IVAR BERGLIN: So if the Poles didn't fight the Russians in
the first Vodka War, I was going to do some
fighting for them--
sort of.
I went to Warsaw to find out if "vodka" was originally a
Polish word.
What's the oldest one we have here?
FEMALE SPEAKER: [INAUDIBLE].
IVAR BERGLIN: 1809.
FEMALE SPEAKER: Oh, this one.
[INAUDIBLE].
IVAR BERGLIN: This is the oldest one.
Whoa.
OK.
FEMALE SPEAKER: [SPEAKING POLISH]
IVAR BERGLIN: Careful.
So can you tell me what this says?
FEMALE SPEAKER: [SPEAKING POLISH]
IVAR BERGLIN: So where did you find it?
Here?
FEMALE SPEAKER: Mmhm.
IVAR BERGLIN: I don't see "vodka" anywhere here.
What's the Polish word for vodka?
FEMALE SPEAKER: [SPEAKING POLISH]
IVAR BERGLIN: "Wodka." But where do you find that here?
FEMALE SPEAKER: [SPEAKING POLISH]
IVAR BERGLIN: Gorzalka.
FEMALE SPEAKER: Gorzalka.
[SPEAKING POLISH]
IVAR BERGLIN: So I wasn't really looking for "vodka." I
was looking for the original old Polish word, "gorzalka."
So I went to Krakow.
It's in Krakow that you find some really old books.
IVAR BERGLIN: Hi, Ivar.
ANNA OLSZEWSKA: Hello, Anna.
IVAR BERGLIN: Hi, nice to meet you.
ANNA OLSZEWSKA: Nice to to meet you, Ivar.
IVAR BERGLIN: You're gonna show me some books?
ANNA OLSZEWSKA: Yeah, we're gonna see some old
print now, I hope.
We're gonna see prints dated to 16th century that would
cast a light on the context of the words "vodka" and
"gorzalka" and how these words were used in
early Polish language.
[INAUDIBLE].
OK.
IVAR BERGLIN: Oh, I can't touch these, right?
ANNA OLSZEWSKA: No, you cannot.
IVAR BERGLIN: OK.
ANNA OLSZEWSKA: Otherwise, you will be
poisoned and cursed forever.
IVAR BERGLIN: Wait a minute.
Did she just put a spell on me?
ANNA OLSZEWSKA: This book was printed in Krakow in 1543.
This is Falimierz on herbs.
We have special two chapters that concentrate on burning
waters, as I can literally translate it, which means
"gorzalka." "Gorzalka" can mean something that is bitter
in taste and something that is spicy.
And it is of medical use.
The use is testified here, because it
is a medical manual.
IVAR BERGLIN: So it's in "The Herbal," in the year 1543,
that we find the first mention of the word "vodla." Scott
Simpson is an expert of the origins of Polish vodka, and a
snappy dresser to boot.
He took us further down the road.
SCOTT SIMPSON: This is Florianska Street.
It runs out to St. Florian's Church further out that way to
the north of the old town.
And then you've got St. Florian's gate right there.
That's the gate leading out.
It's got a picture of Saint Florian on it.
He's pouring out a great big mug of beer in order to--
IVAR BERGLIN: Who's Saint Florian?
SCOTT SIMPSON: He's the patron saint of firefighters.
He's pouring out the great big bucket of beer in order to put
out a fire.
IVAR BERGLIN: And here, we have a traditional Polish--
SCOTT SIMPSON: Walking beer, yes.
In Polish, this is a piwnice, which means,
literally, a beer cellar.
It's a place where you keep beer.
IVAR BERGLIN: Wow.
SCOTT SIMPSON: OK, now, here we have things that are little
more directly related to the question of vodka.
In the Middle Ages, you wouldn't want
to drink the water.
So most people were drinking something on the order of beer
or wine all day, all day long, in small amounts.
So they had a real reason to keep the alcohol content down.
Often, if they were drinking an 8% wine, they might even
add water to it to bring it down to about 4% so they
wouldn't be drunk from drinking it all day.
To make a jump from 4% to 50% is a big jump.
IVAR BERGLIN: That's big.
SCOTT SIMPSON: And normal people, biologically, aren't
going to like that jump.
IVAR BERGLIN: Someone wanted to get drunk.
SCOTT SIMPSON: Somebody has to convince him to do it.
And one theory about how it worked is that we saw the
medical manual.
We're looking at the period of time in which the Black Death
is going through Europe.
Vodka is being prescribed for practically every problem you
could possibly have.
People start out drinking their prescribed vodka the
doctor gave them, saying, oh Lord, this tastes awful and
drinking it down.
And then later on, as they're doing it more and more
throughout that century, they're beginning to like it
more and more.
And then they finally decide, well, I'd like to drink it
because it tastes good.
Lots of countries in this area produce things that are other
cold vodka or called something else, but are clearly very
much the same product as we modernly think of as vodka.
So it's very difficult, actually, to stick it to just
one country as really being the owner of it.
SCOTT SIMPSON: --appears in writing in Poland before it
appears in writing in Russia.
IVAR BERGLIN: So there you go.
If it might be impossible to find out whether it was an old
Russian or an old Pole that first make vodka, the origins
of the word are pretty clear.
According to our Polish historian, Scott, the word
describing the drink appears in Polish writing before it
appears in Russian, around 1543.
It's a fact.
Remember the magical date 1440 that Pokhlebkin wrote about?
Where did he get that date?
The word "vodka" wouldn't even appear in Russian texts for at
least another 200 years.
So if the Polish word "wodka" is the original word, why
didn't they say so during the first Vodka War?
I mean, come on, Poland.
What the fuck?
Then I realized that the "what the fuck" was really serious.
The Poles had their hands full.
The key to Polish vodka obscurity lies in a dark
period of Polish history.
Russian communist rule scarred Poland for generations.
You have to understand that the first Vodka War was waged
during a much more epic struggle--
the struggle against communism.
In the midst of a national Solidarity movement to free
their country from Soviet control, maybe the Poles took
their eye off the battle for vodka.
I totally get that.
If you could tell me what this is about--
TADEUSZ FILIPKOWSKI: [SPEAKING POLISH]
TADEUSZ FILIPKOWSKI: MALE SPEAKER: It'sIt's pupil and
his teacher.
IVAR BERGLIN: Oh, OK.
Tadeusz Filipkowski is a witness and a survivor of the
Warsaw Uprising.
He graciously invited us into his home and shared his
stories of the postwar communist regime.
TADEUSZ FILIPKOWSKI: [SPEAKING POLISH]
IVAR BERGLIN: If Poland lost the first Vodka War and the
last 50 years to communist rule, today, it's fighting not
to lose anymore.
In fact, Poland is fighting another vodka war, this time
taking aim at the heart of old Europe.
This is the man who's fighting it.
Ryzard Czarnecki is a Polish member of the European
Parliament, and he has been waging a campaign to create a
new vodka region.
Only countries in this region would be allowed to call their
spirits vodka.
And of course, Poland would be at its heart.
So why should there be a vodka region?
RYZARD CZARNECKI: [SPEAKING POLISH]
IVAR BERGLIN: If there was a vodka region, this is what it
would look like.
Welcome to the heartland of Polish vodka.
We should have had a bottle of vodka at the moment.
I don't know where we are.
The driver doesn't seem to know where we are.
We've been driving for over four and a half hours, more--
more, I guess.
And I don't know what's growing out in these fields
we're passing, but it just seemed too long.
And now the driver's fucking leave us.
So we're lost.
IVAR BERGLIN: [SPEAKING POLISH].
Ivar.
GRZEGORZ KONIECZNY: [SPEAKING POLISH]
IVAR BERGLIN: Why is is so important with Polish vodka
that it's made from rye?
GRZEGORZ KONIECZNY: [SPEAKING POLISH]
IVAR BERGLIN: So here's the rye.
That's where it all starts.
And then it goes through all the machines we're going to
look at downstairs.
And then [POLISH].
GRZEGORZ KONIECZNY: [POLISH].
IVAR BERGLIN: Yeah?
GRZEGORZ KONIECZNY: Yes.
IVAR BERGLIN: OK, let's go check it out.
GRZEGORZ KONIECZNY: [SPEAKING POLISH]
IVAR BERGLIN: Can I throw some in there?
Make some vodka.
GRZEGORZ KONIECZNY: [SPEAKING POLISH]
IVAR BERGLIN: Whoa, that's strong.
I'd like to hear your opinion on the difference between
Polish wodka and Russian vodka.
GRZEGORZ KONIECZNY: [SPEAKING POLISH]
IVAR BERGLIN: Was it Poland or Russia that invented vodka?
GRZEGORZ KONIECZNY: [SPEAKING POLISH]
IVAR BERGLIN: So where are we today with your efforts of
creating a vodka region?
RYZARD CZARNECKI: [SPEAKING POLISH]
IVAR BERGLIN: So Poland lost the second Vodka War, but as
Czarnecki says, it didn't really lose at all.
And to understand why, you have to know something about
Poland today.
On my last day, I hung out with some of my new friends.
I hung out with Marisha, a Polish university student who
told me all about Polish pride.
FEMALE SPEAKER: It's very complicated matter, Polish
pride, because first of all, Polish people are very proud
of their heritage and culture and tradition.
This country has a lot to give by itself.
And we should invent our own style and do our thing, since
we have a lot to give.
IVAR BERGLIN: I hung out with our production assistant,
[INAUDIBLE], comparing old Warsaw to new.
And I hung out with Mikolai, a photographer, editor, and all
around Warsaw fun guy.
He's got tons of energy and a million things on the go at
any one time.
MALE SPEAKER: I'm making photos all the time, doing the
parties, exhibitions, concerts, private parties--
everywhere.
IVAR BERGLIN: It was through my new Polish friends that I
learned that a Vodka War is about much more than a fight
for the origin of a drink.
It's about creating a new identity, about creating a new
Poland that is a real player on the world stage, or at
least a player on the shelf for your favorite bar.
Though it's not so much about winning--
it's really about being in the game to begin with.
IVAR BERGLIN: [INAUDIBLE].
Want a drink?
Can we drink?
MALE SPEAKER: Yes.
IVAR BERGLIN: What kind of question is that?
On that last night, Eddy and I ended up in a corner of Warsaw
at 5:00 AM drinking and eating kielbasa, wishing the
adventure would never end.
We chased the origins of vodka-- in books, in bars, to
the end of the bloody rainbow.
We were lost, found, lost again.
This is stupid.
Crossed time zones, countries, bridged histories--
and what did we find?
The Vodka Wars instead.
We found the troubled history of the 20th century and two
nations being reborn right before our eyes.
Surely, the world doesn't need another Vodka War.
We just need more vodka.
[POLISH].