Poles and Ukrainians in North America
Uncircumcised is indeed the situation in Poland, still a staunchly Catholic country. Circumcision is reserved for the Jews and there are very few of them left. A Young Polish women who came to the UK in 2004 to work as assistant matrons in UK boarding schools were shocked to find so many "Roundheads" (circumcised boys). My Polish friends asked me about this as they have no experience of circumcised boys back home. I explained that financially better off parents who could afford private school fees or who had a tradition of circumcision in their families would usually have their sons circumcised even today.
Ben
------------------------I've met LOTS of Polish-descent-but-born-in-North America guys up here in Canada and they are almost all cut, if they are above the age of 25. Same with the guys of Ukrainian descent.
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I have a Polish American friend who is definitely circumcised. He had his son circumcised as well when he was born a couple of years ago. My friend bitched to me about how the insurance company had initially refused payment for RIC for his son. He said that they finally gave in and paid for the operation though.
Polish & Czechs
From the large number of gay male adult videos coming out of Poland and the old Czech republics, it appears that most of the boys are left uncircumcised. I do note that most of the videos have at least one or two circumcised boys, and assume this is because of both the USA influence and the 10% of males or so that have problems with their foreskin and must by necessity have them removed.
Uzbkeistan, Tashkent, Samarkand, Buhkara, Urgench
"One of the favorite pastimes of Uzbek and Tatar boys in the summer is to bathe in the many fountains the Soviets built in the cities of Uzbkeistan, Tashkent, Samarkand, Buhkara, Urgench. In the countryside they bathe in the many canals. This is very public and very much approved of. Sometimes girls join in. Usually boys and young adolescents bathe naked. Their circ status is virtually all circumcised. I do not know about the older men who lived in harsher Soviet times. But a Russian lady guide told me that whenever they invited her to a "toi" celebration she would ask, a boy's toi or a wedding toi. The word is the same for the covenant: be it circumcision for a young boy or wedding for a couple, In the countryside and even in cities the celebration of a young boys's circumcision is at the level of a wedding, it is so important. When I asked the driver of our tour and the guide they both said that their children and nephews had been circumcised when they were around 2 years old, in the hospital, so as to be more hygienic and less painful. It seemed very natural for them to speak of circumcision. The Tatars, Uzbeks and other Turkish speaking Muslims of Central Asia (kazaks, Turkmen) do not seem to be very religious Muslims. They are rather ignorant of their faith. Many, for example, when I asked them if they had read the Koran said " no" .They are not practicing Muslims, but they are cultural Muslims. And circumcision comes in with culture. The Russian guides I had were not circumcised. It seems the Soviets tolerated circumcision in these countries where Muslims were in the majority as a cultural identity mark, not as a religious ceremony." Let us rejoice with our circīd brethern in Central Asia! Here you find a testimony to a limited but noticeable openness to nudity of young boys (and sometimes girls!) in public places. But it may be particular to Central Asian customs. In other Muslim countries I have visited there are no nude public statues of heroes or symbolic personages. Also even in public baths they are more modest than Americans or Europeans.
Antonio
I was just browsing through older messages when I found this. As a Hungarian (cut at 35) who grew up under Communism, I may have some insight to ex-Soviet affairs. The USSR was an "atheist" state and all religions were persecuted (churches closed or even pulled down, priest and ministers harassed etc) and religious rites, such as baptism among Christians or the bris among the Jews were highly discouraged. (Hence, most of the Russian Jews who now flock to Israel are uncircumcised.) Nevertheless, as among Muslims, the circumcision is rather a social than a religious affair, it was widely practiced among the Muslim peoples of the USSR. So I guess, the Kazakhs, Uzbeks etc who were born and raised under the Soviet got properly circumcised at the age that is usual among them (sometime between 5 and 12).
Andrew
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