Warsaw Uprising Museum - Warsaw - TravBuddy

Winter weather in Warsaw is conducive to plenty of indoor activities. There are numerous theatres, shopping centers, indoor sports centers and interesting museums. For me, this is a perfect time of the year to explore museums. One museum which is a particularly good place to gain a better understanding of this city and Poland in general is the Warsaw Uprising Museum.

Warsaw suffered enormously during World War II, and after the war, communist rule dealt the city a further blow. The Nazi’s goal was to completely raze the city, and they managed to level nearly 90% of all buildings here. Now that Poland is part of the European Union, Warsaw is growing and progressing rapidly. The suffering of the past is still palpable when you explore the city, but people here, while not forgetting the past, have their eyes on the future.

The Warsaw Uprising Museum is a relatively recent addition to the city's cultural attractions. Its objective is to share and commemorate the unbelievably tragic and violent story of the 63 days of armed resistance that the residents of Warsaw undertook against the Germans in 1944. It’s also gathering first-hand accounts of the Uprising from those who lived through it, while they are still alive. (Note: this is different from the Warsaw Jewish Ghetto uprising of 1943).

The exhibits on display range from aircraft to weapons used by the insurgents to uniforms and even love letters, thus presenting a full picture of the men, women and children involved. There is also a great deal of biographical information about key participants on both sides. The exhibits are interactive and informative. Most everything is presented both in English and in Polish. There are also a couple of fantastic documentaries about the Uprising including real newsreel footage. The exhibits are set up so that extremely graphic and unpleasant pictures are not visible to little kids and you are warned in advance in case you don’t want to see them.

A visit to this museum gives a great deal of insight into just exactly what happened to the city and its people during the Second World War. It also sheds light on why the city is as it is today – both physically and character-wise. This isn’t a pleasant morning stroll through a museum but a pretty depressing look at just how terrible people can be to each other, but I recommend this visit highly for anyone who is interested in understanding this city.

About the Uprising… only about 10% of the insurgents were properly armed and thus were completely crushed by the Nazis. Though the Russian Red Army was right across the river from Warsaw, they refrained from helping the Poles and didn’t allow the Allies to use their airfields to aid the Poles. As a result, about 180 thousand civilians were killed, 20 thousand Polish soldiers were killed, 25 thousand were left wounded and 16 thousand were taken prisoner. About 26 thousand German soldiers were killed.

Admission costs 4 zlotys except on Sundays when admission is free.