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Published: September 28th 2013
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We arrived in Warsaw on the express train just after 11pm. Good for me, it seems the hotel I picked was the closest possible from the station....the kids were in bed just before midnight.
Next morning, while Tiffany and Leslie were still sleeping, I went to book and pay our train from Warsaw to Minsk for the same evening. Good news, double one, they still had berths, and cabins were all 3 berths...that was, with the next train, the only one I couldn't book at a decent price on the internet. Our night train was to leave from the same station at 9pm. This gave us a full day to explore Warsaw.
How do you deal with a proper visit to Warsaw...in a single day. You don't, it's like life, you simply make choices. Bear in mind that Leslie has a solid knowledge and interest in anything related to the Second World War...and Tiffany simply has none. Remember, by now she nearly remembers who is Hitler...but that's as far as it goes....for now!
Warsaw is clearly not only WWII...but still, it has a heavy weight on the city. At least 80% of
the city was destroyed after 1945...in 1939, 1.3 million people lived in Warsaw...by the end of the war, it was less than 1,000. I didn't know about this prior to my visit...but it did shape most of our day.
There were two main up-risings during 1939 to 1945 in Warsaw. The first, the ghetto uprising in 1943, and second, the city up-rising in 1944. Both of them, unsuccessful, both of them, a great honor to all Poles.
In 1939, up to a third of the population of Warsaw were Jews. They ended up for most of them first in the Ghetto, and sadly, most of them were murdered in Treblinka, not that far away. But in 1943, the few survivors of the ghetto took their few weapons...and decided to die free....well, not free, but rather die as warriors for their freedom. It was a lost cause, but it was the most beautiful one in the middle of a savage destruction led by the Nazis. After this, the Nazis simply destroyed every single wall of the ghetto. So there is nothing left to visit, which is still standing, beside few memorials in different locations of
the city.
To put things into perspective, Leslie has read Martin Gray, "In the name of those I loved", and I read the same book, 31 years ago. So for both of us, this was a place we wanted to visit. For Tiffany...we'll have to wait.
The next up-rising, one that I had no idea about, was the courageous act of the Poles of Warsaw...in 1944, they decided to fight...fight they did, taking ground they did...sadly, they lost it...as they were mainly alone...against the Nazis war machine. To understand this better, we spent most of our afternoon in the Up-rising Museum, a not to be missed place...to remember, and to educate the future generations.
So there is something weird about visiting Warsaw. More than 90% of the Old City was destroyed by 1945...not a single wall remained of the ghetto after 1943...the Communist moved in just after the Nazis left...and still, Warsaw is standing! The country had been independent prior to 1795, than again from 1918 till 1939, before losing his freedom under the Soviets...till 1989 when finally Poland came back, to the Poles. So much suffering, and still, Poland is
standing today.
I let Tiffany and Leslie sleep late in the morning...well, not that late, as at 11am we were to follow the "Orange Umbrella" for our free tour of the Old Town, as well as part of the New Town. Our guide, Michael, was pretty amazing. And I was surprised to see how Leslie, and specially Tiffany could follow the guide. Note to friends, Tiffany is way better at listening to teachers...than to her Dad...big smile!
We had trout and schnitzel for lunch....and pierogi for dinner...and it was already time to head to the train station. Yes, I know, after history...comes food...
The feet of the little ones are dead...I know this, I feel mine too! Some friends have asked me if I was going to "home-schooled" them on the road. Well, in a way, between the museums, the monuments, the history and the guided tours, this is what I'm doing. It's also a true "long-walk" training....but don't ask me to have them opening a book at the end of the day...they are way too dead before this!
Warsaw was great...no night life for me, and
one more day would have been great...but I'm running on a "schedule"...between two Congo's trips...and we have way more to discover over the next few weeks.
Good news, it's autumn...it's getting colder...but the rain has so far decided to forget we are here...so we are doing this between a bright sky...and way more cloudy skies...but mostly dry!
Next stop, you already know...
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Home and Away
Bob Carlsen
We love pierogi...
and have them with kielbasa every Easter. Another great book about the ghetto uprising is "Mila 18" by Leon Uris...read it in middle school many years ago.