Warszawa

Warsaw (Warszawa in Polish) is the Capital city and the largest city in Poland, with a current population of about 1.7, the ninth largest city in the European Union by population. But the most amazing thing about this marvelous city is it’s history and it’s growth–and both are tied together. You see, at the end of World War II, the population of Warsaw was about 1000 people, living among the utter devastation and ruins of a city that Hitler vowed to wipe permanently off the face of the earth.

In the closing days of World War II, as the Russians were approaching, the Polish Home Army rose up against the Germans. For 62 days the Poles battled valiantly against the Germans, tying up many, many divisions. Eventually, they were overcome, and Hitler, enraged, ordered the systematic desctruction of the city–every last building. Special teams went building to building, blowing them up. And so at the end of the war, virtually no one lived there.

Now, take a look at some of my photos of Warsaw today: http://poland.leonkonieczny.com/Poland%202011/Warszawa/index.html.

The pictures start as we’re entering the city, driving. You can see tall buildings and crowded streets. You can see many familiar American places, too, like McDonald’s and KFC. You can also see many monuments throughout the city which pay homage to the terrible events that were brought to it by the Nazis, among others. And you can see a city that was totally rebuilt, in many cases brick by brick, to look like the Warsaw that existed before Hitler’s attempt to annihilate it. 85% of the city was destroyed–not just damaged, totally and utterly destroyed.

Later on, we walked to the Stary Miasto, the old city. Entering through the barbican, the huge brick and stone gate, we saw the Warsaw of the past. The palace, the president’s residence, various churches, the Bishop’s residence which once hosted Pope John Paul II, we saw many amazing sights and buildings.

You can read more about Warsaw here, and more about it’s history here. I highly recommend you take a bit of time to learn a little more about this amazing city.

In a future blog post, I’ll write more about my visit to the Warsaw Uprising Museum, a very moving experience. It still brings tears to my eyes, but joy to my heart. But that’s a story for another day, because it truly speaks to the heart and resiliency of the Polish people.

This entry was posted in 2011 Poland Trip, historic sites, history. Bookmark the permalink.

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