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Published on November 2, 2007

During the Second World War, Poland fell under Nazi rule. The capital Warsaw was almost depopulated, with nearly 90 per cent of its buildings destroyed. The original building that now houses the museum was formerly a tramway power station. It was converted into the museum in 2004 before undergoing a revamp a year later. Packed with interactive displays, photographs, video footage and miscellaneous displays, the museum leaves a deep impression on visitors.

The museum focuses on research and activities directly related to the 1944 Warsaw Uprising and to the legacy of the Polish Underground State. It gives us a glimpse of daily life in Warsaw during the brutal wartime years.

On August 1, 1944, at precisely 5pm, the Poles in Nazi-occupied Warsaw rose up against the invader. A clock in the museum is fixed at this crucial moment in time. The Poles sensed that they could garner a victory against the German army, which was under pressure on all sides from the Allied forces. More importantly, the Soviet Red Army had reached the city limits of Warsaw. The Russians were camped on the east bank of the Vistula in the suburb of Praga. With the combined forces of Poland's Home Army and the Red Army, it seemed the right moment to finally liberate the capital.

The Poles made initial gains, capturing control of the Old City and some parts of the suburbs. But the Germans fought back fiercely. Strangely enough, the Red Army stood still and did nothing to come to Warsaw's rescue. What was going on in the mind of Stalin at that moment? Even now, historians are not quite sure as to why the Russians did not move in to help finish off the Germans and prevent more Polish blood being shed.

The resistance lasted several weeks before Polish commanders were forced to capitulate in the face of escalating civilian casualties. Thousands of Warsaw residents died in the fighting. The Germans struck back with great vengeance. Hitler was so angry, he ordered further destruction of the city. One building after another was brought down by dynamite. The cultural heritage of Warsaw, already almost gone, was wiped out within weeks.

If you visit Warsaw now, you can see that most of the original buildings have been rebuilt and renovated in their original designs. Much of the salvageable debris was used in the reconstruction thanks to the drawings and documents that were saved from the carnage.

In a corner of the museum, I came across a picture of a handsome man. He was Wladyslaw Szpilman, a famous Jewish pianist who worked for Warsaw Radio. He was a great musician who championed the compositions of Chopin. He went through the terrible suffering of the Nazi occupation and witnessed the Jews being forced to live in barbaric conditions in the Warsaw Ghetto. Countless thousands of Polish Jews were exterminated during the Nazi occupation.

Roman Polanski's 2002 film "The Pianist" was based on the life of Szpilman. It was indeed a great movie. In it, Szpilman, played by Adrien Brody, hangs onto life by a thread. He survives by hiding among the rubble of the buildings. One day, while trying to find a tool to open a can of food in one of the deserted buildings, he runs into a German captain. He is shocked, believing that his life will finally come to an end. The German captain, Wilm Hosenfeld, asks who Szpilman is. He replies that he is a pianist. Perhaps fortuitously there is an abandoned piano in the building - the reason that Szpilman has hidden in this particular place. Hosenfeld tells him to go ahead and play something for him.

Szpilman walks slowly to the piano and starts to play Chopin's "Ballad in G Minor". It is a beautiful piece that can touch one's innermost feelings. Much to Szpilman's surprise, Hosenfeld likes his playing. The Nazi officer, realising that the war is almost over for Germany, spares the pianist's life and even gives him food. It was one of the most touching episodes in the whole of Poland's horrific wartime period.

 Thanong Khanthong

The Nation