Category: Fulbright – Szczecin Poland

A bit of early 20^th century history:  With the establishment of Poland in 1918, the mostly-German city of Danzig became an isolated “free city” surrounded and partly administrated by Poland.  In the 1930s the German population here became heavily Nazified and, coordinated with the German invasion of Poland, rose up and attacked the Polish population.  In the post office were about 49 civilians who improvised a defense of the building.  They held out for 14 hours, eventually retreating to the basement, where gasoline was poured onto them and lit to force a surrender.  The survivors were then marched through the city, where the German spat and threw rotten vegetables at them, this on the way to their execution.

This is the post office that they defended, with a monument nearby.  The Germans, once in control, treated the Poles very badly.  When the Russians came and Poland was reestablished as a nation, though now occupied by Russians, the Poles threw the Germans out.  They only come back as tourists.  The Germans never appreciated early on before and during the war what the consequences of their behavior would be should the war be lost.  This building, which I think shows the Polish determination against the Germans more than anything else in the country – houses a small museum but seems to be generally unused and not very well maintained.

There is much new construction happening in downtown Gdańsk.  There are ten cranes in this scene (a couple are behind the trees).  The second picture is of the train station – such beautiful buildings!

This is the challenge of reading Polish.  A train stop – note that there are only two vowels.

Kate and I love farmers markets, and had much to do with the establishment of the original farmers market in Caribou, which later moved to the Presque Isle Mall.  We came onto this Market in Gdynia.  Lots and lots of beautiful food, being sold by the people who raised the crops.  These markets are open all week long.

Another real bicycle, this in Gdynia.

Statue of Antoni Abraham, a writer who promoted Pomeranian culture.

We went to Gdynia hoping to find more old architecture, but Gdynia is a more modern city and thus less interesting to us.  But this is an interesting statue, dedicated to those who have emigrated out of the region.  Note the dog being left behind.  Very evocative.

This is a sign at a tram stop in Gdańsk.  In Polish this reads:  “This is not my cap. You are invited to Canada.”

On the way to Gdynia, I saw a small iron bridge in a Gdańsk park, and having some time before the train arrived, hiked there to get some pictures.  My guess is that this is circa 1840s to 1850s, in other words, very old.  I have seen a couple of early iron bridges in England, but know of no existing bridge of similar age in the US.  Simply beautiful, to those who like this kind of thing (I like this kind of thing).

Andrzej gives me a Polish gasoline iron (actually a trade, I will send him something interesting from the US when I return).  The iron is shown here on the counter in my apartment, and Kate took a picture with “my” and “her” irons for comparison.   This is quite large at 38 cm (15 inches) long, with a large bronze gasoline tank.  I am guessing maybe 1920s.