WWW

On my first day in Warsaw, I spent a couple of hours wandering around the Warsaw Uprising Museum* wondering when they were going to mention the Jews. They never did and that's how I found out about the second (and arguably more interesting) Warsaw uprising. Good story. Although the Warsaw Ghetto uprising doesn't have its own museum, it does have another one of those ground-level memorials I like so much - this strip inlaid into the pavement, which traces the former path of the ghetto wall.

In contrast to Krakow, which suffered very little physical damage during WWII, Warsaw's old town was basically annihilated, partly during the fighting and partly as a giant "fuck you" to the Polish resistance once the Nazis regained control of the city. It's been so beautifully rebuilt that UNESCO put it on the World Heritage list, but in parts of the city that were not totally destroyed and rebuilt, you can still see the bullet holes.

Later, I was watching Polish MTV (par-tay!) and discovered this topical music video from a Swedish band called Sabaton. It's essentially a history lesson packaged as a rock song, but I like it; it's totally going on my mp3 player.

*side note about the Warsaw Uprising Museum: it was the most confusing museum I've ever been to and not just because I didn't know there was a Warsaw uprising until I visited it. Four massive floors with no clear plan and soooo many unnecessary interactive elements (open this drawer! slide this panel! pull this lever! push this button!). I hate it when a museum with so much interesting information ends up confusing me into boredom instead.