Posted: 04 Jun 2014 09:12 PM PDT
I am writing this at not quite 5 a.m.
on a Thursday morning in Warsaw. Yes, my friends, I'm a victim of jet
lag. Ah well. At least I can use the time productively.
As those who have traveled with me can attest, I get a bit nervous about making connections when I travel. My anxiety can manifest in a number of ways, but this time around I just became a bit distracted. Fortunately, no one else had to go suffer with me. And...there was absolutely nothing to worry about. The connections all worked perfectly--from shuttle to the flight to Amsterdam, the flight to Warsaw, and the driver who picked me up (and five fellow travelers) and took us to our hotel.
Here's where the fun started.
I collected the key from the clerk, unloaded my stuff and prepared to participate in the tour that our itinerary said would start at 1 p.m. (mind you, we were scheduled to arrive at 11:25 local time and the plane was a bit late). I think we arrived at 12:55. Regardless, the three members of our group who'd arrived the day before greeted us warmly and assured us they'd be waiting for us.
There we were, seven travelers--five who had been in country less than an hour--waiting for the fun to begin. We sat in the lobby and conversed amiably, getting to know (and like!) one another. I asked if there was time to "visit a certain place" and all agreed there was no problem. We chatted some more and then one of the Air Force Academy cadets traveling with us joined me for a coffee--an espresso for him, cappuccino for me. And we chatted some more... Those in our group with functioning devices suggested we contact our tour leader. Taking technology abroad can be a challenge, and my new friends struggled mightily--but there was no joy on that front.
At 2:30, we said--"the hell with it" let's make our own tour! Fortunately, we have a Holocaust Education Foundation "veteran" in our group who knows his way around. We decided with his leadership we could tackle the goals of our supposed itinerary on our own. Our goal was to head out on foot to find the remains of the Warsaw Ghetto, and Warsaw's new Jewish Museum: The Museum of the History of Polish Jews.
We walked along the busy road in front of our hotel, taking Metro underpasses on a few occasions so as to avoid the hazardous intersections. The first landmark we passed was the Soviet era Palace of Culture and Science.
My new friends Sura and Paula had visited the Palace and declared it fascinating--but this wasn't on our agenda.
We marched on, past the Saxon Gardens, and on to the new Museum of the History of Polish Jews.
This
photo doesn't do this magnificent facility justice. It is a work of
art! The exterior walls are strips of etched glass. Visitors enter
through a curved "gateway" and a stone mezuzah ("A
mezuzah is a small box of symbolic, historical and religious
significance containing a rolled up piece of parchment inscribed with
two blessings – fragments from the Torah – that is placed in the
doorway of Jewish homes."). The museum hosted a competition for
designing the mezuzah, with the winner set to receive about 1200 Euros. I
managed to capture some snaps of the sculpture outside,
and
then...I saw the message I most dread when I'm traveling: Battery
exhausted. Fortunately, our group has agreed to share images.
The museum promises to be a real gem once complete. The interior has an amazing structure that's hard to describe. We had free tickets to the temporary exhibit which starts with a scale replication of one of Poland's destroyed synagogues (constructed in the 17th centry). One of the features which will be included is a reproduction of this building's gorgeous ceiling. The brochure indicates that there will be eight galleries offering a glimpse of "history in the first person":
Outside the Museum is a statue where former German Chancellor, Willy Brandt, knelt in respect to the suffering which took place in the Warsaw ghetto. The image is called the ‘kniefall’, a "spontaneous gesture was to become a symbol of reconciliation between east and west, with Brandt later confessing, 'Under the weight of German history, and carrying the burden of the millions who were murdered, I did what people do when words fail them.'"
Our next goal was to find the infamous Umschlagplatz, a horrific site where, on a daily basis, the Nazis sent between 5,000 and 7,000 people to their death in Treblinka.
Our
unofficial tour guide, Colonel Mark Wells from the Air Force Academy,
pointed out the Gestapo headquarters which is still standing less than a
block away.
I
just finished a compelling memoir called "Country of Ash" by Edward
Reicher which noted that Jews sent to Gestapo headquarters never came
back.
Our next goal was to find Mila 18. I had been warned by a friend that the street had been renumbered, and that the current Mila 18 is not the historical landmark.
The page (identified in the caption for the photo) I visited described this monument as: "the memorial stone to the Jewish heroes of the Z.O.B. (Jewish Fighting Organization) who died in an underground bunker beneath the house at ul. Mila 18 during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in April and May 1943. The stone sits on top of a mound of rubble, where the house at this address once stood; it is turned slightly toward Mila street which is to the left."
At this point we headed back to the hotel. At about the halfway mark, we started the long march back to Novotel. Two of our party chose to take the Metro (I highly recommend taking local public transit), but as is my wont, I joined the walkers. My friend Sura asked how comfortable my Danskos were. I said they are usually very comfortable, but at that moment "my dogs were barking".
We ended the evening with a delicious meal at a Galician/Polish restaurant not too far from the Novotel. Sura and I shared two plates of pierogies and fried chicken livers. I indulged in a couple of crisp Urquell Pilsners, and then we called it a night.
We did pretty well for a group of improvisers!
As those who have traveled with me can attest, I get a bit nervous about making connections when I travel. My anxiety can manifest in a number of ways, but this time around I just became a bit distracted. Fortunately, no one else had to go suffer with me. And...there was absolutely nothing to worry about. The connections all worked perfectly--from shuttle to the flight to Amsterdam, the flight to Warsaw, and the driver who picked me up (and five fellow travelers) and took us to our hotel.
Here's where the fun started.
I collected the key from the clerk, unloaded my stuff and prepared to participate in the tour that our itinerary said would start at 1 p.m. (mind you, we were scheduled to arrive at 11:25 local time and the plane was a bit late). I think we arrived at 12:55. Regardless, the three members of our group who'd arrived the day before greeted us warmly and assured us they'd be waiting for us.
There we were, seven travelers--five who had been in country less than an hour--waiting for the fun to begin. We sat in the lobby and conversed amiably, getting to know (and like!) one another. I asked if there was time to "visit a certain place" and all agreed there was no problem. We chatted some more and then one of the Air Force Academy cadets traveling with us joined me for a coffee--an espresso for him, cappuccino for me. And we chatted some more... Those in our group with functioning devices suggested we contact our tour leader. Taking technology abroad can be a challenge, and my new friends struggled mightily--but there was no joy on that front.
At 2:30, we said--"the hell with it" let's make our own tour! Fortunately, we have a Holocaust Education Foundation "veteran" in our group who knows his way around. We decided with his leadership we could tackle the goals of our supposed itinerary on our own. Our goal was to head out on foot to find the remains of the Warsaw Ghetto, and Warsaw's new Jewish Museum: The Museum of the History of Polish Jews.
We walked along the busy road in front of our hotel, taking Metro underpasses on a few occasions so as to avoid the hazardous intersections. The first landmark we passed was the Soviet era Palace of Culture and Science.
We marched on, past the Saxon Gardens, and on to the new Museum of the History of Polish Jews.
 |
| The Museum of the History of Polish Jews |
 |
| Warsaw’s Monument to the Ghetto Heroes |
The museum promises to be a real gem once complete. The interior has an amazing structure that's hard to describe. We had free tickets to the temporary exhibit which starts with a scale replication of one of Poland's destroyed synagogues (constructed in the 17th centry). One of the features which will be included is a reproduction of this building's gorgeous ceiling. The brochure indicates that there will be eight galleries offering a glimpse of "history in the first person":
- A Forest: "A space of historical imagination, where [visitors] will hear the stories the Jews told themselves, about how they came to Poland in search of safety".
- A Medieval Gallery: Telling the story of how Jews came to settle in Poland.
- "Paradisus ludaeorum": Set in the times of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, a golden age.
- The Challenges of Modernity
- The Interwar Years
- The Holocaust
- The Postwar Gallery
- The Legacy of Polish Jews
Outside the Museum is a statue where former German Chancellor, Willy Brandt, knelt in respect to the suffering which took place in the Warsaw ghetto. The image is called the ‘kniefall’, a "spontaneous gesture was to become a symbol of reconciliation between east and west, with Brandt later confessing, 'Under the weight of German history, and carrying the burden of the millions who were murdered, I did what people do when words fail them.'"
Our next goal was to find the infamous Umschlagplatz, a horrific site where, on a daily basis, the Nazis sent between 5,000 and 7,000 people to their death in Treblinka.
 | |||
| https://www.warsawtour.pl/en/ |
 | ||||
| http://www.inyourpocket.com/ |
Our next goal was to find Mila 18. I had been warned by a friend that the street had been renumbered, and that the current Mila 18 is not the historical landmark.
 |
| http://www.scrapbookpages.com/ |
The page (identified in the caption for the photo) I visited described this monument as: "the memorial stone to the Jewish heroes of the Z.O.B. (Jewish Fighting Organization) who died in an underground bunker beneath the house at ul. Mila 18 during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in April and May 1943. The stone sits on top of a mound of rubble, where the house at this address once stood; it is turned slightly toward Mila street which is to the left."
At this point we headed back to the hotel. At about the halfway mark, we started the long march back to Novotel. Two of our party chose to take the Metro (I highly recommend taking local public transit), but as is my wont, I joined the walkers. My friend Sura asked how comfortable my Danskos were. I said they are usually very comfortable, but at that moment "my dogs were barking".
We ended the evening with a delicious meal at a Galician/Polish restaurant not too far from the Novotel. Sura and I shared two plates of pierogies and fried chicken livers. I indulged in a couple of crisp Urquell Pilsners, and then we called it a night.
We did pretty well for a group of improvisers!
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