of his life. He was born in German Silesia, as was his father and mother before him. He grew up speaking German – it was his native language. He did all of his work and correspondence in Latin and German, none in Polish. However, it is said he could also speak Polish, Italian and Greek.
