Polish-Dutch contacts: the past and the present time

Abstract

The mutual interest between Poland and the Netherlands date back to the Middle Ages and continues until the present day. Those contacts lead to creation and documentation of cultural legacy both in material sphere (architecture and art) as well as in spiritual life (intellectual thought, literature). The links between both sides, apart from mutual friendly attitude, created some negative stereotypes that reveal themselves nowadays on a large scale. From the beginning of the 20th century, the Polish community in the Netherlands plays a large role in contact between both sides. The identity of currently emerging global civil society reveal a dichotomy in contacts between Poland and the Netherlands: from one side, the borders of identity and distinctiveness between them begin to blur, from the other side - Poles in the Netherlands often face social exclusion.