One day I was rushing in the city, just trying to fix some things. I was looking around and thinking how bad it is, that after the war Warsaw was not restored properly. The main part of the center full of ruins of old apartment houses was not restored - there was a decision of removing them and place there a huge building Palace of Culture called 'Gift from Stalin'.
(Josef Stalin was horror Soviet Union leader 1922-53).
At that time (in 50-ties) it was said to be an option of either a metro system, or the palace. The people wanted a metro, so Stalin gave them the palace :(
There is a concert hall, where are many performances taking place. The first band visiting Poland behind Iron Courtain was The Rolling Stones - I was kid at that time, but since then they had many fans in Poland. My mom was one of them :) so, when I was a kid I used to hear Rolling Stones as lullabys :)
Still today the center of the City is not rebuild, because there are too many different ideas and there is no settlement. The ideas oscillate between removing Stalin's gift completely through leaving it and just hide with skyscrapers to expose it nicely as important historical monument.
I really do not understand why to remove it - whatever history is connected with it, it is still part of the past and history, right?
I just realise just another Laugh of the History - that huge guitar as big as the Palace of Culture. The first one you can find here.
So, finally I came to last subject announced in the headline. I decided to make separate blog about interesting places in Poland, that are either off the regular tourist tracks or a differet look at the known places. It is not ment to be a place for regular publishing, rather if I spot something or learn something interesting I will publish at My Poland. You can always find it on blogroll on the left bar 'other interesting blogs'.
Please feel invited :)
10 comments:
Ewa, this new blog will be good. I am always intersted in hearing about your country. It seems so exotic and far away from here...and it is.
Hi Ewa,
This photo certainly says quite a lot about how the world has changed, doesn't it?
Heading over to your new blog now!
Robin at Bumblebee
What a great idea! I agree with you that the Stalin building should be kept for its historical significance. Too many people think that if you get rid of the reminders, that the past never happened. Foolishness! I believe in the old saying, "Those who forget their past are condemned to repeat it," or Bob Marley's version, "If you know your history, then you will know where you're coming from."
What a splendid idea! I've never been to Poland, but of course i know quite a bit of what your country has been through. i one of these days I'm going to visit your part of the world. /Katarina
I love it Ewa, I have always had a fascination for your country.
Ewa your new blog sounds like a wonderful idea. I'll be sure to visit it as I don't know enough about Poland. In my neighborhood we have a very controversial statue of Lenin. It was brought back after the Velvet Revolution by a teacher from our area who had been in Poprad teaching English. He found the statue in a scrapyard. The importation of this statue to Seattle caused huge demonstartions. I was not living here at the time. The statue is not vandalized in any way but it is dressed up and decorated according to the seasons and holidays--Christmas, Halloween, Gay Pride, etc. The teacher who rescued the statue did so because he felt it was a work of art that should be preserved--Lenin is depicted as a revolutionary leader rather than a philosopher. This statue has caused me to think much about history and how we choose to remember the past.
Great! I will definitely come and see your new blog. I have never been to Poland, but I'm very interested in it, and this is a very good way to see it - from home!
"Still today the center of the City is not rebuild, because there are too many different ideas and there is no settlement." - This sentence really made me laugh! It's exactly the same situation in Helsinki - not due to war, but due to the people... They can never decide anything, and finally they build everything too small (modern art museum, for example) or notice in the middle of the work, that they don't have enough money... The city center is just one big hole all the time!
I just read all the entries at My Poland, and each one is so interesting! I'll be back to visit often.
This is all new to me so I found it very interesting, Ewa.
It's been said that Poland is a unique country in how it's a marriage of West and East: euro and slavic. Your photo brings this to visual life. Maybe a good name for an industrial pop music group: "Stalin's Hard Rock Palace"?
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