Poland Rediscovered: Kraków, Auschwitz, and Warsaw

Rick Steves’ Europe Travel Guide © 2004 | In the northeast corner of Europe, Poland is one of the largest countries on the Continent. We’ll visit its historic capital, Kraków, side-trip to Wieliczka Salt Mine and Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial, then head for Poland’s modern capital, Warsaw. #ricksteves #ricksteveseurope #poland

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HI I’M RICK STEVES BACK WITH MORE OF THE BEST OF EUROPE. THIS TIME, WE’RE IN POLAND, WITH SUCH A RICH HISTORY AND A PROMISING FUTURE. DZIEN DOBRY. DZIEN DOBRY. ITS UPS AND DOWNS, BUT POLAND HAS BEEN PARTICULARLY HARD HIT THROUGH THE AGES. THANKFULLY, THESE ARE GOOD TIMES FOR POLAND.

IT’S A MEMBER OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, ITS ECONOMY IS THRIVING, AND IT’S NEVER BEEN MORE FUN TO VISIT. POLAND’S TWO MUST-SEE CITIES ARE WARSAW AND KRAKOW. ENJOYING THE HIGHLIGHTS OF POLAND, WE’LL VISIT ITS GRAND CULTURAL CENTER, KRAKOW; MAKE A PILGRIMAGE TO POLAND’S HOLIEST SIGHT;

REMEMBER THE HORRORS OF AUSCHWITZ; DESCEND INTO A MAGICAL SALT MINE; FEEL THE JAZZY BEAT; BE INSPIRED BY WORLD WAR II HEROICS; SLAM DOWN A POLISH TRADITION… WHOA, YEAH! …AND EXPERIENCE THE PHOENIX OF EUROPE, WARSAW.

IN THE NORTHEAST CORNER OF EUROPE, POLAND IS ONE OF THE LARGEST COUNTRIES ON THE CONTINENT. WE’LL VISIT ITS HISTORIC CAPITAL, KRAKOW, SIDE-TRIP TO A SALT MINE AND TO A CONCENTRATION CAMP, THEN HEAD FOR POLAND’S MODERN CAPITAL, WARSAW.

WE START IN KRAKOW. IT’S LIKE THE BOSTON OF POLAND, A CHARMING AND VITAL CITY BUZZING WITH HISTORY, COLLEGE STUDENTS AND TOURISTS. EVEN THOUGH POLAND’S POLITICAL CAPITAL MOVED FROM HERE TO WARSAW 400 YEARS AGO, KRAKOW REMAINS THE COUNTRY’S CULTURAL AND INTELLECTUAL CENTER. THE CITY’S HISTORY IS RICH, ITS SIGHTS ARE FASCINATING,

AND THE PRICES ARE SOME OF EUROPE’S LOWEST. THIS IS A COUNTRY WHERE THE MOST EXPENSIVE CAFE ON THE MOST EXPENSIVE PERCH SERVES DRINKS FOR A FRACTION OF WHAT YOU’D EXPECT. THE CHARM OF TODAY’S KRAKOW LIES IN ITS MEDIEVAL ROOTS.

KRAKOW GREW WEALTHY FROM TRADE IN THE 12th CENTURY. TRADERS PASSING THROUGH WERE REQUIRED TO STOP FOR A FEW DAYS AND SELL THEIR GOODS AT A DISCOUNT. LOCAL MERCHANTS THEN RESOLD THEIR WARES AT A PROFIT AND THE CITY THRIVED. IN THE 13th CENTURY THE TARTARS — A.K.A. THE MONGOLS —

SWEPT IN FROM ASIA AND DESTROYED KRAKOW. RESILIENT KRAKOVIANS TOOK THIS OPPORTUNITY TO REBUILD THEIR CITY WITH A NEAR-PERFECT GRID PLAN, A STRIKING CONTRAST TO THE NARROW, MAZE-LIKE LANES OF MOST MEDIEVAL TOWNS. EVENTUALLY KRAKOW’S POWER WANED.

WARSAW EMERGED AS THE DOMINANT CITY IN POLAND AND KRAKOW BECAME A PROVINCIAL BACKWATER OF THE HABSBURG EMPIRE RULED FROM VIENNA. WHILE WARSAW WAS IN THE SPHERE OF MOSCOW AND, THEREFORE, MORE EASTERN AND CONSERVATIVE, KRAKOW HAS LONG BEEN MORE WESTERN AND LIBERAL. KRAKOW EMERGED FROM WORLD WAR II VIRTUALLY UNSCATHED.

IT SLUMBERED UNDER COMMUNISM UNTIL POLAND WON ITS FREEDOM IN 1989. TODAY, THE CITY IS POLAND’S LEADING TOURIST ATTRACTION, WITH PLENTY OF TOP-NOTCH SIGHTS. AFTER THE TARTARS DESTROYED THEIR CITY, KRAKOVIANS BUILT THIS IMPOSING WALL.

THE BIG, ROUND DEFENSIVE FORT STANDING OUTSIDE THE WALL IS A BARBICAN. IT PROVIDED EXTRA PROTECTION AT THE TOWN’S MAIN GATE. BY THE 19th CENTURY, THE CITY WALL WAS NO LONGER NECESSARY.

LOCALS TORE DOWN MOST OF IT, FILLED IN THE MOAT AND PLANTED TREES. TODAY, THIS DELIGHTFUL AND PEOPLE-FRIENDLY GREENBELT, A PARK CALLED THE PLANTY, CIRCLES KRAKOW’S OLD TOWN. TO GET AWAY FROM THE TOURISTS’ KRAKOW,

BIKE OR HIKE AROUND THE PLANTY AND UP THE PARK THAT LINES THE VISTULA RIVER. IF YOU THINK YOU’RE GOOD AT CHESS, CHALLENGE ONE OF THESE GUYS. NEARBY, THE IMPOSING ST. MARY’S CHURCH, WITH ITS SOARING LOOKOUT TOWER,

HAS LONG BEEN AN ICON OF THE CITY. EACH MIDDAY, CROWDS GATHER FOR A MEDIEVAL MOMENT AS A NUN SWINGS OPEN THE CHURCH’S MUCH-ADORED ALTARPIECE. THIS EXQUISITE GOTHIC POLYPTYCH, AN ALTARPIECE WITH PIVOTING PANELS,

WAS CARVED IN THE LATE 1400s BY VEIT STOSS. ONE OF THE MOST IMPRESSIVE MEDIEVAL WOOD CARVINGS IN EXISTENCE, IT DEPICTS THE DEATH OF THE VIRGIN WITH EMOTION RARE IN GOTHIC ART. ST. MARY’S CHURCH FACES KRAKOW’S

MARVELOUS MARKET SQUARE. ONE OF EUROPE’S MOST GASP-WORTHY PUBLIC SPACES, IT BUSTLES WITH LIFE. THIS SQUARE IS WHERE KRAKOW LIVES. KIDS PRACTICE BREAK DANCING, HORSE CARRIAGES TAKE YOU FOR A RIDE, AND FOLK BANDS ADD TRADITIONAL COLOR.

WHEN BUILT IN THE 13th CENTURY, THIS WAS THE BIGGEST SQUARE IN MEDIEVAL EUROPE. BACK THEN YOU COULDN’T JUST SELL THINGS ANYWHERE. EVERYTHING HAD TO BE SOLD HERE, ON THE MARKET SQUARE. OR IN THE CLOTH HALL. IN THE MIDDLE AGES,

THIS WAS WHERE THE CLOTH SELLERS HAD THEIR MARKET STALLS. TODAY, WHETHER YOU’RE LOOKING FOR A FANCY EGG, SOME TRADITIONAL EMBROIDERY, OR A LITTLE AMBER, IT’S YOUR ONE-STOP SOUVENIR SHOPPING ARCADE. I FIND POLISH CULTURE AND HISTORY

BOTH COMPELLING AND CONFUSING. MY FRIEND AND FELLOW TOUR GUIDE, KASIA DERLICKA, IS JOINING US TO BE SURE WE GET THINGS JUST RIGHT. LET’S GO TO A VERY SPECIAL PLACE. IT’S CLOSE TO EVERY POLISH HEART. IT’S WAWEL, AND POLAND ACTUALLY BEGINS IN WAWEL.

WAWEL HILL IS SACRED GROUND TO THE POLISH PEOPLE, A SYMBOL OF POLISH ROYALTY AND INDEPENDENCE. A CASTLE HAS STOOD HERE SINCE THE 11th CENTURY. TODAY, WAWEL IS THE MOST VISITED SIGHT IN ALL POLAND.

THE HIGHLIGHT OF THE ENTIRE CASTLE COMPL IS THE CATHEDRAL. WAWEL CATHEDRAL IS POLAND’S NATIONAL CHURCH, ITS WESTMINSTER ABBY. TO POLES, THIS CHURCH IS THE NATIONAL MAUSOLEUM. IT HOLDS THE TOMBS OF POLAND’S GREATEST RULERS AND HISTORIC FIGURES.

POLAND IS DEVOUTLY CATHOLIC. SEVENTY-FIVE PERCENT OF ITS NEARLY 40 MILLION PEOPLE ARE PRACTICING CATHOLICS. POPE JOHN PAUL II WAS A HOMETOWN BOY AND SERVED RIGHT HERE AS ARCHBISHOP OF KRAKOW BEFORE BEING CALLED TO ROME. CATHOLICISM DEFINES THE POLES,

HOLDING THEM TOGETHER WHEN NOTHING ELSE COULD. IMAGINE, POLAND WAS CRUNCHED BETWEEN PROTESTANT GERMANY AND ORTHODOX RUSSIA. DURING THE PARTITION IN THE 19th CENTURY, WE DIDN’T EVEN SHOW ON THE MAP, BUT WE SURVIVED, THANKS TO BEING POLISH AND THANKS TO BEING CATHOLICS. AND DURING COMMUNISM,

IT WAS ALSO VERY DIFFICULT AND VERY DARK, BUT WE EXPRESSED OUR FREEDOM AND OUR POLITICAL DISSENT BY GOING TO MASS. COMPARED TO THE REST OF EUROPE, POLISH CHURCHES ARE ALIVE WITH PEOPLE PRACTICING THEIR FAITH. RESPECTFUL TOURISTS ARE WELCOME. SOME COME TO WORSHIP AND OTHERS TO REMEMBER LEADING FIGURES

IN POLISH HISTORY, SUCH AS KAZIMIERZ THE GREAT. IF YOU’RE GOING TO REMEMBER ONE POLISH KING, REMEMBER KAZIMIERZ THE GREAT, WHO RULED POLAND FROM KRAKOW IN THE 14th CENTURY. KAZIMIERZ WAS ONE OF THOSE LARGER-THAN-LIFE MEDIEVAL KINGS WHO LEFT HIS MARK ON ALL FRONTS. HE WAS A GREAT WARRIOR, DIPLOMAT,

PATRON OF THE ARTS, AND WOMANIZER. HIS SCRIBES BRAGGED KAZIMIERZ FOUND POLAND MADE OF WOOD AND LEFT IT MADE OF BRICK AND STONE. HE EVEN MADE IT ONTO THE 50 ZLOTY NOTE. MOST OF ALL, KAZIMIERZ WAS REMEMBERED FOR BEING A TOLERANT AND PROGRESSIVE KING.

IN THE 14th CENTURY, WHEN OTHER NATIONS WERE DEPORTING JEWS, KING KAZIMIERZ ACTIVELY WELCOMED THEM. HE GRANTED THEM SPECIAL BANKING AND TRADING PRIVILEGES AND ESTABLISHED THE LONG-STANDING TRADITION OF POLAND BEING A SAFE HAVEN FOR JEWS IN EUROPE. THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF KAZIMIERZ, NAMED FOR THE KING,

WAS A THRIVING AND AUTONOMOUS JEWISH COMMUNITY FOR CENTURIES WHEN MOST OF THE WORLD’S JEWS LIVED HERE IN POLAND. IN THE 1930s, A QUARTER OF KRAKOW’S POPULATION WAS JEWISH. WHILE FEW JEWS ACTUALLY STILL LIVE HERE, THE SPIRIT OF THE JEWISH TRADITION SURVIVES.

PERHAPS THE BEST WAY TO ENJOY THAT IS AT A KLEZMER DINNER CONCERT. [ lively music playing ] SEVERAL RESTAURANTS OFFER JEWISH MUSIC FROM 19th-CENTURY POLAND WITH THEIR TRADITIONAL CUISINE. AS POLISH AND JEWISH CULTURE MINGLED HERE

FOR SO MANY CENTURIES, IT’S HARD TO DISTINGUISH BETWEEN JEWISH AND POLISH CUISINE. BUT WITH AMBIANCE LIKE THIS, IT’S CLEAR THAT JEWISH HERITAGE HERE IS A RICH ONE. [ applause ] WHILE POLES AND JEWS MANAGED TO LIVE TOGETHER RELATIVELY WELL, THE STORY BECAME A NIGHTMARE

WITH THE RISE OF NAZISM IN THE 1930s. THIS THRIVING JEWISH COMMUNITY, LIKE MOST IN EUROPE, WAS DECIMATED DURING THE HOLOCAUST. THE FRAGILE REMAINS OF THE COMMUNITY, HISTORIC EXHIBITS AND ITS SYNAGOGUES PROVIDE A MEDITATIVE LOOK AT HOW THE TOWN WAS WALLED IN

AND ITS RESIDENTS EVENTUALLY SHIPPED OFF TO NEARBY CONCENTRATIOCAMPS. ULTIMATELY, LESS THAN 10% OF KRAKOW’S JEWS SURVIVED THE WAR AND THE DEATH CAMPS. THE JEWISH CEMETERIES OF KAZIMIERZ WERE DEFILED BY THE GERMANS, BULLDOZED BY NAZI TANKS. HEADSTONES, BROKEN UNDER TANK TREADS,

NOW CREATE A MOVING MOSAIC WALL AND HOLOCAUST MONUMENT. BUT THE MOST POWERFUL HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL, I THINK IN ALL OF EUROPE, IS THE CONCENTRATION CAMP HERE AT AUSCHWITZ, AN HOUR’S DRIVE FROM KRAKOW. AUSCHWITZ WAS THE BIGGEST AND MOST NOTORIOUS CONCENTRATION CAMP IN THE NAZI SYSTEM.

SEEING THE CAMP CAN BE DIFFICULT. BUT AUSCHWITZ VICTIMS AND THEIR FAMILIES WANT TOURISTS TO COME HERE, TO EXPERIENCE THE SCALE AND THE MONSTROSITY OF THE PLACE IN HUMAN TERMS, IN HOPE THAT THE HOLOCAUST WILL NEVER BE FORGOTTEN.

THE NAZIS TURNED THIS ARMY BASE INTO A DEATH CAMP. THEY MURDERED OVER FOUR MILLION EUROPEAN JEWS IN POLAND. OVER A MILLION PEOPLE, THE VAST MAJORITY OF THEM JEWS, WERE SYSTEMICALLY EXTERMINATED HERE AT AUSCHWITZ. THE NOTORIOUS GATE WELCOMED INMATES WITH A CRUEL LIE:

“Arbeit Macht Frei,” WORK WILL SET YOU FREE. FORMER CELL BLOCKS TELL THE STORY. PEOPLE WERE TOLD THEY’D BE STARTING NEW LIVES AND TO BRING LUGGAGE, CLEARLY LABELED WITH THEIR NAMES. AFTER THEY WERE KILLED, EVERYTHING OF VALUE WAS SORTED AND WAREHOUSED.

EYEGLASSES EVOKE HOW INDIVIDUALITY WAS TRASHED. CRUTCHES AND PROSTHETIC LIMBS REMIND US THAT THE FIRST PEOPLE EXTERMINATED WERE MENTALLY AND PHYSICALLY ILL GERMAN CITIZENS. CHILDREN’S CLOTHING; THE NAZIS SPARED NO ONE. AND A SEEMINGLY ENDLESS MOUNTAIN OF SHOES.

IT’S HARD TO COMPREHEND THE NUMBERS. HALLS ARE LINED WITHHOTOGRAPHS OF VICTIMS, EACH MARKED WITH THE DATES OF ARRIVAL AND DATES OF DEATH. INMATES RARELY SURVIVED MORE THAN A COUPLE OF MONTHS. THE CREMATORIUM IS MARKED BY ITS CHIMNEY.

UP TO 700 PEOPLE AT A TIME COULD BE GASSED, BUT IT REQUIRED TWO YS TO BURN THAT MANY BODIES HERE. THE NAZIS DIDN’T LIKE THIS INEFFICIENCY, SO THEY BUILT A FAR BIGGER CAMP TWO MILES AWAY.

AUSCHWITZ II, OR BIRKENAU, WAS A VAST FACTORY OF DEATH, HOLDING 100,000 PEOPLE. A FEW BUILDINGS SURVIVE. TRAIN TRACKS LED EFFICIENTLY PAST THE MAIN BUILDING, INTO THE CAMP, AND TO THE DIVIDING PLATFORM. AND EVALUATED EACH PRISONER AS THEY STEPPED OFF THE TRAIN.

IF HE POINTED TO THE RIGHT, THE PRISONER MARCHED UNKNOWINGLY DIRECTLY TO THE GAS CHAMBER. IF HE POINTED TO THE LEFT, THE PERSON WAS JUDGED STRONG ENOUGH TO WORK AND WOULD LIVE A LITTLE LONGER. IT WAS HERE THAT FAMILIES FROM ALL OVER EUROPE WERE TORN APART FOREVER.

UP TO A THOUSAND WERE PACKED INTO EACH OF THESE BUILDINGS. EACH INMATE HAD AN ID NUMBER, A BARRACK NUMBER AND A BED NUMBER. TWO CHIMNEYS CONNECTED BY A BRICK DUCT PROVIDED A LITTLE HEAT. THE BRICKS ARE WORN SMOOTH BY COUNTLESS INMATES

WHO SAT HERE TO CATCH A LITTLE WARMTH IN THE MIDDLE OF A BITTER POLISH WINTER. I CAN’T IMAGINE HOW COLD THEY MUST HAVE BEEN, WET, HUNGRY AND DRESSED IN RAGS. THE GERMANS BOMBED THE SPRAWLING GASSING AND CREMATION FACILITIES AS THEY RETREATED. THE RUINS STAND AS A MEMORIAL.

THE GAS CHAMBERS, WHERE THE MASS KILLING WAS DONE, WERE DISGUISED AS SHOWERS. PEOPLE WERE GIVEN NUMBERED HOOKS TO HANG THEIR CLOTHES ON, CONNED INTO THINKING THEY WERE COMING BACK. THE NAZIS DIDN’T WANT A PANIC. THEN INMATES WERE PILED INTO THE SHOWER ROOM.

AT BIRKENAU, THE NAZIS GASSED AND CREMATED OVER 4,000 PEOPLE PER DAY. THE CAMP MONUMENT REPRESENTS GRAVESTONES AND THE CHIMNEY OF A CREMATORIUM. PLAQUES, IN EACH OF THE LANGUAGES SPOKEN BY CAMP VICTIMS, EXPLAINED THE PURPOSE OF THIS MEMORIAL. THE MEMORIAL READS,

“A CRY OF DESPAIR AND A WARNING TO HUMANITY.” SINCE LIBERATION DAY IN 1945, MILLIONS HAVE VISITED THIS PLACE. HOPEFULLY, THEY TAKE AWAY A DETERMINATION TO LEARN FROM THE HOLOCAUST AND NEVER LET IT BE REPEATED. DRIVING THROUGH THE COUNTRYSIDE BACK TO KRAKOW REFRESHES TRAVELERS WITH A LOOK

AT TODAY’S PEACEFUL, RURAL POLAND. FEW TRAVELERS TAKE TIME TO SEE THE COUNTRYSIDE. STOP THE CAR, GET OUT, ENJOY AN INTIMATE LOOK AT POLAND’S WELCOMING COUNTRY LIFE. THE SMALL HOUSES ARE TRADITIONALLY USED BY THREE GENERATIONS AT THE SAME TIME.

NINETEENTH-CENTURY HOUSES, THE FEW THAT SURVIVE, OFTEN SPORT COLORFUL STRIPES. BACK THEN, PARENTS ANNOUNCED THAT THEIR DAUGHTERS WERE NOW ELIGIBLE BY GETTING OUT THE PAINT. ONCE THEY SAW THESE BLUE LINES, VILLAGE BOYS WERE WELCOME TO COME A-COURTIN’.

THE REMARKABLE WIELICZKA SALT MINE, JUST OUTSIDE OF KRAKOW, HAS BEEN PRODUCING SALT FOR EIGHT CENTURIES. TODAY, IT’S BUSY NOT WITH MINERS, BUT WITH TOURISTS. AFTER DESCENDING 200 FEET BELOW THE SURFACE, YOU FOLLOW YOUR GUIDE ON A MILE-LONG DOWNHILL STROLL,

GETTING A MEMORABLE PEEK AT LIFE IN THE MINE. IT’S VAST: NINE LEVELS, A THOUSAND FEET DEEP, OVER A HUNDRED MILES OF TUNNELS. FOR CENTURIES, GENERATIONS OF WIELICZKA MINERS SPENT THEIR DAYLIGHT HOURS UNDERGROUND, RARELY SEEING THE SUN.

PROUD MINERS CARVED FIGURES OF GREAT POLES OUT OF THE SALT. YOU’LL SEE LEGENDS FROM THE DAYS OF KING KAZIMIERZ, WHEN ONE-THIRD OF POLAND’S INCOME CAME FROM THESE PRECIOUS DEPOSITS: THE FAMOUS ASTRONOMER COPERNICUS, AND EVEN THE REGION’S FAVORITE SON,

POPE JOHN PAUL II. THE TOTAL NUMBER OF CHAPELS IN THIS MINE IS OVER 20. THIS IS THE OLDEST CHAPEL IN THIS PART OF THE SALT MINE, ST. ANTHONY’S CHAPEL, FROM THE 17th CENTURY. EVERYTHING HERE IS MADE OF SALT. EVEN THE CHANDELIER IS SALT CRYSTAL. VISITORS EXPECT SALT WHITE,

BUT IT’S BLACK, BUT IT’S SALT. IF YOU DON’T TRUST ME, YOU CAN TASTE IT. AND SALT PRESERVES EVERYTHING. TAKE ME AS EXAMPLE. I AM 65 YEARS OLD AND I’M STILL FRESH, STILL YOUNG. THE MINE’S ENORMOUS UNDERGROUND CHURCH, CARVED IN THE EARLY 20th CENTURY, IS STILL USED FOR MASS.

EVERYTHING HERE, INCLUDING THE ORNATE ALTAR AND THE GRAND CHANDELIER, IS HEWN FROM THIS UNDERWORLD OF SALT. WHEN THE TOUR IS OVER, A SMALL BUT INDUSTRIAL-STRENGTH LIFT BEAMS YOU UP. [ banging ] [ clicking ] WHOOOA! [ jazz music playing ] BACK IN KRAKOW,

CAP YOUR DAY IN ONE OF THE TOWN’S MANY JAZZ CLUBS. LIKE MUCH OF POLAND, KRAKOW PULSES WITH COOL JAZZ NIGHTLY. BACK IN THE 1950s, JANUSZ MUNIAK WAS ONE OF THE ORIGINAL POLISH HEP CATS. NOW HE OWNS THE JAZZ CLUB U MUNIAKA

AND JAMS REGULARLY HERE IN A MELLOW CELLAR. AND JAMS REGULARLY HERE IN A MELLOW CELLAR. AFTER A THREE-HOUR TRAIN RIDE FROM KRAKOW, WE ARRIVE IN WARSAW. WARSAW, PRONOUNCED VAR-SHA-VA IN POLISH, IS POLAND’S CAPITAL AND BIGGEST CITY. ITS OUTSKIRTS SPRAWL

WITH COMMUNIST-BUILT APARTMENT BLOCKS. DOWNTOWN HAS A GOTHAM-CITY AMBIANCE, WITH BUSY BOULEVARDS, EXPANSIVE SQUARES AND BLOCKY BUILDINGS. THE PALACE OF CULTURE AND SCIENCE, POLAND’S TALLEST BUILDING AT OVER 700 FEET, IS A WARSAW LANDMARK.

IT WAS A GIFT FROM STALIN IN THE 1950s THAT THE PEOPLE OF WARSAW COULDN’T REFUSE. BECAUSE IT WAS TO BE SOVIET IN SUBSTANCE AND POLISH IN STYLE, SOVIET ARCHITECTS ACTUALLY TOURED POLAND TO ABSORB THE LOCAL CULTURE BEFORE STARTING THE PROJECT. TO SHOW THEIR “GRATITUDE,”

THE PEOPLE OF WARSAW NICKNAMED IT “STALIN’S PENIS.” AND NESTLED IN THE CENTER OF ALL THIS UTILITARIAN CONCRETE ARE PLENTY OF URBAN CHARMS. WARSAW’S ROYAL WAY, A MOSTLY BUSES-AND-TAXIS-ONLY SHOPPING BOULEVARD, IS A LOCAL FAVORITE FOR STROLLING AND BROWSING…

AND ULTIMATELY LEADS YOU TO WARSAW’S HISTORIC OLD TOWN. THE CASTLE LONG SERVED AS A ROYAL PALACE. SIGISMUND III, THE GREAT KING WHO MOVED POLAND’S CAPITAL FROM KRAKOW TO WARSAW IN 1596, STANDS OVERSEEING EVERYTHING. AND THE CITY’S LEGENDARY MERMAID WELCOMES FRIENDS

WHILE KEEPING OUT FOES. THE GRAND CITY OF WARSAW EXPERIENCED MORE THAN ITS SHARE OF HARDSHIPS IN THE 20th CENTURY. AS WITH THE REST OF POLAND, THE REAL TRAGEDIES CAME WITH THE NAZIS AND WORLD WAR II. DURING THE NAZI OCCUPATION, THERE WERE TWO HEROIC UPRISINGS. FIRST, THE JEWISH GHETTO UPRISING;

THEN, ABOUT A YEAR LATER, THE ENTIRE CITY ROSE UP AGAINST THE NAZIS IN THE WARSAW UPRISING. SEVERAL POWERFUL MUSEUMS ARE DEDICATED TO TELLING THE STORY. BY THE 1930s, WARSAW, WITH 350,000 JEWS, WAS ONE OF THE LARGEST JEWISH CITIES IN THE WORLD. THE NAZIS ARRIVED IN 1939.

THEY CRAMMED WARSAW’S JEWS INTO A SINGLE NEIGHBORHOOD AND SURROUNDED IT WITH A WALL. AS MORE JEWISH PEOPLE WERE MOVED IN FROM THE COUNTRYSIDE, WARSAW’S GHETTO WAS SOON THE MISERABLE HOME OF WELL OVER A MILLION PEOPLE. BY 1942, HALF OF THE JEWS IN THE GHETTO

HAD DIED OF DISEASE OR STARVATION. THE NAZIS BEGAN MOVING PEOPLE OUT AT THE RATE OF 5,000 A DAY TO NEARBY DEATH CAMPS LIKE AUSCHWITZ. THE POPULATION OF THE GHETTO WAS DOWN TO ABOUT 60,000 WHEN THOSE WHO REMAINED REALIZED THEY WOULD DIE EVEN IF THEY DID NOTHING. THEY DECIDED TO STAGE A COURAGEOUS UPRISING.

HOPELESSLY OUTGUNNED BY THE NAZIS, THE UPRISING WAS CRUSHED… THE GHETTO WAS DEMOLISHED… AND ITS RESIDENTS WERE KILLED. BECAUSE OF THE FEROCITY OF NAZI HATRED, NOTHING REMAINS OF THE GHETTO EXCEPT THE STREET PLAN

AND THE HEROIC SPIRIT OF THE PEOPLE WHO ONCE LIVED HERE. GHETTO HEROES SQUARE, NOW SURROUNDED BY BLAND SOVIET-STYLE APARTMENT BLOCKS, MARKS THE HEART OF WHAT WAS THE JEWISH GHETTO. THE MONUMENT COMMEMORATES THOSE WHO FOUGHT AND DIED

FOR THE DIGNITY AND FREEDOM OF THE JEWISH NATION, FOR A FREE POLAND, AND FOR THE LIBERATION OF HUMANKIND. ABOUT A YEAR LATER, THE REST OF THE CITY STAGED ANOTHER ILL-FATED UPRISING, THE WARSAW UPRISING. BY 1944, AS THE SOVIET ARMY DREW NEAR, IT WAS BECOMING CLEAR

THE NAZIS’ DAYS IN WARSAW WERE NUMBERED. WITH THE EXPECTATION OF HELP FROM SOVIET TANKS WHICH WERE GATHERING JUST ACROSS THE RIVER, IT SEEMED LIKE THE RIGHT TIME TO ATTACK. THIS MONUMENT RECALLS THE 50,000 POLISH RESISTANCE FIGHTERS, THE BIGGEST UNDERGROUND ARMY IN MILITARY HISTORY,

WHO LAUNCHED A SURPRISE ATTACK ON THEIR NAZI OPPRESSORS. THEY POURED OUT AT THE SEWERS AND CAUGHT THE NAZIS OFF-GUARD, INITIALLY HAVING GREAT SUCCESS. IT WAS RIFLES, KNIVES AND MOLOTOV COCKTAILS AGAINST AIR FORCE, TANKS AND ARTILLERY AS THEY BATTLED COURAGEOUSLY FOR 63 DAYS.

BUT THE NAZIS REGROUPED AND BRUTALLY PUT DOWN THE WARSAW UPRISING. A QUARTER OF A MILLION POLES WERE KILLED. THROUGH ALL THIS, THE SOVIETS SAT HERE, ACROSS THE RIVER. THEY WATCHED AND WAITED. AS THE SMOKE CLEARED AND THE NAZIS RETREATED, THE RED ARMY MARCHED IN

AND CLAIMED THE PILE OF RUBBLE THAT WAS ONCE WARSAW. TO ME, THE THRIVING CITY ITSELF IS THE BEST MEMORIAL TO THOSE WARSAW HEROES. TODAY, AS YOU EXPLORE, IT’S HARD TO IMAGINE THAT BY 1945, NEARLY TWO-THIRDS OF THE CITY’S PREWAR POPULATION WAS DEAD

AND NOT A BUILDING WAS STANDING IN WARSAW’S OLD TOWN. VIRTUALLY EVERYTHING YOU SEE IS REBUILT. BEFORE THE WAR, WARSAW’S OLD TOWN SQUARE WAS ONE OF THE MOST HAPPENING SPOTS IN CENTRAL EUROPE. AND TODAY, EVEN THE HIGGLEDY-PIGGLEDY CHARM

OF THE BUILDINGS HAS BEEN PAINSTAKINGLY RESTORED. THE COLORFUL ARCHITECTURE REMINDS LOCALS AND TOURISTS ALIKE OF THE PREWAR GLORY OF THE POLISH CAPITAL. THE OLD TOWN’S MANY RESTAURANTS PROVIDE A GOOD INTRODUCTION TO POLISH CUISINE, AND CENTRAL TO THAT IS VODKA.

VODKA, AFTER IT’S CHILLED PROPERLY, POURS THICKLY INTO THE GLASS. WE’RE HAVING SOME TRADITIONAL POLISH DISHES THAT GO WELL WITH VODKA: HERRING, COLD CUTS, POLISH PICKLES AND STEAK TARTARE. SO VODKA HAS LONG BEEN PART OF POLISH CULTURE? YES, IT’S A TRADITIONAL POLISH DRINK.

AND ACTUALLY IT MAKES A LOT OF SENSE. IN THE OLD DAYS, WHEN THE WINTERS WERE LONG AND VERY COLD, WE NEEDED IT. IT WAS OUR WARM-UP. IT WAS ESSENTIAL TO SURVIVE THIS HARSH CLIMATE. [ chuckling ] DO YOU KNOW HOW TO DRINK VODKA? SHOW ME. OKAY. FIRST OF ALL, Na zdrowie.

Na zdrowie. Na zdrowie. AND PLEASE DON’T SIP IT. WE DON’T SIP VODKA. IT’S BOTTOMS UP. OKAY? ARE YOU READY? I’M READY. OKAY, LET’S DO IT. Na zdrowie. Na zdrowie. Na zdrowie. OOOO! STRONG? YEAH. NOW WHAT? WE CAN CHASE IT. CHASE IT. OH, MY. [ laughing ]

WHY DON’T YOU SIP IT? I MEAN, IT’S JUST LIKE…WOW! WHAT’S THE QUESTION? SO IT HURTS ONLY ONCE. IT HURT ONLY ONCE, THAT’S FOR SURE. WARSAW’S HUGE IDYLLIC LAZIENKI PARK IS SPRINKLED WITH NEOCLASSICAL BUILDINGS, PEACOCKS AND YOUNG POLES IN LOVE. IT WAS BUILT IN THE 18th CENTURY

BY POLAND’S VERY LAST KING, KING PONIATOWSKI, WHO WANTED IT BOTH FOR HIS OWN SUMMER RESIDENCE, HIS STRIKING PALACE ON THE WATER, AND AS A PLACE FOR HIS CITIZENS TO RELAX. A MONUMENT TO FREDERICK CHOPIN, POLAND’S GREAT ROMANTIC COMPOSER,

GRACES THE PARK’S ROSE GARDEN. CHOPIN SITS UNDER A WIND-BLOWN WILLOW TREE. HE SPENT HIS LAST YEARS IN PARIS, WHERE HE WROTE MOST OF HIS GREATEST MUSIC. BUT LOCALS CHERISH THE THOUGHT THAT CHOPIN’S INSPIRATION CAME

FROM MEMORIES OF WIND BLOWING THROUGH THE WILLOW TREES OF HIS NATIVE LAND: POLAND. THE RESILIENCE OF POLAND’S CULTURE AND THE WARMTH OF ITS PEOPLE INSPIRE ME. AND LEARNING FROM THIS COUNTRY’S RECENT PAST, I’M REMINDED WE HAVE MUCH TO BE THANKFUL FOR AND MUCH TO BE VIGILANT AGAINST.

TRAVEL ENGAGES ME WITH OUR WORLD AND HELPS ME FEEL FULLY ALIVE. THAT’S WHY I LIKE IT. THANKS FOR JOINING US. I’M RICK STEVES. UNTIL NEXT TIME, KEEP ON TRAVELIN’.