POLAND: WALKING TOUR OF GDANSK

June 21, 2019

There is a lot to see in Gdansk, and a good way to see it is by hiring a private tour guide. Our guide, Klaudia, was excellent. 

The first place she took us was to Solidarity Square, the site where 45 striking shipyard workers who were protesting the communist regime were killed in 1970. At the center of the square is the Monument to the Fallen Shipyard Workers of 1970, also known as the Three Crosses Monument, which was erected 1980 next to entrance of what was then called the Lenin Shipyard. It was the first monument in the world erected in a Communist country to recognize victims of Communist oppression.

Three 138-foot steel crosses, each weighing 36 tons, stand on the spot where the first three victims of the riots were killed. The crosses represent the suffering and sacrifice of those first three victims, subsequent victims, and all of the protestors. The crosses are topped by anchors, symbols of the shipping industry. Bas reliefs of the dock workers adorn the bottom of the shafts.

Stockznia Gdankska = Gdansk shipyard:

WELCOME TO POLAND: INTRODUCTION

June 20, 2019

Poland has been at the top of my travel list for more than a decade. Our son served an LDS mission there in 2004-2006. During and since that time I read book after book about Poland, some of which I will include in future posts. I was moved by the stories of modern Poles that our son shared with us, and I was captivated by the resilience and courage I read about.

On the other hand, my mother was not so big on Poland. She was German, and the Germans look down their noses at the Poles. She told me they used to have a saying in Germany, "If your car is missing, look for it in Poland," implying that all car thieves are Poles. However, she too was moved by our son's letters and stories from his mission, and I think her heart was softened somewhat during those two years. I wish she were still alive and that I could share some of our experiences with her now.

As it turns out, Poland is now one of my most favorite tourist destinations in the world. I would return in a heartbeat. There is so much history, anguish, and triumph there. Situated between two super powers, Germany on the west and Russia on the east, Poland has been subject to a constant game of tug-of-war, and yet the Poles have managed to retain a national identify separate from either country. 

World War II was especially hard on Poland, partly because of its location, partly because its large Jewish population was annihilated by the Nazis, and partly because no one came to its aid. Poland, of course, was the first country invaded by Hitler in September 1939 (more on that in later posts).

Of all the countries that fought in World War II, Poland lost the highest percentage of its population--almost 20%. Six million Poles died, half of whom were Jews. Less than 10% of the total fatalities were caused by combat. Rather, people died in concentration camps, at the hands of brutal invaders, and of starvation and disease. It took almost 30 years after the war for Poland to recover the population it had at the beginning of the war.

Graph from here