WARSZAWA

Warsaw is a quiet city that was completely destroyed during WWII but like the resilience of its residents, it has been rebuilt and now serves as the capitol of a still recovering war-torn country. Its downtown is now spotted with several skyscrapers symbolizing a slowly growing economy while its old town has been beautifully rebuilt in its pre-war style consisting of brightly colored buildings, a palace and a number of churches.

On the other side of town you will find a line marked ghetto 1944. It was this line in which a wall was built around the Jewish ghetto where over 400,000 people were crammed together and striped of their basic human rights. On the outside, German officers took residence with their families and lived a lavish lifestyle while maintaining obedience of the prisoners it kept within the ghetto walls.

On August 1, 1944, like elsewhere in Poland began the infamous Warsaw uprising. Expecting the arrival of the red army, literal underground resistance fighters organized and prepared to take back the city from the Nazi’s. These hastily prepared and armed Poles emerged from the sewers below the city in attempt to take Nazi strong holds and oust them from the city. Fighting continued until October 2, 1944 when the Red Army never arrived and the uprising failed. In response to this insolence of the Polish people in Warsaw 90% of the city was destroyed, leaving the daunting post war task of rebuilding which is ongoing today.