Halloween is barely noticed by Poles in Warsaw. A few pumpkins were lit in restaurants beconing tourists or festive-minded site see-ers like ourselves on October 31. However, the cold, crisp night air didn't detract thousands of Poles from paying respects with lit candles and flowers on November 1, All Saints Day to neighborhood cemeteries.
We walked about 4 kilometers from our apartment and back to a large cemetery with the Stuckis. Prior to our late night trek, they showed us how to make gnochi (amazing Italian potato noodle fare coated in gorgonzola, butter and pecans--delicious! Paula Dean's never made anything better!) What could be better than memories of that delicious meal? Nothing, but our friends' photos (our camera was out of juice) which they were kind enough to share with us provide equally wonderful mementos of that Polish holiday.
On the way to the cemetery we passed the Monument for the Fallen and Murdered in the East. It commemorates all the victims of the Soviets who after they had invaded Poland in 1939, deported the population of Eastern Poland to Gulags and killed about 30 000 P.O.Ws.
The bronze cast monument includes a piece of a railway track and a wagon similar to those used by the Soviets for deportations.
Many westerners are only aware of the cruelty of the Nazi occupation in Poland. The Poles, however, are very mindful of the extreme conditions that existed thoughout history under the occupying forces of the former Soviet Union. Leading up to WWII and by the end of the War, Poland lost more than 7 million people to extreme cruelty. This includes the 3 milliion Polish Jews.
No comments:
Post a Comment