Fred's Blog
  • Fred's Blog
  • 2019 Guest Blogs
  • 2019 Authors Showcase
    • James Robertson 2019 - 6
    • Val Vassay 2019 - 2
    • Syd Blackwell 2019 - 6
    • Dawne Archer 2019 - 1
    • Susan Mellsopp 2019 - 3
    • Ronald Mackay 2019 - 6
    • James Robertson 2019 - 5
    • Sarah Owens 2019 - 1
    • Syd Blackwell 2019 - 5
    • Dolores Banerd 2019 - 1
    • Val Vassay 2019 - 1
    • Helen Bing 2019 - 4
    • Ronald Mackay 2019 - 5
    • Tina Mattern 2019 - 4
    • James Robertson 2019 - 4
    • Robyn Boswell 2019 - 3
    • Helen Bing 2019 - 3
    • Syd Blackwell 2019 - 4
    • Adrian Sturrock 2019 - 2
    • Jill Stoking 2019 - 1
    • Ronald Mackay 2019 - 4
    • Tina Mattern 2019 - 3
    • Cherie Magnus 2019 - 1
    • Roger Knight 2019 - 3
    • Susan Mellsopp 2019 - 2
    • Robyn Boswell 2019 - 2
    • Syd Blackwell 2019 - 3
    • Catherine Berry 2019 - 1
    • James Robertson 2019 - 3
    • Nancy McBride 2019 - 2
    • Tina Mattern 2019 - 2
    • Ronald Mackay 2019 - 3
    • Susan Mellsopp 2019 - 1
    • Mike Cavanagh 2019 - 1
    • Helen Bing 2019 - 2
    • Nancy McBride 2019 - 1
    • Malcolm Welshman 2019 - 1
    • Mary Mae Lewis 2019 - 1
    • Patty Sisco 2019 - 1
    • Syd Blackwell 2019 - 2
    • Adrian Sturrock 2019 - 1
    • Tina Mattern 2019 - 1
    • James Robertson 2019 - 2
    • Ronald Mackay 2019 - 2
    • Roger Knight 2019 - 2
    • Liliana Amador-Marty 2019 - 1
    • Celia Dillow 2019 - 1
    • Helen Bing 2019 - 1
    • Syd Blackwell 2019 - 1
    • Ronald Mackay 2019 - 1
    • Robyn Boswell 2019 - 1
    • Kelly Reising 2019 - 1
    • James Robertson 2019 - 1
    • Roger Knight 2019 - 1
  • Showcase Guidelines
  • Contact Us
  • Author
  • Competitions
  • 2018 Travel Highlights
  • 2018 Travel Stories
    • Robyn Boswell 2018 - 5
    • Apple Gidley 2018
    • Lindsay de Feliz 2018 - 5
    • Helen Bing 2018 - 3
    • Julie Watson 2018
    • Anisha Johnson 2018
    • Philip East 2018
    • Mary Mae Lewis 2018 - 2
    • Mike Cavanagh 2018 - 3
    • Ronald Mackay 2018 - 5
    • Malcom Welshman 2018 - 2
    • Celia Dillow 2018
    • Syd Blackwell 2018 - 5
    • Lee P. Ruddin 2018
    • Cat Jenkins 2018
    • Anierobi Maureen Ogechukwu 2018
    • Dede Montgomery 2018
    • Valerie Fletcher Adolph 2018 - 2
    • Parishka Gupta 2018 - 2
    • Angie Clifford 2018
    • Emma Yardley 2018 - 4
    • Roger Knight 2018 - 2
    • Mark Boyter 2018 - 2
    • Laurel Casida 2018
    • Mike Cavanagh 2018 - 2
    • Alison Galilian 2018
    • Colleen MacMahon 2018
    • Zahra Makda 2018
    • Ronald Mackay 2018 - 4
    • Susmitha Subramanya 2018
    • Lindsay de Feliz 2018 - 4
    • Aleksandra Krysik 2018
    • Swarnabha Dutta 2018
    • Delores Topliff 2018 - 2
    • Sourabha Rao 2018
    • Valerie Fletcher Adolph 2018
    • Swatilekha Roy 2018
    • Syd Blackwell 2018 - 4
    • Robyn Boswell 2018 - 4
    • Mary Mae Lewis 2018
    • Parishka Gupta 2018
    • Helen Bing 2018 - 2
    • Madeline Sharples 2018
    • Joe Dodkins 2018
    • Andrew Klein 2018 - 2
    • Roger Knight 2018
    • Rob Johnson 2018
    • Anu Devi 2018
    • Lu Barnham 2018
    • Amy Bovaird 2018 - 2
    • Helen Bing 2018
    • Emma Yardley 2018 - 3
    • Lindsay de Feliz 2018 - 3
    • Robyn Boswell 2018 - 3
    • Alan Passey 2018
    • Ben Stamp 2018 - 3
    • Susan Mellsopp 2018 - 2
    • Alyson Hilbourne 2018
    • Sunny Lockwood 2018 - 2
    • Syd Blackwell 2018 - 3
    • Ronald Mackay 2018 - 3
    • Brigid Gallagher 2018 - 2
    • Martha Graham-Waldon 2018
    • Mark Boyter 2018
    • Kristen Caven 2018
    • Neyda Bettencourt 2018
    • Robyn Boswell 2018 - 2
    • Logan Wood 2018
    • Ben Stamp 2018 - 2
    • Emma Yardley 2018 - 2
    • Wenlin Tan 2018
    • Tom Czaban 2018
    • Claudia Crook 2018 - 2
    • Lindsay de Feliz 2018 - 2
    • Dolores Banerd 2018
    • Piyumi Kapugeekiyana 2018
    • Stephanie Dagg 2018
    • Gabrielle Chastenet 2018
    • Bonnie Jean Warren 2018
    • Rasa Puzinaite 2018
    • Patricia Steele 2018
    • Ronald Mackay 2018 - 2
    • Syd Blackwell 2018 - 2
    • Louise Groom 2018
    • Malcom Welshman 2018
    • Delores Topliff 2018
    • Claudia Crook 2018
    • Robyn Boswell 2018
    • Amy Bovaird 2018
    • Emma Yardley 2018
    • Ben Stamp 2018
    • Jesus Deytiquez 2018
    • Ria Chakraborty 2018
    • Brigid Gallagher 2018
    • Jules Clark 2018
    • Nancy McBride 2018
    • Susan Mellsopp 2018
    • David Greer 2018
    • Lindsay de Feliz 2018
    • Aditi Nair 2018
    • Mike Cavanagh 2018
    • Frank Kusy 2018
    • Andrew Klein 2018
    • Ronald Mackay 2018
    • Syd Blackwell 2018
    • Sunny Lockwood 2018
    • Robert Fear 2018
  • 2018 Guest Blogs
  • 2017 Travel Highlights
  • 2017 Travel Stories
    • Matthew Dexter - 2
    • Sandra Walker
    • Rishita Dey
    • Lisa Baker
    • Patricia Steele - 2
    • Sue Clamp
    • Debbie Patterson
    • Jill Stoking - 2
    • Robyn Boswell - 2
    • Cherie Magnus
    • Mark Boyter - 2
    • Rita M. Gardner
    • Alex Curylo
    • Graham Higson
    • Jill Dobbe - 2
    • Amy Bovaird - 3
    • Elizabeth Moore - 3
    • KC Peek
    • Lucinda E Clarke
    • Nancy McBride - 2
    • Frank Kusy - 2
    • Melisa Quigley
    • Yvonne Kilat - 3
    • Mike Cavanagh - 2
    • Susan Mellsopp - 5
    • Mather Schneider
    • Syd Blackwell - 5
    • Gundy Baty - 3
    • Elizabeth Moore - 2
    • Jill Dobbe
    • Heather Hackett
    • Bob Manning - 2
    • Mark Boyter
    • Jackie Parry
    • Matthew Dexter
    • Amy Bovaird - 2
    • Gundy Baty - 2
    • Susan Mellsopp - 4
    • Susan Joyce - 2
    • Syd Blackwell - 4
    • Yvonne Kilat - 2
    • Bob Manning
    • Elizabeth Moore
    • Yvonne Kilat
    • Olivia-Petra Coman
    • Susan Mellsopp - 3
    • Gundy Baty
    • Syd Blackwell - 3
    • Paul Spadoni
    • Phil Canning
    • Jill Stoking
    • Robert Fear
    • Anna Coates
    • Kelly Reising
    • Syd Blackwell - 2
    • Susan Mellsopp - 2
    • Sine Thieme - 2
    • Alison Ripley Cubitt
    • Angie Clifford
    • Philippa Hawley
    • Nancy McBride
    • Robyn Boswell
    • Mike Cavanagh
    • Amy Bovaird
    • Susan Mellsopp
    • Patricia Steele
    • Susan Joyce
    • Peggy Wolf
    • Sine Thieme
    • Syd Blackwell
    • Frank Kusy
  • 2016 Travel Highlights
  • 2016 Travel Stories
    • Robyn Boswell
    • Elizabeth Moore - 5
    • Susan Joyce - 3
    • Bob Manning
    • Jackie Parry - 2
    • Mike Cavanagh - 2
    • Lisa Fleetwood
    • Mark Boyter - 2
    • John Rayburn - 5
    • Mark Boyter
    • John Rayburn - 4
    • Elizabeth Moore - 4
    • Mike Cavanagh
    • Graham Higson
    • Philippa Hawley
    • Jill Stoking
    • Nancy McBride - 2
    • Susan Joyce - 2
    • Lucinda E Clarke
    • Elizabeth Moore - 3
    • John Rayburn - 3
    • Jill Dobbe
    • Richard Klein
    • John Rayburn - 2
    • Jackie Parry - 2
    • Elizabeth Moore - 2
    • John Rayburn
    • Jackie Parry
    • Elizabeth Moore
    • Kelly Reising
    • Susan Joyce
    • Nancy McBride
    • Stewart Brennan
    • Frank Kusy
  • Behind the Scenes
  • 2015 Travel Highlights
  • 2015 Travel Stories
    • Val Vassay
    • Doug E. Jones
    • Matthew Dexter (2)
    • Beth Haslam
    • John Rayburn (4)
    • Susan Joyce (2)
    • Jackie Parry (2)
    • Lucinda E. Clarke (2)
    • Jill Dobbe
    • Francene Stanley
    • Richard Klein (2)
    • John Rayburn (3)
    • Julie Haigh
    • Frank Kusy (2)
    • Nancy McBride (2)
    • Anne Durrant
    • Lucinda E. Clarke
    • John Rayburn (2)
    • Nancy McBride
    • Sarah Jane Butfield
    • Jackie Parry
    • Kelly Reising
    • Gareth Nixon
    • John Rayburn
    • Jeremy Parris
    • Matthew Dexter
    • Susan Joyce
    • Richard Klein
    • Frank Kusy
    • Robert Fear
  • Daily Diary
    • February Archive
    • March Archive
    • April Archive
    • May Archive
    • June Archive
    • July Archive
  • Reviews

​I left my heart in Warsaw by Susan Mellsopp


I was lost. I had walked through the grubby tunnel under the vast soviet era motorway, and was surprised to find it inhabited with tiny shops selling everything from fresh bread to second hand clothing. Strolling down Przyokopowa Street I found myself on the outskirts of Warsaw. Green fields lay ahead and the road had narrowed to a thin strip of cracked tarseal, the footpath was rough and broken. Suspicious, large and very sad looking Polish housewives in drab clothing stared at me. Their houses were decrepit, tiny and uncared for.
 
I turned around and retraced my steps, unsure where I was. An elegant young woman dressed in a maroon suit and wearing very high heels which clacked loudly as she crossed a cobbled courtyard asked me in fractured English if she could help me; “what are you looking for?” “The Warsaw Rising Museum” I explained, “I was told it was on this street.” Leading me off the main thoroughfare to a building previously hidden from view, she pointed and said “there it is, you will have to wait until 10 when it opens.”  
 
The Russians had tried to erase the uprising from social memory after the war and prohibited commemorations of either the battles or the individuals involved. Despite much historical and political misinformation, in 2003 plans were finally instigated by the President of Warsaw to build a museum to recognise this tumultuous event in Polish history. Initial suspicion from remaining insurgents was soon resolved and the museum opened in the renovated 1904 tramway power plant on the eve of the 60th anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising.
 
The museum was breath-taking and evocative. Designed from the perspective of personal experiences, I was assailed by the sounds of bombing, air sirens, troops marching and defiant insurgent songs. Haunting music reflected the despair which had engulfed this beautiful historic city. Huge wall sized photos; of the days preceding the uprising, of normal family life, the Nazi occupation, the destruction and fear reflected on people’s faces both fascinated and horrified me. Later that day I was to see similar huge photos hanging from buildings in the old Jewish quarter, the people who had made these buildings home had never returned. Their apartments remain empty and cannot be sold in case family reappear to claim them.
 
Hanging from the ceiling was a large aircraft, a replica of the Liberator B24-J. Its presence became a symbol of the defiance and triumph of good over evil.  I stopped frequently to view the videos of now elderly survivors telling their stories. Moved, I wondered how I could meet these wonderful resolute people. Their accounts grew more harrowing as their struggle was accentuated by the memorabilia all around me. I passed enlarged photographs of the leaders of the insurgents, and of the women who fought alongside these men. Other women had acted as couriers, often accompanied by boy scouts. 
 
Mementos had been freely offered by survivors of the uprising; children’s diaries, armbands, uniforms, Russian and German guns, a communion cup. The priest who used this to bring consolation to the fighters had died at the hand of the Nazis. There were surgical instruments, remnants from dressing stations and even a piece of barley bread kept as a souvenir by a captured Polish soldier returning from a prisoner of war camp. The Polish eagle, a symbol of hope and freedom, had been fashioned by other fighters from anything they could scrounge.
 
Part of the museum is dedicated to the airmen from many countries who undertook countless airdrops of armaments, food, medical and clothing supplies. Outside I gently ran my fingers over the wall of remembrance and was saddened by the many unpronounceable names engraved on it. Tears welled up and my heart was heavy as I returned for one last look at the exhibits. Peering into a display case I had not previously noticed I saw tiny pieces of wood with names scratched indelibly on their fraying surfaces. The sign said these were left by dying men who wanted the world to know they had been alive, so their fragile existence could be exposed, they just wanted to be remembered. I fled the museum, no longer able to cope with the futility and cruelty of war, of sacrifice and loss, of the devastation wrought on the Polish spirit.
 
Meandering for hours on the streets where the battles had been fought, I discovered many austere Russian buildings, hospitals that looked as though little had been done to improve them in decades, and buildings guarded by large men in black uniforms with big guns. I visited the diplomatic quarter where huge restored buildings were surrounded by beautiful gardens and high fences.  Unexpectedly I was filmed by Polish television after encountering a meeting at the Castle on the Lake between the Prime Ministers of Poland and the Ukraine.
 
The following day I was privileged to visit the headquarters where the survivors of the Warsaw Uprising meet. Humbled, I listened as they shared their anguished memories with me. When one of the women who had fought in the uprising realised I was from New Zealand she grasped my hands and thanked me for what our airmen had done to save their lives and country.  She shared her compelling memories with me and showed me her own precious memorabilia; identity card, photographs taken when she was fighting the Nazis, a badge and armband. These elderly insurgents insisted on giving me some gifts; among them replicas of old posters depicting the uprising. Shyly I hugged and thanked them for their kindness and for allowing me to visit their special refuge.

I drank dark bitter coffee and ate toasted black bread as the train rumbled and shook through the Polish countryside towards Krakow and Auschwitz. I reflected on Warsaw, a city of paradoxes. It is harsh, still Russian, but it’s soul is being revitalised, renewed. I knew I had left my heart in this enigmatic city.

Picture
Memorial to Warsaw Uprising
​
Picture
Part of Memorial to Warsaw Uprising
Picture
Photos on abandoned apartments

​
Picture
Warsaw Museum
​


Add your comments about this story on the Blog page.​
​
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Copyright © 2019
Proudly powered by Weebly