18 January 1943.

Although the date above could very well mark many historic events, particularly - as one can surely imagine - in the context of WWII such as: the uprising of the Soviet forces in Leningrad against the Nazi and Finnish imposed siege, the sporadic and rather uncoordinated bombing of London by the Luftwaffe and (relevant in today's geo-political climate) five days prior to the Allies' liberation of Tripoli (Libya), in most History books it will stand out for being the date in which the Warsaw Ghetto uprising began. Although only lasting 4 months and after being crushed with utter violence by the Nazi occupation forces in Warsaw, this event did spark a common feeling or goal amongst the inhabitants of Warsaw - and even, to some extent, of broader Poland - which was none other than fighting, no matter the cost, for liberation. The Warsaw Ghetto was built in the period 1939-1940, shortly after the Nazi invasion of Poland and was aimed to house the c. 400,000 Jews living in the city. Although it was meant to hold nearly 30% of Warsaw's population, it only covered c. 3% of the size of the city. The ghetto was ultimately closed out to the world in late 1940, when the Nazis built a wall, deployed barbed wire fences and established armed guards. As time went by, the Nazis progressively shrunk the size of the ghetto, living conditions worsened, diseases began to spread and the inhabitants began to perish, either of starvation or, on many occasions, as a result of Nazi oppression. The revolt marked a "natural" reaction against such dreadful living conditions and the unlawful German occupation. In spite of a well-timed and intelligently-articulated uprising, the poorly-armed ghetto inhabitants were rapidly crushed by the Nazi forces. Today, little remains of the Warsaw Ghetto as, similarly to what happened to most of Warsaw, it was blown to pieces - at times, deliberately and building by building - by the Nazis before they fled and the Soviet forces liberated the city in 1945. Although unsuccessful, the uprising did at least help the Jewish, as well as broader Polish, population unite against the Nazis. A year after the ghetto uprising, in 1944, the city of Warsaw witnessed yet another uprising, although on this occasion it involved the entire city and lasted almost until the end of the war. One could thus argue that the Warsaw Ghetto uprising was one of the key catalysts that led to the emergence of a sovereign liberation movement in Poland and to a weakening (or at least defiance) of the framework principles of the Nazi occupation.    

By the way, for an interesting yet suspiciously-documented and rather poorly-developed timeline of WWII don't hesitate to check out the following link: http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/2WWchron.htm

After a short (in relative terms compared to some of the other journeys I have had to endure during my trip) 3-hour train ride from Krakow, I arrived to Warsaw at c. 8pm. Upon beginning my walk from the train station to the hostel, I was very impressed by the modern appearance of the city. As I stepped out of Warsaw Centralna, I found myself surrounded by a bunch of "skyscrapers" (granted they weren't that tall, but at least a good 30 stories!). That was to my right... because to my left I saw the soviet-looking (no wonder, as it was a "present" from Stalin to the city of Warsaw in the early 1950's) Palace of Culture and Science, which was all lit up in an "Empire State Building"-ish fashion (http://www.warsaw-life.com/poland/palace-of-culture-and-science). Some people mention that the building, which resembles the 7 sisters in Moscow (http://www.moscow-life.com/moscow/seven-sisters) was nearly taken down in 1989, when the Berlin Wall fell. I must admit that my evening that day was rather uneventful... it must have been before 11pm when I called it a day. Before passing out, though, I did manage to post (I think on Bratislava) and to get all the tips on the city from the very helpful hostel staff. They even had a 3-pager (investment banking term for a document/memo one thinks will take 1 hour to prepare... but, in fact, ends up taking an entire day. Respect!) they were handing out with recommendations for the weekend (Friday-Sunday). On Saturday, I woke up pretty early (c. 8am) and after a fresh pastry + coffee at a nearby cafe, I headed West, towards the Warsaw Uprising Museum (N.B. do not confuse with the ghetto uprising of 1943. The city-wide uprising took place in 1944, on the verge of the Nazi surrender, and was by far more disruptive. It was nevertheless, as I point out above, somewhat "inspired" by the ghetto uprising of 1943). Interesting museum, although slightly difficult to follow the permanent exhibition as some rooms seemed to totally lack cohesive and chronological order. Nonetheless, the 3D movie the museum was showing for an additional 2 zlotys (0.5 eur) was definitely a must. Essentially, it is a digital reconstruction of a "reperage" flight above Warsaw at the end of WWII, which clearly shows the total annihilation of the city. In case there are any stats-savvy ones in the audience, for your reference: In 1939, 1,100,000 people lived in Warsaw. By January 1945, only 1,000 lived amongst the city ruins and nearly 85% of the buildings and infrastructure had been blown to pieces. Here's the link to the c. 6-minute-long clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cxb5H77wYt0&feature=fvwrel

After spending most of the morning in the museum, I began to wander around the city. Amazingly enough, Warsaw is a city that was entirely rebuilt in the 1950's and 1960's. Very little (cfr. stats above) remains of the pre WWII city. There are very few spots with original buildings. One of these, actually from the Warsaw Ghetto, can be found on Zlota street (some pics below). Aside from very few remnants, most of the city centre was completely rebuilt. Interestingly enough, the street my hostel was on, Nowy Swiat, stands for New World (http://www.warsaw-life.com/poland/new-world). I also crossed the Wisla river to the other side of town (called Prague - yes, like the city in the Czech Republic), where there is not so much to do, but is still quite interesting as most of that part of the city remained intact during WWII (surprisingly enough, as from 1944, Soviet troops were based there - they still refrained from assisting the local population in the 1944 uprising!). Prague is also the part of town where the new Warsaw city football stadium is being built, in anticipation of the 2012 Football Eurocup (which Spain will surely win!). In the evening, and just prior to returning to the hostel, I also visited Park Lazienkowksi, which is a beautiful Retiro-style (http://www.aviewoncities.com/madrid/parquedelretiro.htm) 19th century park in the middle of the city. It must have been around 8pm when I finally got back to the hostel. As I was due to catch a flight back to Madrid the next morning at 10am, I was in need of an early night. Nonetheless, who would have thought, I met a very friendly + interesting Dutch bloke back at the hostel, with whom I agreed to go out for drinks. The next bit... all of you can surely imagine.

Next morning, 10am - LOT Airlines flight back to Madrid... Yes, that does mean the end of this trip... I hope you all enjoyed my adventures, stories and anecdotes around the Balkans and Central & Eastern Europe. I am hoping to hit the road, this time for a longer and even more fascinating trip, very very soon. So, while you check out the pics from Warsaw, try to stay tuned!

pv