Warsaw, Poland – 80th Anniversary of the Jewish Ghetto uprising. 

The other day, 19 April, we commemorated the 80^th anniversary of one of our darker pasts.   Warsaw showed its’ respect to those who stood up to the tyranny of the Nazi regime toward the Jewish people.  Despite the dark and gloomy weather, it was obvious today that something was different in Warsaw today. Traffic was a lot worse, Police were everywhere, other uniform entities were out and about, and the air raid siren sounded at noon along local church bells.  There were also several dignitaries and officials in town to commemorate the sacrifices and the courage of those who decided that “enough was enough” and on April 19^th, 1942, took a stand against incredible odds.  It is incomprehensible how people could even start thinking about something like that, let alone do it.  It was nothing short of an incredible act of defiance undertaken by a group of starving people.

A short distance from my house is the location and museum of the Ghetto Uprising. There are several monuments to commemorate this event in human history.  Although I have not yet visited the Ghetto Uprising Museum, I have visited the Warsaw Uprising Museum which occurred about 18 months later.   We are planning to participate in a walking tour this weekend, so hopefully I will have more to discuss on this subject. 

There are numerous monuments and tributes to all those who died during the Nazi occupation from 1939 until 1944 in Warsaw. This city was destroyed. There is a large hill south of town that has a peculiar flag raised above it. It really seemed out of place, so I asked one of my colleagues. She told me that this hill was where all the debris from the city was dumped.  Over time it was overgrown. It really put the amount of destruction into context.  Hitler had achieved his goal of complete destruction of Warsaw.  However, he did not extinguish the spirit of the people who lived here. Their legacy lives on and the people of today are not going to let them be forgotten.

I was surprised to hear that the president of Germany was here to speak in the area where the uprising took place.  He asked for forgiveness.  That doesn’t change history, but it is a step in the right direction for the healing process.  I’m sure there were some survivors in the crowd, and I really wonder what they thought. Regardless, I’m glad that he came to Warsaw to speak and apologize for the atrocities committed by Germany so long ago.

Now we have Ukraine suffering very similarly to the Polish people of 80 years ago.  Although this is not a repeat of history, it really does rhyme.  Dan Carlin made this comment about other relationships between historical events, “that history doesn’t truly repeat, but it sure rhymes.”  He went on to explain that the circumstances were extremely difficult to create identical events from identical situations.  However, he was surprised at how often things were very similar.