'Get the hell out of here!” — The phrase Ukrainians in Poland are hearing more often

On social media, I posted in Ukrainian groups in various Polish cities, asking those willing to talk about how they are living in Poland today to respond. Within a week, two dozen people replied.

We are publishing their stories without their photos and with changed names, as such was the wish of our interlocutors.

“Are you afraid to give photos and your real names?” I asked. “No, I am not afraid, but it is better not to,” said even those who spoke only positively about Poles’ attitudes toward them.

Language exam for doctors

Sofia, a doctor from Kharkiv, arrived in Wroclaw with her two school-age daughters literally in the second week of the full-scale war.

“I practically never felt any tension in dealings with Poles — neither in government offices nor at work. As a cosmetologist, I rent space in a beauty salon owned by a Polish woman — both Ukrainians and Poles work there, and most of my clients are Polish women. I have no problems with them. They even recommend me to their acquaintances,” Sofia says.

Her daughters, however, faced some issues in Polish school.

“Of course, teenagers are teenagers,” Sofia says. “There were cases of bullying by Polish students, and I would not say it was only because of nationality, but nationality played a role, too. The word ‘spierdalaj’ — my daughters brought it home from school. Their peers said it to them, probably repeating what they heard from their parents. And phrases like ‘Shut your mouth, you are nobody here’ — my daughters heard those in school too.

After Karol Nawrocki On November 24, 2024, the opposition party Law and Justice nominated and endorsed Karol Nawrocki as an independent candidate for the presidential election in Poland on August 6, 2025came to power, one can find reports in the media that Ukrainian children were beaten somewhere, a store owned by Ukrainians was set on fire somewhere else, anti-Ukrainian demonstrations started taking place on the streets, including in Wroclaw. Anti-Ukrainian posts also appeared in various chats. Sometimes it seems to me that these are bots, because there are so many of them.”

In Kharkiv, she worked as a therapist. In Wroclaw, she received so-called conditional permission to practice her profession (for up to five years) — the opportunity to work as a doctor under the supervision of Polish medical professionals. To confirm her qualifications in Poland within five years (by 2029 in Sofia’s case), she was supposed to pass one Polish language exam and two medical exams. She figured she still had time.

But at Poland’s demand, doctors from non-EU countries, including Ukrainians, had to provide a B1-level Polish language certificate by April 30, 2026. For those who did not pass the language exam, Poland suspended the conditional right to medical practice starting May 1.

Sofia did not manage to pass the language exam in time, so she can no longer work as a doctor.

“I communicated with my patients in the medical facility in Polish, kept medical records in Polish, everything was fine, but I do not have the certificate,” Sofia says.

“And therefore I lost my job, like many other Ukrainian doctors — even those who passed the exam but had not yet received the certificate.

The Polish Sejm passed a law postponing the deadline for submitting the language certificate for Ukrainian doctors by one year, but President Nawrocki vetoed it. He said a doctor who does not know Polish poses a threat to the patient. But this is a made-up problem! Polish doctors prefer to leave for Britain, Ireland, and Germany, and migrants often treat Poles in Poland.

After Nawrocki’s veto, a lot of negativity toward migrant doctors, including Ukrainians, appeared on social media. But many Poles write something else: who will treat us now? We treated them, we paid taxes, we tried. Now it is bad for our patients and for us.”

If a Ukrainian woman raises prices

Olena from Mykolaiv Oblast ended up in Poland with her children — younger school-age kids — back in 2020. She moved to join her husband, who was working there.

A clothing pattern maker and designer, she first worked at a brewery near Poznan, then at a gas station. For the last two years, she has sold vegetables and fruit in her own small store. In June 2026, she had to close it because the business had become unprofitable.

“At first, they offered me a job just as a saleswoman in the store,” Olena says.

“The work was not hard, the owner was decent, so I agreed. But he paid less than the minimum wage, and I could not obtain the so-called residence card, which is official permission to live in Poland.

I wanted to quit, but the owner suggested I register the store in my name as a business owner. I paid him for the remaining goods, bought the refrigerators, shelves, and other equipment from him, and started trading.”

According to her, the previous owner had several stores and could adjust prices on goods to sell them faster. Olena did not have that option — taxes, rent, and expensive wholesale purchases forced her to raise prices. Customers did not know the owner had changed and thought the Polish owner had raised the prices.

“They complained but still bought. When they found out I was the owner and that I had raised the prices, some stopped coming to me. And our town is small — every customer counts. They did not say to my face that a Ukrainian had come and raised prices, but behind my back, there was all kinds of talk.

And after they elected this new president of theirs, many Poles started behaving differently. I will not say it was directed specifically at me, but something in their attitude toward Ukrainians became noticeable.

You understand, Poles do not like us. They have not liked us for a long time. Only until the last elections it was, so to speak, forbidden to show this dislike openly. Many Poles were punished for displays of xenophobia toward Ukrainians and fined. But when their president changed, it was as if he gave them permission for this xenophobia, for this ‘spierdalaj’ stuff.

A recent incident really struck me. On Facebook, one Pole praised some Ukrainian restaurant in Poznan. Poles simply piled on him! Saying why did you go to Ukrainians, why are you supporting them! Can you imagine?” Olena shares.

Not long ago, a Pole opened his own store near her vegetable shop.

“In that store, the prices were higher than mine, but Poles shopped there,” Olena shares.

“I had to close my store. I will go back to the gas station. I need to get a legal job, because under the new president, Poland canceled the 800 zloty ($212) child benefit for migrants if they work off the books.”

She admits that today’s Polish attitudes toward Ukrainians worry her.

“I am not afraid for myself. I can answer back. I am scared for the children. There have been situations when Poles picked on them. My son was badly bullied at school here,” Olena says.

Good Polish ladies

Olha has been working at a factory in a small town in Silesian Voivodeship near the Polish-Czech border for almost three years. She says there are a lot of Ukrainian women in the town who came after the start of the full-scale war, and at the factory there are even more Ukrainians than Polish workers.

“I live and work far from political centers. Everything is quiet in our town,” says Olha.

“I do not come across Poles very often, except maybe in hospitals. Polish doctors diagnosed me with oncology and are helping with diagnostics and treatment — I am very grateful to them.

In general, among Poles, as among Ukrainians, there are different people. There really are some who hate Ukrainians for some reason. When a Polish woman at the factory screams with curses at a Ukrainian worker — get out to Ukraine and let the Russians shoot you all, or that the Russians are doing the right thing by bombing us — is that hatred or just a women’s quarrel?

As for the quarrel between the Polish and our presidents, I will say this: guys, such a terrible war is going on, help each other, because the Russians will kill everyone, and you are like children measuring who offended whom more. It is just not serious.”

Larysa from Odesa, who has been in Poland since March 2022, cannot stop praising her achievements in Gdansk. She says that as an economist by training she has made a decent career in Gdansk. One Polish lady took her on literally a few weeks after Larysa arrived in the city — as a caregiver in a facility for people with mental disabilities.

“They hired me officially right away,” Larysa says.

“I had a full social package — paid vacation, sick leave, medical insurance and so on. I diligently studied Polish — as soon as my level improved, I found a better job with higher pay.

Now this is already my fifth workplace — and I have always worked legally, paying taxes and contributions to social insurance funds. I was a saleswoman, then a shift supervisor at McDonald’s, and now I am a deputy store manager.

Maybe I was very lucky with my environment, but I have never felt any aggression or unfriendliness from Poles. On the contrary, in some situations, Poles helped me a lot, even though I have a Ukrainian surname and still speak Polish with an accent. So I cannot blend in among Poles.”

The Ukrainian language is like a red rag

Maryna from Mykolaiv has lived in Poland for almost 10 years. She and her husband once came for work. She says life was hard at first: she started with unofficial work as a dishwasher in a restaurant, and later became a caregiver for an elderly Polish woman with dementia. Then, until almost the time of giving birth, she worked at a gas station during her second pregnancy. In autumn 2022, the boy was born with Down syndrome. Maryna had to quit her job…

But Poles, according to Maryna, accepted her well everywhere and helped. No one cheated her on salary or working conditions. She never felt any discrimination.

“My older son is studying. The younger one has excellent rehabilitation,” Maryna says.

“I receive social assistance for him, which allows me not to work. And until Nawrocki became president, there was nothing to complain about.

The situation began to change even before the last presidential elections. Here is an example: a friend from Ukraine came to visit me. We were standing in line to make purchases and talking when a Polish couple stood behind us. They heard our conversation and started saying to each other that now the president will change, and all Ukrainians will be kicked out of here because they are living at Polish expense. It was very hurtful to hear that, because before my maternity leave, I was working and earning 7,000 zlotys ($1,860), and every month I paid 2,500 zlotys ($664) in taxes!

And now such conversations behind our backs can be heard more and more often.”

If you speak on the phone with relatives in transport, Poles will definitely push you as if by accident, but actually on purpose, nudge you with an elbow. And they may say things like “Spierdalaj to Ukraine,” “Go to the front”… This did not happen before. I already try to stay silent in the tram and on the street so that Poles do not pay attention to me.Maryna, has been living in Poland for almost 10 years

Taisia and her daughter left Kyiv for Krakow. She admits that she is now afraid to talk on the street so that passersby do not recognize her as Ukrainian.

“I noticed: here comes some Ukrainian family talking Ukrainian among themselves,” Taisia says.

“I am walking or riding my bike toward them. A few meters before me, they simply fall silent, probably thinking I am Polish and not knowing how I will react to their Ukrainian speech.”

In 2022, after arriving in Krakow, she first worked for a taxi service opened by Ukrainians.

“Poles often left me very big tips and sincerely asked about the situation in Ukraine. They sympathized with me and all Ukrainians. I felt safe, absolutely protected,” Taisia says.

One time, I drove up to my building, and some Polish lady could not park. My car had Polish plates, and I spoke Polish. I offered the lady help. She probably understood from my accent that I was Ukrainian, got angry for some reason, started shouting, ‘Spierdalaj from here,’ and made a scene. I reported this fact of xenophobia to the local police. A few days later, the police sent me an official letter saying the woman had paid a fine.

“So, before President Nawrocki came to power, anti-Ukrainian incidents were somehow curbed. There were generally no public displays of anti-Ukrainian sentiments. Well, maybe some isolated cases. And I have the impression that now Poles have been allowed to openly show their negativity. The way they write about us on social media is simply terrifying: when will Putin finally kill us all, and that we all need to be bombed. We should not tolerate this. Ukrainians in Poland do not deserve it.”

Former Kyiv resident and now Warsaw resident Yana is convinced that Poles currently really do not understand what is happening in Ukraine, that Ukrainians are essentially protecting them with their lives and creating a reliable rear for them. At the same time, Poles do not like Russians — according to Yana, it is no accident that they perceive Russian-speaking Ukrainians more aggressively than Ukrainian-speaking ones.

I asked Yana to translate for me the comments of Poles on social media following news about the attack on Kyiv that Taisia had sent. Here they are: “Mr. Putin, please more,” “Super news,” “So they get fucked sooner.”

Are law-abiding people safe?

Most of my conversation partners were women with children. But I also spoke with men.

Andriy, a father of many children who was an entrepreneur in Kyiv, opened a pizzeria in Warsaw a year ago. He spoke reasonably, saying that the current misunderstandings between Poland and Ukraine had not affected his business or daily life in any way. And that sensible Poles do not succumb to anti-Ukrainian sentiments.

“You understand that business operates in the legal field,” Andriy says.

“If you do not violate anything and pay taxes, you have no problems. I work in the legal field in Poland, just like Polish businessmen. I pay taxes, utilities, and rent.

I opened the business here with my own funds that I brought from Ukraine to Poland. And if Poland pays me 800 zlotys ($212) per month for each child, I do not take that money to Ukraine — I also spend it in Poland.”

Poles elected Nawrocki as their president; he holds most of his electorate precisely because of anti-Ukrainian sentiments. There are less educated and more aggressive Poles who believe Ukrainians came to take their jobs and social benefits. But there are others who explain through the media that this is all populism and nonsense that is not worth believing. I myself saw information in Polish media that in 2025, Ukrainians paid almost four times more in taxes than they received in aid from Poland.Andriy, entrepreneur

He is convinced that if Ukrainians are removed from Poland now, the Polish economy will simply collapse.

And he says that Nawrocki’s anti-Ukrainian statements have not affected the lives of Ukrainians in Poland: “Well, Nawrocki made some statements, well, our Zelenskyy sent him back an order, but this is populism that does not lead to any decisions at the legislative level in Poland.”

Another Ukrainian, engineer Oleh, has been working in Poland since 2013. He last arrived in 2022 and now works near Katowice. He says that compared to 2013, there are now more inappropriate Ukrainians in Poland—swearing in the streets and on public transport, driving drunk, stealing, working illegally, and so on. Oleh feels ashamed of them, and it’s clear that such Ukrainians won’t win the Poles’ favor.

Oleh believes that if you are a good specialist, you will have no problems at work. For example, he has Poles and migrants from Asia under his supervision, and everyone perceives one another normally.

“Yes, there are politicians in Poland who spread propaganda that the number of migrants needs to be reduced, that Poland should be for Poles, and against this background attitudes toward Ukrainians are also worsening,” Oleh notes.

“For example, on social media Poles call Ukrainians ungrateful and write that Ukrainians do not behave as disciplined as they should in a foreign country and so on.

But if we are talking about the deportation of migrants, then I understand that it is only those who work illegally, because now at enterprises the number of checks on those working off the books has increased. They catch them and deport them. But I have not heard of Ukrainians being deported.”

And the situation between Nawrocki and Zelenskyy is an artificially created conflict so that Ukrainians return to Ukraine or go somewhere further from Poland. I would not want to leave Poland because of these quarrels. I do not argue about it with Poles, because everyone has their own truth.