Lest We Forget

In Canada, we generally remember WWII, those lost in that conflict and our brave veterans who fought in that war once a year. We are proud of our contribution to the success of the Allies, but don't think much about the war except on Remembrance Day. The ways in which Poland and it's people suffered during WWII are harder to forget. Our apartment is in an area of Warsaw that saw much conflict and sorrow during that time, and consequently there are many monuments and reminders of the atrocities of the war right where we live.

Let me show you:



This is a picture of the monument at Westerplatte. On September 1, 1939 Germany invaded Poland at this spot near Gdansk which caused the Allies to declare war.




About a year after the German occupation of Poland began, the Nazis established the Warsaw Ghetto. All of the Jewish people living in Warsaw and the surrounding area (approx. 400, 000) were forced to live there. Although they accounted for 30% of the population, the ghetto was only 2.4% of the area of Warsaw. Our apartment is right across the street from where the ghetto was. This picture is of a plaque that shows a map of the ghetto.



A massive wall was built all around the ghetto to cut the Jewish people off from the outside world. This is the only surviving piece of it. During the war, it would have been higher and topped with barbed wire. Across the street from our apartment, there is a replica of the wall which we pass by everyday.

There are imprints in the sidewalk, like this one, to outline where the wall would have been. I took this picture right across the street from our apartment.

Ulica Prozna is the only street which was inside the ghetto where the houses on both sides of the street are still standing today. We pass by it on the bus every week.

The buildings have remained largely empty since the war, and now they have these haunting images of some of the ghetto inhabitants on them.

Pictures of real people...

...who had real lives...

...and experienced real suffering in the very place we were standing.

Most of the people in the ghetto were sent to be executed in concentration camps. Initially, they thought they were being sent to labour camps and did not resist. In 1943, however, the Jews who remained in the ghetto learned the truth of the extermination plan and rose up against the Nazis. The Jewish resistence was no match for the Germans, and the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising was soon crushed. 13,000 Jews and 17 Germans were killed in that particular struggle.

A second uprising took place in Warsaw in 1944. This time, those who rose up were part of a home army in support of the exiled Polish government. The Germans decided that the best way to convince the insurgents to stop fighting was to slaughter civilians. In the end, both the Germans and the home army lost around 15, 000 fighters each. 200,000 civilians were killed.

The Warsaw Uprising Museum is a five minute walk from our apartment.

In Old Town, there is this monument called the Little Insurgent which commmemorates all the children who fought in the Uprising. Many of them worked as couriers and scouts. Some fought alongside the adults.

One day we took a short cut down an alleyway in Old Town. We saw this monument there.

This was the sign to explain the monument.

After the Nazis regained control of the city, they burned what was left to the ground. 923 out of 987 historical buildings were destroyed. "Warsaw has been destroyed, the past and the soul of Poland has been incinerated. After its loss we are nationally, culturally and spiritually impoverished" wrote Stanislaw Cat-Mackiewicz. It is estimated that 80% of Warsaw was destroyed after the Uprising. We live on the 19th foor, and from our apartment you can look out the window and see the odd pre-war building like the one above...

...or this one...

...or this one...

...or this one. They are surrounded by communist apartment blocks and modern skyscrapers. Truthfully, if you counted them, they would probably account for 20% of the buildings in this area. I mentioned to our Polish tutor that I can't figure out why nobody has knocked them down yet, except thta they serve as a reminder of that horrible period. But why would the Communists have cared enough to preserve them as part of Polish history? She pointed out that after the war, even these burned out, falling down buildings were better than none if you had nowhere to live, and that many of the Communists were Polish too. I hadn't thought of that.

Truly, I have told you only a part of what we have learned. There are more buildings, more monuments and more stories than I have time for here. I left out many of the gory and political details. Learning more about WWII, and from such a different perspective, has really been the most interesting part of being here for me. I would highly recommend the movie The Pianist if you would like to learn more. It is about the life of Wladyslaw Szpilman, a Jewish man living in Warsaw during WWII. Watch it. You won't regret it.