10th Stop - Warsaw

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Krakow - Warsaw (Train)

16 August

Warsaw is the geographical, political and economical heart of Poland. After Poland and Lithuania was unified in 1569, Warsaw was made the capital of the single state and has remained the capital of Poland ever since. Between 1795 and the early 1900’s Poland did not exist as it was carved up between Russia, Austria and Prussia. The treaty of Versailles changed this and again declared Poland a Sovereign State. Warsaw became a city of great prosperity however with impressive buildings, plenty of parks, monuments palaces and of course churches constructed from the 18th century. Unfortunately WWII changed all of that.

Not much of the old Warsaw is left. We visited the Warsaw Historical Museum, which shows a half hour documentary that pieces together footage of the city before, during and after WWII. Before the war the city looked a little like the 1920’s in Paris; nannies in black dresses and lace collars pushing babies in prams through the parks, men in hats drinking and smoking in bars, young women in calf length dresses buying food from the local shops. We then see the total destruction of the city during the war under Nazi occupation and the slow recovery after it. Over 85% of the city was destroyed and 700,000 people were killed - no other city in Eastern Europe suffered such immense loss of life or devastation.

What is different about Warsaw is that the city was destroyed by the Nazi’s themselves (even though they used Poland as its head quarters throughout most of the war), and not by allied bombing. After just getting their sovereignty granted thanks to the Versailles treaty, they were loathe to relinquish their new found identity and decided to fight against Nazi occupation, despite being outnumbered and out-resourced; this is now known as the “Warsaw uprising”. Hitler was incensed that these “backward” peasants should dare revolt and as punishment ordered that Warsaw be flattened - burnt and dynamited.

After the war the Poles meticulously rebuilt the old town from old plans hidden for safe keeping during the war. The palace was rebuilt between 1971 and 1984 from funds raised directly from the Polish people (the Soviet communists refused to rebuild palaces under their regime). It unfortunately lacks the authenticity of the original palace.

Warsaw, or the lack of old Warsaw, is a testament to the fierce national pride and heart of the Poles. It has been described as rising “phoenix like” from the rubble after WWII and it is now similarly rising after 45 years of communism to becoming a country equal to the “western” European countries and worthy of their admission to the EU. Warsaw will change and adapt to the new Europe over the next 5-10 years, but I’m sure they won’t loose their identity and heart.

L

If Europe is a nymph,
Then Naples is her bright blue eye,
And Warsaw is her heart.
Sebastopol and Azoff,
Petersburg, Mitau, Odessa:
These are the thorns in her feet
Paris is the head,
London the starched collar,
And Rome - the scapulary.

Juliusz S?owacki (from Journey to the East, 1836)

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