Silesia
I have always wanted to go to Silesia. It’s the part of Germany that got given to the Poles after 1945. This was partly to compensate them for the chunk of eastern Poland which Stalin sliced off and awarded to himself. (More about this in a future post!) Suffice to say that the Poles were not best pleased since the bits they lost were historically and culturally Polish and not Russian. Imagine England south of the Thames and east of the Tamar being handed over to France and you’ll get some idea!
If you have ever wondered why the Poles hate and fear the Russians, this is one of the reasons. Here’s another …
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This monument can be found in Wroclaw. (Pronounce it “Rrrrots-waff” with a rolling R and you’ll be close!) Maybe not the most subtle of memorials, it commemorates the thousands of Polish officers who were murdered by the NKVD and GRU (Stalin’s secret police and Red Army intelligence units) after the conquest of Eastern Poland by Stalin in 1940.
Before and during WW2 however, Wroclaw was the capital of western Silesia and had the German name of Breslau. Even today, it is strikingly German in appearance with medieval buildings which could be in Bremen or Hamburg or Danzig.
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So if Breslau was German, what happened to all the German inhabitants? One part of the answer is that they were cleared out after 1945 by the Poles, bag and baggage, and replaced by Poles from the east who had no intention of being part of the USSR. Even before then however, most had been forced out by the Nazis. Hitler decided to make Breslau a “Festung Stadt” (fortress city) to try to hold up the advance of the Red Army. The local Nazis forced 60 000 inhabitants to move west. On foot. In winter. In temperatures which were consistently below zero in that part of Eastern Europe.
The Red Army of course, simply laid siege to the city with some of their ample forces and the rest moved around it. So much for Hitler’s strategic genius. The local Nazis then escaped at the last minute by dint of being flown out by aircraft which landed on one of the cities wider boulevards. The remaining defenders were left to their fate. Later in the trip, I chatted to a German guy who told me his grandmother had been a refugee from Silesia. All I could do was sympathise.
Some 1945 and "NOW" pics ...
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Another attraction I visited in Wroclaw was the Raclavice Panorama. It’s a 19th century painting of a famous Polish victory over, you’ve guessed it, the Russians. It was formerly based in Lviv in eastern Poland but it too was moved west after 1945. It is based in a circular building and the canvas shows the battle as a panorama of the landscape. A few regular Polish troops plus several thousand peasants armed with scythes surprised and cut to pieces a Russian army! There’s an audio guide in English. It contains some unintentionally humorous moments … “The Russian commander looks rather concerned as the Polish peasants overcome his troops and move towards him.” Concerned! Several hundred Russian hating Poles, with razor sharp scythe blades!
The Panorama is heavily promoted and very popular. Visitors have to book slots in groups throughout the day. I had to wait an hour or so. No hardship as the national museum was only a couple of hundred yards away. It contains a collection of mediaeval church carvings. That may sound a bit boring but believe me, the workmanship is amazing.
[/URL][/IMG]It’s also a reminder of what churches across Europe looked like before the reformation and us Proddies started smashing up all this idolatrous stuff!.
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When I left the museum, I picked up my bag and asked the English speaking attendant where I could get a coffee:
“Government building. Left across road.”
“Pardon?”
“Government building. Left across road.”
“Really? I can get a coffee there?”
“Yes. Third floor. Restaurant.”
And so it turned out. I simply walked in to the regional government HQ and took a lift to the top floor. I not only enjoyed a coffee but went back later for a bowl of soup and a plate of cheese and spinach pirogi. Delicious and only a couple of quid!
I have always wanted to go to Silesia. It’s the part of Germany that got given to the Poles after 1945. This was partly to compensate them for the chunk of eastern Poland which Stalin sliced off and awarded to himself. (More about this in a future post!) Suffice to say that the Poles were not best pleased since the bits they lost were historically and culturally Polish and not Russian. Imagine England south of the Thames and east of the Tamar being handed over to France and you’ll get some idea!
If you have ever wondered why the Poles hate and fear the Russians, this is one of the reasons. Here’s another …
This monument can be found in Wroclaw. (Pronounce it “Rrrrots-waff” with a rolling R and you’ll be close!) Maybe not the most subtle of memorials, it commemorates the thousands of Polish officers who were murdered by the NKVD and GRU (Stalin’s secret police and Red Army intelligence units) after the conquest of Eastern Poland by Stalin in 1940.
Before and during WW2 however, Wroclaw was the capital of western Silesia and had the German name of Breslau. Even today, it is strikingly German in appearance with medieval buildings which could be in Bremen or Hamburg or Danzig.
So if Breslau was German, what happened to all the German inhabitants? One part of the answer is that they were cleared out after 1945 by the Poles, bag and baggage, and replaced by Poles from the east who had no intention of being part of the USSR. Even before then however, most had been forced out by the Nazis. Hitler decided to make Breslau a “Festung Stadt” (fortress city) to try to hold up the advance of the Red Army. The local Nazis forced 60 000 inhabitants to move west. On foot. In winter. In temperatures which were consistently below zero in that part of Eastern Europe.
The Red Army of course, simply laid siege to the city with some of their ample forces and the rest moved around it. So much for Hitler’s strategic genius. The local Nazis then escaped at the last minute by dint of being flown out by aircraft which landed on one of the cities wider boulevards. The remaining defenders were left to their fate. Later in the trip, I chatted to a German guy who told me his grandmother had been a refugee from Silesia. All I could do was sympathise.
Some 1945 and "NOW" pics ...
Another attraction I visited in Wroclaw was the Raclavice Panorama. It’s a 19th century painting of a famous Polish victory over, you’ve guessed it, the Russians. It was formerly based in Lviv in eastern Poland but it too was moved west after 1945. It is based in a circular building and the canvas shows the battle as a panorama of the landscape. A few regular Polish troops plus several thousand peasants armed with scythes surprised and cut to pieces a Russian army! There’s an audio guide in English. It contains some unintentionally humorous moments … “The Russian commander looks rather concerned as the Polish peasants overcome his troops and move towards him.” Concerned! Several hundred Russian hating Poles, with razor sharp scythe blades!
The Panorama is heavily promoted and very popular. Visitors have to book slots in groups throughout the day. I had to wait an hour or so. No hardship as the national museum was only a couple of hundred yards away. It contains a collection of mediaeval church carvings. That may sound a bit boring but believe me, the workmanship is amazing.
When I left the museum, I picked up my bag and asked the English speaking attendant where I could get a coffee:
“Government building. Left across road.”
“Pardon?”
“Government building. Left across road.”
“Really? I can get a coffee there?”
“Yes. Third floor. Restaurant.”
And so it turned out. I simply walked in to the regional government HQ and took a lift to the top floor. I not only enjoyed a coffee but went back later for a bowl of soup and a plate of cheese and spinach pirogi. Delicious and only a couple of quid!