Tag: Museum of Warsaw

Continuing on my little series of posts of exhibits from the substantial Museum of Warsaw.

This is a simple exhibit, just a linen sack with a number sewn onto it, but it is the heritage which is important. It belonged to an individual, Zofia Bożena Stefańska, who was at the Ravensbrück concentration camp, having been sent there by the Germans after Warsaw was cleared following the Warsaw Uprising. It’s fair to say that the Nazis were considerably annoyed at the bravery of the Warsaw population in the Uprising, thereby forcing the near one million residents out of the city so that they could flatten it.

There’s an interesting account at the Norfolk Record Office blog about Elsie Marechal, who found herself in a similar set of circumstances, although she hadn’t come from Warsaw. The thought of that linen bag containing all the belongings that an individual was allowed is quite sobering.

This is an impressive mock-up of what Warsaw would have looked like in the 1780s, designed at a 1:300 scale. It was first created in 1954 so that it could be displayed at the opening of the Historical Museum of the City of Warsaw on 17 January 1955, but it has recently been renovated and improved.

This was a relatively good time for Warsaw in the 1780s, but things were going to get worse as Poland lost its independence as it was partitioned by other neighbouring countries. Poland didn’t become independent until 1918 and then the city of Warsaw was nearly entirely destroyed during the Second World War, before then the Soviets exerted a huge amount of influence on it until the beginning of the 1990s. Arguably, the city of Warsaw is now starting to enjoy a period of prosperity and independence once again after some very difficult times.

The city has changed so much that it’s hard to work out a lot of the street plans, but the old market square helps with getting a bearing and understanding of the mock-up and how it relates to today’s layout of Warsaw. Certainly an attractive exhibit for the museum.