Hi everyone!
Hope all is well wherever life finds you! So my 8 day WWII tour has officially come to an end.
After a seven hour train ride, I am once again back in Gdansk for a few more days. I am going to search the archives or wherever I need to for some more information on my Grampa and see some more historical sites, before leaving in a few days. Of course, as most holidays go, this trip is going by fast, mostly because I have been kept so busy.
Looking back over the past week or so, I am amazed and thrilled at how much I've seen, the fantastic people I've met, and living out a dream to the fullest. Definitely it has been a trip of a lifetime!
During this trip, I have been reading books on the war and Holocaust (just some light reading!). And so, today on the train watching the Polish countryside rush past with its corn and sunflower fields, hawks and crows dipping and diving, and forests thick with undergrowth, I couldn't help but think of those who had travelled on trains so differently during WWII.
How terrified, anxious and helpless many must have felt, especially those who were heading to the death camps, while I was able to sit on these trains excited, content and
at times slightly impatient. I realize just how grateful and appreciative I am for the freedom and the peace I experience in this day and age to now take such a remarkable journey.
So I have found that each city I have been in has had its own story and feel.
Warsaw is such a fantastic city! The mix of modern and mostly rebuilt historical streets is extraordinary. Somehow it all fits together so well and it certainly kept my eyes darting everywhere. I often found myself standing in the middle of the sidewalks in awe at the vastness of the buildings.
I am staying in the area where most of the embassies are located so I feel quite protected, as there are security teams moving through the area on a regular basis. I am staying at the Rezydencja Belweder Klonowa, a cosy boutique hotel, which just happens to be across the street from the Ministry of Defence. So, yes, I am safe and sound here in Warsaw!
Even though most of the city had been destroyed in the war, as a result of the Nazis retaliation to the citizens who resisted and defied the Nazi terror, it was so difficult to tell where the restorations had been done. The "replica" buildings held the spirit of the historical remnants so well. Pretty cool!
On Friday, I took a city tour. We saw most of the old city restorations with the castles, medieval walls, and monuments to Chopin, former presidents, and war heroes. At one point, we also visited the Jewish ghetto and saw the somber memorials to the tens of thousands of Jewish families, who lost their lives in the ghetto or never returned from the various death camps.
In the afternoon, I somehow managed to find the Warsaw Uprising Museum.
This has to be one of the best museums I have ever been to, mostly because it is interactive. They have incorporated authentic communications with recordings of bombs falling, as well as smells of the fires which were constantly burning during the uprising.
Closing my eyes and letting my senses experience it all was so eerie and my heart caught in my throat at the vibrations of the "battle" around me.
The museum, I was told by one of the employees, is engineered to literally shake in time with the sound and the impact of the recorded bombings.
Standing there I was shaken to the core and needed to hang on to the wall to keep my balance. What a memorable feeling! It must have been horrifying during the war to go through that experience!
Yesterday was really incredible as well. I was taken north of Warsaw to Gierloz by my awesome driver, Mikel. He spoke really awesome English, which I was really grateful for on the nearly 6 hour drive round trip. My Polish is limited to a 2 year old level - if I'm lucky!
Near this small town deep in the thick forest surrounded by swamps was Wolfsschanze, or Wolf's Lair. This was the fortified bunker headquarters set up by and for Hitler to be closer to the Russian border, as the Nazis had expected to overrun Russia.
Hitler lived here for about 800 days with about 2000 of Hitler's closest generals and officers, his personal doctor, SS bodyguards, drivers, cooks, etc. Quite the set up. The immensity of the site was remarkable!
Eight foot thick walls of concrete with rebar covered over by camouflage, so that even in walking by, these structures seemed hidden. And these were not small buildings either.
As my guide stated, it was a "Masterpiece of Hitler's Paranoia!"
However, once the Russians found this place and removed the numerous landmines surrounding the area, many of the bunkers were destroyed, but there are still quite a few bunkers which remain mostly intact.
At one point my guide asked me if I wanted to go climb on some of the ruins and see one of Hitler's personal bunkers. She didn't have to ask me twice, let's just say, and we were off for an adventure and hid out from the tour groups!
She was so knowledgeable about the area and site that I felt I was an observer to history being played out before me. Definitely a tour I would highly recommend!
This is also the place where an assasination attempt was made on Hitler as part of Operation Valkyrie on July 20, 1944. At this time, Claus von Stauffenberg, who was an officer in the Nazi Party, planted a bomb inside a briefcase and left it in a conference room near where Hitler was sitting.
He had help from members of the German Resistance. Unfortunately as you know, the plot failed when the briefcase was pushed away from Hitler.
In the aftermath of the failed attempt, Hitler was in a rage to exact vengeance. Over 7,000 people were arrested and 4,980 of them were executed, including Claus von Stauffenberg!!!
Paranoia, indeed!
Again, thanks for reading and sharing this adventure with me. It’s been non-stop touring and the next few days look to be almost as busy. I will try to send a couple of notes again before heading home. Take care of yourselves and chat soon!
Cheers, Jae
Comentarios