10April 2016
I’ve been seeing this symbol all over Warszawa.
At first I thought it was a tag, a signature maybe some random logo of a local graffiti artist or propaganda.
Today while wandering Old Town Warszawa, I learned something powerful, in regards to that symbol.
It stands for the Warsaw Uprising.
Adam explained to me that during WW11 when the Germans had occupied Poland an underground army formed to retake Poland. WP was used throughout the resistance to bring hope and was a symbol that strengthened the Polish people.
This was literally an underground army because they used the sewer systems to communicate and disrupt German occupations.
The other highly interesting thing Adam taught me, was that the Warsaw Uprising consisted of mainly youth (most likely between the ages of 11- 17). The ones that were too young to fight in the war or the ones left behind because they were not deemed as a threat to the German installations.
It was through these youth insurgents that after a 63 day struggle, beginning on aug 1, 1944 the liberation of the city of Warsaw was achieved.
So when I see this sign around now, I know it’s more than just a tag or some kind of brand – it’s a symbol and reminded to all, of the bravery and cost of freedom.
Warsaw was not liberated. It was TOTALLY distroyed by German air strikes. The insurgents had to capitulate after two months and one day of hopeless fighting the Germans who outnumbered them by thousands. And nobody helped…
Yes, it was a sad thing to learn. I guess what I meant by liberated is that they were able to regain control over old town Warsaw but ultimately Warsaw was completely destroyed and from what I’ve read and learned from locals is that pretty much all the buildings were resurrected in a close to original buildings pre- war. Often using old paintings and photographs to help in rebuilding the architectures! Thank you so much for sharing Dana!