Contemporary Wycinanka design by Helena Mazek

Malysz Wins Silver at Winter Olympics

32-year-old Adam Malysz was the first of Poland's Olympic team to win a medal in Vancouver.

The men's downhill was supposed to be the first medal of these games, but it was postponed because of warm, wet weather in Whistler. That put the ski jumpers at the head of the list. Malysz took silver medal

Adam Malysz first rose to fame nearly a decade ago, when he won the Four Hills tournament, considered the annual Super Bowl of ski jumping... That victory made him an enormous star in his native Poland.

He has struggled to find his best form on the World Cup circuit so far this season with just one podium finish. However, the Polish veteran has a habit of performing well on big occasions, winning a silver and bronze medal at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics and taking four world championship titles between 2001 and 2007.

Poland’s Olympic Tradition

Poland is one of 12 countries to have participated in every Olympic Winter Games since 1924. It has won eight medals (one gold, three silver, four bronze).

Wojciech Fortuna won the country's only gold, using a spectacular first jump to clinch the ski jumping large hill title in Sapporo 1972.

Franciszek Gasienica-Gron won the country's first medal, claiming the bronze in Nordic combined in Cortina d'Ampezzo 1956.

The introduction of women's speed skating in 1960 allowed 1500m competitors Elwira Seroczynska (silver) and Helena Pilejczyk (bronze) to become the first and only women to win medals for Poland.

Ski jumper Adam Malysz won both of Poland's medals in 2002 (one silver, one bronze).

In 2006, biathlete Tomasz Sikora took silver in the 15km and cross-country skier Justyna Kowalczyk took bronze in the women's 30km event.

Chopin Bicentennial Celebrations Begin

Poland officially began commemorations of the bicentennial of the birth of its most celebrated composer, Frederic Chopin, on Friday with a ceremony at his birthplace, Zelazowa Wola, about 50 miles west of Warsaw, and a concert in the capital featuring the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra. More than 2,000 events, nearly half of them to be held outside Poland, are planned during the bicentennial, including films, jazz performances, exhibitions and the 16th annual Chopin International Competition. Warsaw will also host a Chopin festival that begins this week with a performance by the Chinese pianist Lang Lang; Daniel Barenboim and Martha Argerich will be featured performers later in the year.

NEWS: Auschwitz Sign Theft Linked to Terrorist Plot

Photo: Jacek Bednarczyk

New developments in the investigation into the disappearance of the entrance sign at the Auschwitz death camp in Poland suggest that the theft was part of a larger far-right terrorist plot in Sweden.

The sign -- which famously read "Arbeicht Macht Frei" ("Work Sets You Free") -- was mysteriously stolen from the entrance to Auschwitz (now a museum) in the early hours of Dec. 18. The Polish government declared a state of emergency, closed its borders and launched a national-level search for the perpetrators of the crime.

The theft was initially assumed to be the work of neo-Nazis, although a number of conspiracy theories also surfaced.

Just before Christmas, Polish police arrested five men in connection with the theft, after recovering the sign (which had been cut into three pieces). Early reports labeled these men as "ordinary criminals," dismissing the idea that they were "far-right sympathizers." The thieves returned to Auschwitz with the police to demonstrate how easy it had been to breach security (although they made the fateful error of dropping the "i" in "Frei" on their way out, ultimately leading to their capture). It seemed to be the work of a bunch of common thugs, out for financial gain.

It now appears that while the thieves were not themselves neo-Nazi sympathizers, their sponsors were. Apparently, the theft was inspired by a far-right neo-Nazi group in Sweden that planned to sell the sign to a collector of Nazi memorabilia, the proceeds of which would then be used to finance a string of terrorist attacks in Sweden.

The Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet has revealed that there is a neo-Nazi group in Sweden -- the financial arm of which has been specializing in this sort of "art" robbery -- which it then uses to help fund its military arm. The militants are believed to have Russian weapons, explosives and machine guns and an assault group of five people to carry out attacks.

NEWS: Polish Police Find Stolen Auschwitz Sign

The Auschwitz sign which had been stolen a couple of days ago has been found in northern Poland. Police detained five men aged between 25 and 39, who are being transported to Kraków for questioning.

The sign was cut into three pieces, each containing one of the words.

A police news conference to explain the issue is planned at 08:00 GMT (3 a.m. EST) Monday. The police refused to divulge any details of the circumstances in which the sign was found or to speculate on the motive.

The sign that topped a main gate at the Auschwitz memorial site was stolen before dawn on Friday. State authorities made finding it a priority and appealed to all Poles for assistance.

More than 1 million people died in the gas chambers or from starvation and disease while performing forced labor at Auschwitz, which Nazi Germany built in occupied Poland during World War II.The camp was liberated by Soviet troops on Jan.27, 1945.

The museum is preparing for solemn observations of the 65th anniversary of liberation.