"It has been said that Poland is dead, exhausted, enslved, but here is the proof of her life and triumph.”

Poland was torn apart by the Nazi and Soviet occupations.  Three million Jews were murdered during WW II.  Warsaw was mostly destroyed. Shamefully,the allies failed to act. The Polish resistance was heroic, gathering evidence  with an underground army that warned the west about the jewish extermination before all was lost. Warsaw is a gateway city between east and west with a tormented tragic history.

Note: The movie "Schindler’s List"  was filmed in Krakow. The “Pianist" was filmed in Warsaw.

93% of the Polish population are identified as Catholics. Fewer than 15,000 Jews  live in Poland, a country once known as the center of European Jewish life. On the eve of the Second World War, Poland was home to over three millionJews, making it the second-largest community in the world.

Warsaw has been totally rebuilt using old photos. Today, the proud Poles enjoy a vibrant country, beautiful rebuilt cities that are culturally rich.  Our trip was one of eye opening historical discoveries and the company of good friends.

Brutal travel……

Going...24 hours door to door…. Phoenix, Denver, London, plane changes to Warsaw

Lodz, Pozan, Wroclaw, Opole, Czestochowa, Auschwitz/Birkenau, Krakow, back to Warsaw……836 miles by bus

Return...22 hours door to door….Warsaw, Frankfurt, Denver, Phoenix-

Who is crazy enough to leave mid 70s weather and spring training to travel to a frigid European country while the corona- virus is being transmitted world wide?  Don’t answer that!  Poland must be too cold to spread bacteria!! There were no cases of the disease while we were in Poland!

The food was great!! Pierogi,(Polish dumplings)  Polskie Nalesniki (Polish pancakes) Paczki (Polish Pastry)

The people were fun, kind and personable. The hotels and service were superb. 

NOTE: Normally when we travel we take in the culture of the cities and the best that nature has to offer. This trip was entirely devoted to the cities and history. We did not get a chance to explore the Polish Tatra Mountains, lying on the border between Poland and Slovakia.

Highlights:

-WARSAW…..The incredible JEWISH MUSEUM, the medieval Stare Miast (Old Quarter) with its market square and 14th century Cathedral of St. John, the "wedding cake” Palace of Culture and Science, the neoclassical Lazienki Palace, and the remnants of the Jewish ghetto.

-LODZ-POZNAN….Pozanski Palace, Old Market Square, Town Hall and the baroque ST. PETER AND PAUL CATHEDRAL

-WROCLAW…This impressive city belonged to Bohemia, Austria, Prussia, Germany and Poland. (after 1945)

Impressive Cathedral, and MARKET SQUARE with its fine patrician houses.

OPOLE-One of the oldest cities in Poland 

CZESTOCHOWA-JASNA GORA monastery where the BLACK MADONNA  is located…the country’s national symbol.

BIRKENAU-AUSCHWITZ- notorious WW II CONCENTRATION CAMPS…….chilling reminders of the Holocaust. Eight years ago we had visited Theresienstadt in the Czech Republic, it  served as a waystation to Auschwitz.  It was primarily populated with children and their color drawings left us in tears. The Nazis brought in media photographers depicting the kids having a good time at a “summer camp”  Our consciousness will never allow us to forget the atrocities and appreciate the sacrifices of the allies to drive out the Nazis and later capturing many that had fled to South America and were put on trial.

KRAKOW- Great city- historic jewish center, the KAZIMIERZ Quarter with its quaint art cafes, and galleries. REMUH SYNAGOGUE AND 14TH CENTURY ST. MARY’S CHURCH WITH ITS UNEVEN TOWERS. We really enjoyed seeing and hearing a bugler play on the hour from the windows of the tower. He waved at us down below. 

 The WIEICZKA salt mines were absolutely incredible and  featured  underground cathedrals. There are only two of these underground salt mine cathedral locations  on the planet. The other is just outside of Bogota Colombia. We visited there four years ago and it was equally  fabulous.

I am now reading “the Volunteer” a true story of a resistance hero who infiltrated Auschwitz.

Poland and its tenacious, resilient people will forever be in our minds.

Arbeit macht frei (Latin-work makes you free) signs over the entrance of many concentration camps