Dear Bo,
I absolutely agree with you that Poland lost millions of intelligent guys from all classes and walks of life during the uprisings, First World War, the Second World War, the Stalinist purges and the terror and oppressive operations of the Stalinist Urząd Bezpieczeństwa (1945 - 1954) and the communist Służba Bezpieczeństwa (1956-1989) secret police of the Polish peoples republic.
The elimination of the Polish intelligentsia (teachers, professors, priests, Polish nobles -magnateria, szlachta, the Polish aristocracy-, physicians, social workers, judges, military veterans, artists, writers, poets, journalists, businessmen and university students) by the Intelligenzaktion (Intelligentsia action) (1939–1940) by
Nazi Germany was and is devastating for the level of
the Polish cities, universities, cultural life, sciences, economy, education and civilization in the Post war years, the late 20th century and today.
Bonobo, my mother told me that due to
the Second World War (September 1939 -17 January 1945 )
the Warsaw intelligentsia was eliminated by bombardments (September 1939), the
the Intelligenzaktion (1939–1940),
łapanka's (roundups/Dutch: "
razzia's"; 1939-1945),
the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising (19 April – 16 May 1943; 56,065 killed of which approximately 36,000 deported to extermination camps (German estimate)) which eliminated
the significant Jewish element of
the Warsaw intelligentsia and
elite, 265,000
jews of
the Warsaw Ghetto died in
the Treblinka extermination camp, 42,000 died in
the Majdanek concentration and extermination camp and 92,000 died
inside the Ghetto, with
Jewish expellees from
Germany,
Czechoslovakia and
other occupied countries. Last but not least I have to mention
the Warsaw Uprising in which
150,000–200,000 civilians were killed, and
700,000 Varsovians were expelled from the city.
My mother told me that Warsaw wasn't Warsaw after the war. It became a provincial city, because a large part of the original city population was eliminated or expelled from the city and many never came back. Warsaw became an un-Varsovian city , with people from rural area's, other Polish towns or cities populating the city. The orginal aristocratic (both Sanation [Polish:
Sanacja] supporters and oponents), academical, middle class (both Narodowa Demokracja, ND ["Endecja"] and Polska Partia Socjalistyczna supporters, Stronnictwo Pracy) and the skilled and the unskilled organised working class of Warsaw (
Polska Partia Socjalistyczna people, the Polish Teachers' Union [Polish:
Związek Nauczycielstwa Polskiego,
ZNP, also translated as Union of Polish Teachers, Polish Teachers' Association, Association of Polish Teachers] and
the General Jewish Labour Bund in Poland [
Ogólno-Żydowski Związek Robotniczy "Bund" w Polsce].
In 1844
Poland, the term
intelligencja, identifying the intellectuals of society, first was used by the philosopher
Karol Libelt, which he described as a status class of people characterised by intellect and Polish Patriotism; qualities of mind, character, and spirit that made them natural leaders of
the modern Polish nation. That the intelligentsia were aware of their social status and of their duties to society: Educating the youth with the Patriotic objective to restore
the Republic of Poland; preserving
the Polish language; and love of the Fatherland.
Nonetheless, the writers
Stanisław Brzozowski and
Tadeusz Boy-Żeleński criticised
Libelt's ideological and messianic representation of
a Polish republic, because it originated from
the social traditionalism and
reactionary conservatism that pervade
the culture of Poland, and so impede socio-economic progress. Consequent to
the Imperial Prussian,
Austrian,
Swedish and
Russian Partitions of
Poland, the imposition of Tsarist cultural hegemony caused many of the political and cultural élites to participate in
the Great Emigration (1831–70).
After the Invasion of Poland (1 September 1939), by
Nazi Germany and
the Soviet union, in occupied
Poland each side proceeded to eliminate any possible resistance leader. In their part of
occupied Poland, the Nazis began
the Second World War (1939–45) with
the extermination of the Polish intelligentsia, by way of the military operations of the Special Prosecution Book-Poland, the German
AB-Aktion in Poland,
the Intelligenzaktion, and the
Intelligenzaktion Pommern. In their part of
occupied Poland,
the Soviet Union proceeded with
the extermination of the Polish intelligentsia with operations such as
the Katyn massacre (
1940), during which
university professors,
physicians,
lawyers,
engineers,
teachers,
writers and
journalists were murdered.
So, next to the losses of life of Polish academical trained people in the insurrections, uprisings, world wars, purges and Nazi and Stalinist murder and terror campaigns a lot of intelligent Polish people were lost to France, England (the United Kingdom/Great Britain) and the USA. Only a few, like Adam Zamoyski (
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Zamoyski ) and others returned to Poland and delivered their contribution to the country and nation of their ancesters.
Although you have a point Bonobo in saying "The next generations of smart ones are not enough to fill that gap of the millions of intelligent guys that were murdered during these risings and wars" I hope still that during the days of
the Polish Peoples Republic (with the intelligentsia of the
KOR and
Solidarność dissident opposition movement, and even some
PZPR peasant and
worker families children who became student, and later part of
a reform movement and sometimes even
dissidents and part of the
Samizdat (-like
Adam Michnik, the son of a
communist father Ozjasz Szechter and
communist mother,
Helena Michnik, and a step-brother on his mother's side,
Stefan Michnik, who was
a Stalinist military judge) created
the new intelligentsia in
Poland.
You are right that millions of intelligent professors, teachers, artists, scientists, philosophers, writers, poets, gifted musicians, theatre playwrights and actors and actresses can't be replaced. Often, because you had families with a professional base. That families, that genes, that dna is lost. But I hope that in the last 70 years, despite communism that professors, teachers, trainers, instructors, coaches, intelligent parents, grandparents -helping parents-, Akela's (scounting leaders), guides, role models, uncles and aunts and others raised new generations of kids, teenagers, young adolescent university and vocational university students.
I hope that new generations of scientists, economists, political scientists, philosophers, sociologists, anthropologists, psychologists, research journalists, historians, psycho analysts, art historians, art critics, art curators, art dealers and gallery owners, museum directors, entrepreneurs with a mecenas (Mecenas sztuki) and philanthropist side to them are still present in
Poland and play a part in
Poland's part of the world culture, world community and universal culture of the West in general and continental Europe in particular, because Poland is part of that Europe. And next to them middle class people with their shops,
Polish farmers, skilled
Polish workers and Polish civil servants.
I hope that today
Warsaw is different than in 1946, 1967 (when my mother left
Warsaw and
Poland for good), and 1984 and 1987 when I saw it. The last time I saw
Warsaw was in August 2006. And the
Warsaw of 2006 was certainly better and more exiting and more cosmopolitan and international than the
Warsaw of 1946, 1967, 1984 and 1987. Next to the Palace of culture and around it a new and exiting forest of new architectural constructions in the shape of Skyskrapers was built. And I loved that modern Warsaw. I also saw that in the periphery of Warsaw new large apartment building neighbourhoods were built and I loved that expansion and growth of Warsaw too. That it became and becomes larger and less provincial despite the political climate in
Poland. I loved that week in August 2006 in
Warsaw despite the fact that I had to leave it too soon.
I loved seeing
Kraków in
April 2004 and seeing that there were new corporate, commercial business area's outside the city center, with modern car parks, buildings and the fact that the higjways around
Kraków were better, more modern and Western-European in quality (comparable to West-German, French and Dutch highways) and not in the terrible shabby Polish Peoples Republic state some of the highways in 2004
Poland in the border region with Germany still were. I was shaking in the tourbus back to the Netherlands in that border region due to the primitive concrete plate highway with big holes in it. Kraków and Warsaw were nicer than that terrible shabby border region and also better than the dirty and polluted Katowice we drove through on our way to
Kraków. I was really impressed Bo by the quality of the cultural life in these 2 large Polish cities. The
Poles had improved these cities.
Warsaw was clean. Buildings looked renovated and better than the Berlin buildings I saw in
Berlin in the summer of 2005.
Berlin looked more shabby and unfinished and strange than
Warsaw.
Warsaw was a beautiful and pleasant city in 2006. I loved the Old town, loved the various churches (Franciscan, Dominican, and other churches),
the Holy Cross Basilica in ulica Krakowskie Przedmieście,
the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary and of St. Joseph also in ulica Krakowskie Przedmieście, the
St Anne’s Church, the Catholic center of the student community of Warsaw in the Krakowskie Przedmieście,
the Archicatedral Basilica of St John the Baptist in Kanonia, and if you walk along the Royal Route towards
the Łazienki Royal Park, you will pass by the Three Crosses Square which is dominated by Warsaw’s counterpart of the ancient Roman Pantheon,
the St Alexander’s Church. Further you have the St Augustine’s Church in ulica Nowolipki, the
Nożyk Synagogue in the Twarda 6, on the right hand side of the Palace of Culture and Science on plac Defilad 1. I loved the Pałac na Wyspie in the Łazienki Park in Łazienki Królewskie. I saw a group of Kraków Art Academy (Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts) students drawing the park, stone statues, bridges and the palace over there. As an old Fine art student I loved to see them work and I saw Polish workers working on restaurating sculptures and elements of that palace there. I spend many hours in that palace and park there that day. Next to that I visited the National art gallery, the Chopin museum on that hill, the army museum and some Modern art galleries in the Warsaw city center.
That there is still life in Warsaw shows these 2 klezmer video's in the Nożyk Synagogue in WarsawThat is Polish civilization Bo, that they rebuilt the old city of Warsaw, built a new city center around the Palace of Culture and the fact that the city had great residential area's, subburbs, Museums, art galleries, boulevards, squares, parks, architecture and a vibrant city life. I hope that Warsaw will keep growing and that the old and new will be able to exist next to each other in the future.
Cheers,
Pieter
