Warsaw uprising and the history of the jews

Today was packed with museums, walking and 90 degree weather.

I'm not sure if I've made it clear before how I struggle to exist when it's hot. All of my clothes when I even think it may be hot, are now dry fit. (Learned that the hard way in the Amazon jungle).  So our one big day in warsaw and it's 90 degrees. The most north I'll be all trip and it's 90 degrees. And of course at 8pm I get a notification on my phone that Warsaw will be 18 degrees cooler today, AND FOR THE REST OF THE WEEK.  Miserable.

But I digress. Dad had quite a time trying to figure out where we were going and how to get us there. I realized later that he has little experience with public transport, whereas I have a fairly vast experience both domestic and international. So when I get to something, I think "what would I expect that to be in the US?" And I usually figure it out. But dad, and I'm about to get educational for a minute, doesn't have that literacy. So when he tries to navigate the system he's not simply transferring knowledge, he's also creating the schema. Kinda like a kid who immigrated to the US, but whose home country doesn't have compulsory education. The kid can't learn how to write argumentatively, as a transfer of information because he never learned it in her own home language.  (note the intentional changing of pronouns).  So I took over as Captain of transport and off we went.

We first went to the Warsaw uprising museum. It was about Warsaw against the Russians, or the Germans? After 2 hours neither dad or I had that straight. It did largely ignore jews, treating them as US museums often treat natives. Being marginalized is something I'm not used to  and I'm surprised they did that in this museum, because there was a Warsaw ghetto uprising as well and there were a ton of jews living here (30k in the ghetto), but at the next museum we began to learn why.

The polin museum, is a history of Jewish poles, starting more than a thousand years ago and in 8 drawn out, but very interesting epochs lands at present day. And as my dad summarized, "there history of the jews follow a similar pattern, they settle, are first marginalized, then brought in and a golden age is reached. But then something happens and they are removed or go back to being marginalized. And the cycle repeats."  Through parts of the middle ages they were protected by royalty and we're depended on for the economy.  There were several acts of legislation created to protect jews or preach general tolerance. At one point they were even accused of having a too perfect life, even though they couldn't even vote!!!  Poland was not poland for much of its history, being partitioned off in the 17th century, and then the issues in both world War 1 and world War 2.  The country kept having to be put back together. So the status of jews were not always at the forefront of thought, except when they were scapegoated. 

I could go on, but I'll stop for now with this final thought. Even though auschwitz-birkenau is obviously more horrific, for some reason it doesn't have a visceral affect on me it probably should. I don't see myself in the people or the stories.  It seems almost crazy that something like that could happen once, let alone twice.  I think knowledge about it, has truly become so common place, that never forget is our current and like future reality. However the ghetto, and being occupied, or being trapped in your own city is a process that has happened over and over since time emortal(is that the right word?).  I do put myself in their shoes, think at what point should I have left to avoid the horror, or who would I have been once the rounding up was real. Would I have been a subversive?  Would I have gone underground to save myself? Or would I have joined the Jewish police, who's job was to keep the peace and assist the occupiers. I'd hope I wouldn't be the latter, but I don't know what I would have done if push came to shove, and I'm desperate and all I have are my choices.

After that we grabbed some dinner, took a brief jaunt through old town and back to the hotel.

Steps-19k
Tired-7/10 (due to heat and reading so many placards)
Food-hotel and pierogis!!!!!