An Intro to Warsaw

One cannot visit Warsaw without witnessing the stunning impact World War II and the Holocaust had on this place, these people.  As I go forward, keep in mind that 85% of the city was decimated by Nazi Germany’s bombs and the burning of any remaining building that had any connection with Polish government and the Jewish community.  And over the course of the next 8 years after Germany’s invasion, only 20% of the original 460,000 Jewish people survived in Warsaw.  Those gone had been sent to death camps, killed in the streets, or died of starvation and disease like typhus.

After Germany’s surrender, Soviet troops occupied most of Eastern Europe including Poland.  Russia “liberated” Poland from the Nazis . . . only to make Poland a communist satellite state of the Soviet Union, called the Polish People’s Republic.  For forty-five years, the country was under the thumb of Moscow.  Poland did not gain independence until 1989 when the solidarity trade union led by Lech Walesa, won the election that finally led to the peaceful fall of communism in Poland and the beginning of the end of the Cold War.

We signed up for a free walking tour of the Royal Road.  The tour is free but at the end of the tour, participants pay the guide what they think the tour was worth.  A professional guide met us and walked us through the beautiful promenade known as the Royal Way which showcases magnificent palaces built by Polish rulers and wealthy folk who wished to reside near the King.  During WWII, when most of Poland was devasted, the buildings on this street and nearly all of Warsaw were destroyed and left in rubble.  Years later, many considered leaving Warsaw in that state as a memorial to the War.  Finally though, after Poland regained its independence in the early 1950s work began to restore this important street, historical buildings, and neighborhoods in the original design.  The entire restoration effort was funded solely by the people of Poland.  Today, the lovely palaces are no longer home to families, but are now public and serve as university facilities, museums, and government offices.

Having enjoyed the Royale Road tour so much, we signed up for two more walking tours with “Walkative,” focusing on the Jewish Quarter and Praga.  In these walks, we found ourselves amid not-so-distant history.  It was like going back in time.  Each tour lasted about 2.5 hours and we learned. We learned.

Prior to 1940, the Jewish Quarter did not exist but when the Nazis took over Jewish people, formerly craftsmen, gold dealers, and the like, were regularly humiliated and persecuted.  They were rounded up, forced to wear Jewish identification armbands, and forcibly relocated to one section of town soon to be called the Jewish Ghetto.  A wall was built around the designated 640-acre quarter which accounted for about 2% of the city’s footprint but became crowded with Jews, 1/3 of Warsaw’s population.  Its purpose was to keep Jews in and keep Christian Poles out.  At its height, as many as 9 people occupied a single room.  About 60,000 died within the walls but in the summer of 1942, an astounding 254,000 Jewish Ghetto folk were sent to Treblinka extermination camp, the second-most deadly extermination camp in Poland next to Auschwitz.  The proud people did not give up.  In 1943, the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising took place.  The uprising was brave, to be sure, but unsuccessful.   The place is haunting.  What brings this home to me is that I was born not too many years after this horrible happening in our history.

For a very realistic picture, watch the movie, “The Pianist.”

Completely mind-numbed by the walk through the Jewish Ghetto, we took a look at Praga.  The Praga community sits on the right bank, on the east bank of the Vistula River.  This “across the tracks” area, so to speak, was virtually untouched by WWII bombs and fire, but afterward never had the resources to lift itself up.  Though decaying, most buildings stand just as they were in 1945. It is not safe to venture far into the interior.  Praga is poor and has a long-time reputation for drugs, gangs, and the like.  Today it is slowly becoming gentrified. The good news is the place is beginning to look pretty again.  The bad news is the poor longtime residents are losing their homes in favor of new and restored buildings that look lush and appeal to those who can afford to pay the new and increased rents.  It is the same song everywhere.

But before I completely cloud your day with this historical darkness, it is only fair to say we have found this city filled with proud, happy people who love to see visitors come to their country and learn about their history.  It is a magnificent city that has miraculously overcome great adversity with style and grace.  I recommend a visit here to anyone.  It is historic, indeed. What happened here is horrendous, but Poland has overcome.  Warsaw is a rich and beautiful city, and the food is fantastic!!!

Shall I say more?

The city has many skyscrapers. Two of my favorite here are the Zlota 44, an exclusive, wildly luxurious apartment building in the heart of the city, Also called The Sail because of its unique design, the glass building was designed by an American but Polish-born architect, Daniel Libeskind. This man has designed other notable buildings and museums around the world. One I easily recognize is the Jewish Museum in San Francisco, but he also created the master plan for the Ground Zero development in New York City. If you’ve been there you know the monument and museum’s design appropriately reflects the horror, sadness, awe, honor, beauty, and remembrance of September 11, 2001. Not far from The Sail is my other favorite Warsaw building, the iconic Palace of Culture and Science. Using the Art Deco style similar to the Empire State Building, this magnificent skyscraper and watch tower, the second tallest in Poland and was completed in 1955 by Russian workers as a gift to the Poles by Stalin. Its original name was Joseph Stalin’s Palace of Culture and Science but Stalin’s name was removed during Khrushchev’s denouncement of the “Stalin cult.” For a modestly priced ticket visitors take a high-speed elevator to the 30th floor platform for a stunning 360-degree view of the city.

I found it interesting to note quite a number of world-famous people are from Poland. To name a few familiar ones, there’s Pope John Paul II, Marie Sklodowska Curie, winner of two Nobel prizes and the first woman to do so, Nicolas Copernicus who put the Sun in the middle of our universe, and Lech Walesa, leader of the Solidarity Movement and still living today in Gdansk. Frederic Chopin was born in Warsaw. The city has installed 15 black granite benches on the Royal Route and in places across the town. A button on each bench can be pressed to play short pieces from some of Chopin’s most well-known compositions. Many churches and other places regularly feature Chopin concerts performed by local accomplished artists. We saw such a concert outdoors on a Sunday afternoon in Warsaw’s spacious Royal Baths Park. We people of the world are all made of the same stuff. Our lives are similar. The experience that day was much like being at a concert at Piedmont Park or Chastain in Atlanta. Crowds came, sat on blankets in the grass, ate ice cream, and listened to lovely music in the early evening light.