Polska Rising

Before my visit to Poland this summer I knew little Polish history, only the historic flashpoints that are now imbedded in international memory. Things such as photos of the Jewish ghetto in Warsaw  during WWII, the Jewish extermination camps of Auschwitz and Birkenau, or Hitler’s Wolf’s Lair (which I had heard of, but assumed it was in Germany). However, after a time roaming some of Poland’s most enchanting cities I’m sorry that Poland is so little known for its charm and tenacious indomitability. Yes, Poland is the ‘little country’ (though not really so little) sandwiched between two perennially hungry superpowers—Germany and Russia, and its history is rife with exploitation on their accounts. As a European ‘breadbasket’ and also as a land rich in minerals, the bordering megaliths have repeatedly tried to dominate and subdue Poland, to gain control of its resources. But surprisingly, the Poles continually resist, and manage to reinstate their independence, over and over again. 

Poland has its share of internationally famous children; Copernicus, Chopin, Madame Curie, and more recently and Roman Polanski (who escaped the Warsaw ghetto as a child), all of whom are not associated with Poland in the international consciousness.

Statue of Nicolaus Copernicus in Toruń

Portrait of Marie Curie

Statue of Chopin in Warsaw park

Only Polanski’s name alludes to his origins. With Copernicus one thinks of Italy, with Chopin and Madame Curie – France. The only notable figures I associated with Poland before my trip are Lech Wałęsa—the former Solidarity leader and President of Poland, and Günter Grass, who is considered an ‘ethnic German’ but actually born in Poland, even if political divisions make it easy for Germany to take credit for his accomplishments (Grass is one of my own favorite authors, the one quoted at the top of my blog). These figures are no small potatoes, they are lions of their fields and are all natives of Poland.

Warsaw is a city of contrasts and energy, and it truly is a Phoenix rising from ruins. A museum called Warsaw Rising, has been built to chronicle Warsaw’s resistance and uprising against the wartime German occupiers and later the Russian post-war occupation. It is a powerful and interactive exhibit, a part of which shows a short film documenting the devastation found by the Allied Forces entering Warsaw at the end of WWII. In 1887, the population of Warsaw was 626,000 people. At the beginning of WWII almost a third of the population was Jewish, but by the end of WWII the population had been reduced to around 7,000 resistance fighters; everyone else had fled, died in the conflict, or been transported to concentration camps or extermination camps and murdered. The city is now over 1.7 million people, and buzzing with new construction and renovation (evidently has been since the 50’s). 

 

Skyscraper in downtown Warsaw

Impressive skyscrapers are scattered amongst repaired or reconstructed historic buildings of the busy downtown district, while down an alley here and there one can still see a dilapidated remnant of the war’s devastation. A beautiful new Museum of the History of the Polish Jews has just been officially opened to the public just blocks from the where the Jewish occupants of the ghetto were loaded into rail cars bound for Auschwitz. 

Umschlagplatz Monument

Monument to the Warsaw Ghetto Heroes

Much of what was the Warsaw Ghetto during WWII is now filled with architecturally bland soviet era block housing, while just a few streets away in one direction there are innovative modern structures,

Shopping mall in downtown Warsaw

Warsaw Mermaid in Old Town Market Square

...and in another direction, renovated or rebuilt medieval squares.

Gaggle of girls in Old Town alley

Old Town archways

Old cobblestones of New Town

Royal Palace in Warsaw

To the Soviet’s credit, they didn’t withhold resources from Poland the way they did East Germany during their occupation, they pumped generous amounts of money and expertise into rebuilding the historic quarters and the royal palace, and constructed a civic center that was a gift to the city.

Warsaw Palace of Culture and Science

However, the resentment over WWII and the occupation by the Germans and the Soviets still haunts the city like a bad dream that refuses to be forgotten. Memorials are everywhere, 

Monument to the fallen and murdered in the East

Warsaw Uprising Monument

Bronze Elm in front of Pawiak Museum

...and markers of the boundary of the Warsaw Ghetto are permanently embedded in the city streets. 

Ghetto wall marker on sidewalk in New Town

One would expect to hear some German or Russian spoken in Poland, due to its history, but the Poles have stubbornly ‘forgotten’ these languages and stick to Polish (or English in a pinch). 

As strange as it may seem, one of the most beautiful places on a rainy day in Warsaw is the enormous city cemetery.

Warsaw cemetery

Kraków somehow miraculously escaped the devastation that Warsaw and Gdańsk suffered. It is an old and romantic city, with a charm that rivals better known cities such as Venice or Prague. 

Evening in the Main Market Square

Statue in Main Market Square

St. Mary's Basilica

Statue in Main Market Square

Its enormous market square began as a medieval crossroad, where since at least 900 A.D. (or earlier) vendors have peddled their wares to the merchants headed to the Baltic or toward the Silk Road and back. You can go underneath a part of the square and see remains of the old road and vendor cubicles a full story or more below the current level of the square. 

Burnt remains of Kraków settlement circa 900 A.D. in a museum under the Main Market Square

And not far away, on a knoll, is the old Wawel castle, that grew with the city as it gained wealth and importance over the centuries.

Clock tower in Wawel Castle

Wawel Castle from the street below

Gilted roof at Wawel Castle

View of Wawel Castle from across the Vistula

 Kraków also has its Jewish quarter—Kazimierz, where among other things, Oskar Schindler’s WWII factory can be found.

Kazimierz building mural

Jewish cemetery in Kazimierz

Jewish synagogue

Kazimierz street art

Surviving section of Jewish Ghetto wall

Also nearby is the 700 year old Wieliczka Salt Mine, where for centuries salt has been carved into amazing caverns and sculptures while the mining went on (the mine's scale, depth and elaborately carved halls are reminiscent of Tolkien's description of dwarf palaces under the mountain),

Salt mine cavern

...and of course,

Entry gate at Auschwitz

Gas chamber in Auschwitz

Remains of gas chamber in Birkinau destroyed by Nazis during retreat

Auschwitz/Birkenau is just an hour's drive from the city. 

But its hard to get enough of Kraków...

View toward St. Mary's Basilica in old town of Kraków.

Barbican in Kraków

Thousand year old St. Adalbert church in Main Market Square

Historic old town in Kraków

The Vistula river connects three of Poland’s best known cities— Kraków, Warsaw and Gdańsk. Gdańsk’s location on a tributary of the Vistula and its protected harbor with its easy access to the Baltic provided it with status enough to join the Hanseatic League. The Hanseatic League was a shipping consortium through which goods were traded throughout the Baltic in the 13^th through 17^th centuries. Consequently, the architecture and flavor of Gdańsk seems to have more in common with Bergen, Copenhagen, Lübeck, Amsterdam, and Brügge than it has with other Polish cities.

Preserved interior from Main City Hall

Royal Way in Gdańsk

Historic edifice

Sadly, this city too suffered enormous devastation during WWII. But like Warsaw, the historic district has been largely renovated or reconstructed.

View from Main City Hall tower

Statue of Neptune in front of Main City Hall

Historic towers and old crane over the Motława river

Gdańsk was known then for its amber trade, and still takes pride in its amber history and current amber market.

Art piece in Amber Museum

An hour by train from Gdańsk you can visit one of Europe’s largest and oldest intact castles, built by the Teutonic Knights in the 13^th century.

Cobblestone walkway in Malbork Castle

Malbork Castle interior

View of Malbork Castle and surrounding countryside from tower

You can also take a pleasant ferry ride to Hel and back from Gdańsk – we did (though not with Charon at the helm).

Street leading from harbor

Monument in Hel

Hel harbor

We even found some pieces of amber in the sand along the beach.

Another beautiful and historic city on the Vistula is Toruń. 

View of Toruń from medieval town hall tower

Toruń was also a Teutonic outpost back in the day.

Ruins of Teutonic castle

Pigeon alcove in remains of Teutonic castle

However, the peasants of Toruń tired of the knights and their power, and through a town rebellion not long after the castle’s completion, most of the castle was destroyed and the knights driven out.

Toruń city street

There is a bit of fire and whimsy in the people of Toruń, it seems.

Mural along street near Teutonic castle ruins

Seated medieval figures along old city wall in Toruń

Carving on wood panel of Toruń theatre

Toruń is Nicolaus Copernicus’ birthplace, and curiously, is also renowned for its gingerbread. 

Table for making gingerbread molds in Toruń's Gingerbread Museum

But the town is full of relaxed charm, and little surprises.

Cafe near town hall

Main street of historic Toruń

Toruń bar

If you cross the bridge over the Vistula by foot and trudge through the jungle of trees, giant spider webs and gnat swarms, you'll emerge from the foliage at a little dock with a fabulous view of the city skyline, and in the process you'll experience how enormously wide the river is as it flows past the medieval part of the city.

Toruń cityscape from across the river

The Vistula's presence dominates the view, but enhances it too.

Sunset on the Vistula

I suppose, in a sense the Vistula is like the Polish spirit, ever-flowing and indomitable. The Poles we met were industrious, high-spirited and friendly people.

A day before we left Poland as we stood in line at the post office for stamps a Swedish woman told us that Poland was her favorite place to visit in Europe. By then we could see exactly why.