Posted on 08/01/2010 1:54:00 PM PDT by lizol
Poland marks heroic, tragic Warsaw uprising
Aug 1, 2010 6:53 PM | By Dominika Maslikowski,
Warsaw observed a minute’s silence Sunday, as the city stopped to pay tribute in commemoration of the 66th anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising — the heroic but doomed 1944 fight back against Nazi occupation.
Buses and trams came to a stop and people in streets and cafes stood to show their respects when the sirens wailed at the exact moment Sunday when Varsovians took up arms against their German occupiers.
“You can destroy a city, and its infrastructure,” said Warsaw Mayor Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz at the ceremony. “But you cannot destroy the spirit of its citizens or their longing for freedom and democracy.” The moment of silence in Warsaw was one of the events in day-long commemorations throughout Poland.
An innovative 3D film premiered at the Warsaw Rising Museum that showed in realistic detail the rubble and the ruins of the city in 1944 after it was virtually destroyed.
The five-minute film, which shows aerial views of collapsed bridges and ruined houses, took a team of some 30 historians two years to make.
The 63-day battle lasted until October 2 and left 18,000 soldiers dead and some 80 per cent of the capital in ruins.
The insurgents of Poland’s Home Army made a brave, but ultimately doomed effort to liberate the city in the final days of World War II.
The insurgents were poorly armed and outnumbered, and their fight today symbolizes struggle for independence against impossible odds.
Other events included laying of wreath ceremonies at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and at monuments to the uprising.
Good on Poland for having such a large amount of national pride.
These photos bring tears to your eyes...
A major reason for the high casualties was Stalin lying to these brave men and womem, never delivering to the promised arms and munitions. And let us not forget Stalin’s orders at the last moment not to come to the aide of the Polish uprising.
I read it when I was about 15 and it changed my life.
That was another tragic event in Warsaw
Pity the Poles for having Germany and Russia as neighbors.
Things coolingn down in Michigan yet?
I know, but the history would not be complete without that being mentioned.
Beautiful - standing up to totalitarians is always honorable... Thanks lizol - for sharing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbF8OhBVnlY
Well, in a short time, those of us that do not worship the government are going to have to make a decision: Are we going to die on our feet as free men and women, or we going to die of starvation on our knees begging for food in a government slave camp.
Not yet, still boiling. AS for Russia and Germany, well, I daresay, they didn’t conquer Poland in breaking her existence. Same with Napoleon. No one can really break Poland. God never forgot Poland because Poland never forgot God.
May God bless the Poles and Poland, our best allies in Europe.
It’s racism now for us to do that here.
Meanwhile in France other Polish soldiers were fighting and dying to liberate that country.
Great line and I agree wholeheartedly.
Well about the time the heat breaks I’m heading to the upper, tired of the heat here in Florida.
“Mila 18” and “Exodus” by Leon Uris are classics IMO. I read them as a youngster too, and then re-read them because they were so good.
The ancient poet Pindar wrote: “The long toil of the brave is not lost in darkness.” Neither is the bravery of Poland’s Home Army lost in darkness.
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