For photo album of 2014 Poland, Click HERE
Today is the 70th anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising in 1944 when the Polish Resistance Home Army of Warsaw tried to rise up against the German occupation and were brutally cut down. Timed to coincide with and urged on by the advancing Russians on the opposite side of the river, the Poles were led to believe that the Russians would assist them with the battle. Stalin however decided to hold off and let the Germans do the dirty work by not giving any assistance. The battle raged for 61 days and 150-200,000 Poles, mostly unarmed citizens were torn from their homes, executed in mass, and buildings burned. By January 1945, 85% of the city had been destroyed. '
This 1944 uprising came a year after the Jewish resistance of 1943 against the Germans. Since 1940, the Jewish Sector of the city known as the Ghetto had been walled off to contain and control the Jews. Eventually over 30,000 Warsaw Jews were loaded into cattle cars to die in extermination camps.
Early in the day we visited the Chopin Museum, then later strolled through the old city of
Warsaw. Girl and Boy Scouts were uniformed from all over Poland handing out information about the 5:00 pm commemoration. We made our way to the central square. Church bells began to chime along with loud sirens. Flares were burned and smoke hovered over the silent citizens who had come to remember this horrible day and for the people who had lost their lives.
It was quite moving and absolutely unfathomable how we as humans treat one another. Unfortunately, we seemed destined to keep hating and destroying those who are different from the "in" group.
All is well with the Worrall Travel R's, happy to be here today and empathizing with Poles for their tragic losses
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