Up early and off for a day in Warsaw. Our destination this morning, The Warsaw Uprising Museum. We took the long way and stopped often to admire streets, shop fronts, and parks, especially the parks. There are several wonderfully lovely parks between our apartment and the museum, and the fall leaves make the parks particularly spectacular!
We stopped for some selfies and portraits along the way… The one at the far left is near the Rynek Starego Miasta (Old Town Square). The second one is at the beautiful Saski Park. The last one is near the Warsaw Uprising Museum. I’m pointing to the poster because it’s for Polin: The Museum of the History of the Polish Jews. I’m headed to the museum tomorrow to film several interviews and will be back for the grand opening on the 28th with a press pass for unlimited access!
The Warsaw Uprising Museum was our destination today and I’m very glad we went to take a look. The Warsaw Uprising, a major Second World War operation initiated by the Polish resistance Home Army, was intended to liberate Warsaw from Nazi Germany. The uprising, timed to coincide with the Soviet Union’s presence in the eastern suburbs of Warsaw and the retreat of the German forces began on 1 August 1944. As many of you know, however, the Soviet advance stopped short of the city of Warsaw, which enabled the Germans to regroup, demolish the city, and defeat the Polish resistance. The fight lasted for 63 days and had little to no outside support. The Uprising was the largest single military effort taken by any European resistance movement during World War II.
The photos:
Left to right: The outside of the museum. The symbol of the P and anchor the Kotwica was a Second World War emblem of the Polish State and the Home Army (or AK). Created in 1942, the emblem was an easy way for the resistance to symbolize Polish resistance.
Miasto Ruin is a brief 3-D film of the city of Warsaw that shows the destruction of the Second World War.
I love the floor of the museum. There’s something about walking on cobblestone that makes the museum so tactile.
The map shows a very general outline of Germany, German occupied Poland, and Russia.
I took a photograph of this sign because it talks about looted art. It says, in part, “Thefts of work of art continue until the end of the Occupation”
There’s a printing press on display at the museum. This drawer shows the letters used to make the many underground newspapers, pamphlets, and resistance flyers.
This dog stuffed animal tugs on my heart strings. This doggie was made from a piece of a German uniform.
The photos of the women are “insurgents” who were arrested by the Russians and sent to various Stalag camps.