I just returned from a vacation in Eastern Europe and will post some shots.  My first stop was Warsaw, the capital of Poland, which was decimated in World War II and then frozen in time for more than 40 years when it was a communist bloc country.

Nice pictures Anthony.  Looking forward to the next set. 

. 

You really do take some very interesting trips, Anthony. 

Thanks again for posting more of the great photos you have taken along the way. 

Cheers, Terry 

Thanks for the comments.

Poles, like most other peoples, take tremendous pride in the extraordinary accomplishments of their most notable kin.  They pay homage to them by statue or inscription.

Here is monument to Frederic Chopin in a park:

And one of Copernicus:

But the most revered Pole is Pope John Paul II (more on him when we get to the Krakow photos), but I have not seen before anything quite like the adoration that Poles have for this man.

Nice pics Anthony,

 My mom & dad were both born in Warsaw. My mom was a pole and my dad Ukranian. I would love to visit there and hopefully someday I will.

Oh yeah, now that you mention it I remember my mom adored Pope John Paul II. I was pretty young and really couldnt care less about any of that stuff at the time, but it was a pretty big deal in the Polish community in this area and they were really proud that

a pole became the Pope.

Those are great photos, Anthony!  I like having you as our tour guide.  I've never been to Eastern Europe, so all this is very interesting to me.

Thanks everyone but I wasn't bothered by Len's comments.  You really can't tour Poland without touching upon the Holocaust.  Warsaw today recognizes that the Nazis arrested Jews, placed them in ghettos, and then forcibly evacuated them by train to camps.  Here is a memorial located where Jews were detained awaiting transport to death camps.

There is also a memorial regarding the Warsaw ghetto uprising where Jews fought the Nazis to avoid the deportation to camps.  The sculptor artist portrayed the combatants with hollow eye sockets signifying their hopelessness.

I know I *PROMISED* not to post again on this thread  - but as frequently I'm about to break my promise,
But only to thank Anthony VERY warmly for including those last 2 heart rending photos showing that he PERSONALLY had not forgotten or trivialized the terrible events which took place in Warsaw and Poland 70 or so years ago and which affected so VERY many people that I know (or knew) personally!
 
Thanx again Anthony and I certainly apologize if I gave the impression that I was in any way criticizing you personally !

.   

On a more hopeful note, here is a link to a few of the marvelous pictures taken at the Branson ORT School of Holocaust survivors getting a new start at life by Jewish New York street photographer Martin Elkort when he was just 20 years old. 

The uplifting images are now part of the permanent collection at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC. where they can help many people to realize something good can come from virtually any tragedy. 

In the future, I hope to post a video link to the retrospective of Martin's life and work his eldest daughter and I have been working on this past year. It will be brimming with these and many of his other inspiring photos, along with prime examples of the great mentors who inspired him at the original New York Photo League. 

http://www.martinelkort.com/ph-ort.html 

Organization for Rehabilitation and Training - ORT 

When the Allied forces liberated the Nazi death camps at the end of World War II, the survivors walked, or were carried to freedom and safety, away from the ovens and gas chambers. But myriad problems lay ahead as they resumed their lives. When they had recovered their health in the displaced persons camps, many immigrated to the United States. Most did not speak English, had no skills or professions and were helpless. Organizations such as ORT (at that time the acronym stood for: Organization for Rehabilitation and Training) came to the rescue, training and preparing the refugees to become self-sufficient and productive citizens of their new country.

For several days in 1949 I photographed the Branson Ort School in Manhattan. The students bore tattoos on their arms where the Nazi death troops had eliminated their names and given them numbers to further depersonalize them before murdering them. Some of the tattoos, a lifetime reminder of their nightmare, are visible in the pictures.

At the end of the course, each student received a certificate of completion and a handshake from the director. Optimistic and hopeful, they went out into the world once again, to start their new lives as free people. 

Cheers, Terry 

When Poland finally displaced its communist system in 1989, it may have been free but it was also broke.  The 40+ year experimentation with communism was a complete economic failure and drove the country into insolvency.  While they probably would have wanted to tear down all the ugly communist buildings--massive structures designed to be functional with no concern whatsoever for asthetics--they lacked the money to demolish and rebuild, so they made do with what they had.  Here, on a main intersection in Warsaw, is one of the former communist ministries now housing a commercial bank.  Yet the Poles did what little they could to liven up the appearance, so they created a fake palm tree and placed it on a nearby corner.

And every European city needs a large town square where you can browse shops and then grab a coffee or beer and pierogi at an outdoor cafe.  Warsaw has a good one:

I love the way Europeans paint their terraced facades different colours and how they keep building upwards from the roof.  The architecture is so different from that found in British town squares the two could never be confused. 

That palm tree makes it hard to tell if you're in Poland or Florida! 

Originally Posted By SirDave (21 JUL 2012 11:14am)

That palm tree makes it hard to tell if you're in Poland or Florida! 

 

Or Phoenix, it looks just like a cell phone tower

Our tour left Warsaw to proceed south along the Vistula River, the main river in Poland, to Krakow.  But first we stopped at to see the Jasna Gora monastery in a town called Czestochowa.

It is the site of the famous religious painting known as the "Black Madonna".  The painting was delivered to the monastery in the 14th century.  The painter are unknown, but according to legend, the original drawing was done by the Evangelist Luke while on the island of Cyprus in the 1st century.  The painting has been dated as early as the 600's with several re-paintings done after. 

The painting has formed the basis of claims that Jesus and Mary were black:

It is Polish legend that the painting has spiritual powers.  Wildfires destroyed the areas surrounding the monastery but miraculously never touched the monastery.  Also, armed bandits robbed the monastery in the middle ages and took everything but the painting remained on the floor with sword marks on it.  The legend states that the painting would not allow itself to be stolen.

The monastery is the religious and spiritual center of Poland, a country that is 95% Roman Catholic.  Many travel to the site for prayer.

Ok let's get this over with... Len thank you for apologizing. We are sympathtic with the plight that Israel has suffered. We remember and will not forget, just as we know you guys will not forget our 9/11 event. Or case in point the recent attack that oddly enough was just around the corner from my sister. I was worried sick until I could get a call through to her. The best thing we can do with others in crisis is just to be present. We don't have to have the right words or solve the problems. We just simply must be present, just as in a Shivah, which is a Jewish Funeral as Len can tell us about *Ahem in another forum thread AHEM*.

Mr. Green this issue here is not that we are not sympathetic, the issue is that the threads need to stay more on topic. Please bear with us as we have not endured your hardship and perhaps are not as passionate about it. While we realize these pictures may have triggered many emotions and memories for you we ask that you funnel those into a different thread or meduim. I am always here and you can always PM me you know that. 

For the rest of you that I censored, deleted or altered your post without warning. I apologize my intent was simply to return the thread back to Anthony to continue sharing his vacation with us. So I apologize if you felt scorned or falsely wronged. From now on I vow to send a direct PM after editing or deleting your post. I hope that I will never have to do so and that we will all grow closer as a community instead.

@ Anthony Thank you so much for sharing these beautiful pictures with us I have really enjoyed them personally. 

Thanks everyone, Elliot

Originally Posted By Len Green (20 JUL 2012 7:22am)

I know I *PROMISED* not to post again on this thread  - but as frequently I'm about to break my promise,
But only to thank Anthony VERY warmly for including those last 2 heart rending photos showing that he PERSONALLY had not forgotten or trivialized the terrible events which took place in Warsaw and Poland 70 or so years ago and which affected so VERY many people that I know (or knew) personally!
 
Thanx again Anthony and I certainly apologize if I gave the impression that I was in any way criticizing you personally !

 

Originally Posted By Elliot (23 JUL 2012 4:22pm)

Ok let's get this over with... Len thank you for apologizing. We are sympathtic with the plight that Israel has suffered. We remember and will not forget, just as we know you guys will not forget our 9/11 event. Or case in point the recent attack that oddly enough was just around the corner from my sister. I was worried sick until I could get a call through to her. The best thing we can do with others in crisis is just to be present. We don't have to have the right words or solve the problems. We just simply must be present, just as in a Shivah, which is a Jewish Funeral as Len can tell us about *Ahem in another forum thread AHEM*.

 

Mr. Green this issue here is not that we are not sympathetic, the issue is that the threads need to stay more on topic. Please bear with us as we have not endured your hardship and perhaps are not as passionate about it. While we realize these pictures may have triggered many emotions and memories for you we ask that you funnel those into a different thread or meduim. I am always here and you can always PM me you know that. 

 

For the rest of you that I censored, deleted or altered your post without warning. I apologize my intent was simply to return the thread back to Anthony to continue sharing his vacation with us. So I apologize if you felt scorned or falsely wronged. From now on I vow to send a direct PM after editing or deleting your post. I hope that I will never have to do so and that we will all grow closer as a community instead.

Please do not miss the soon to come sticky global announcement that will shortly appear on the forums. 

 

@ Anthony Thank you so much for sharing these beautiful pictures with us I have really enjoyed them personally. 

Thanks everyone, Elliot

Originally Posted By Len Green (20 JUL 2012 7:22am)

I know I *PROMISED* not to post again on this thread  - but as frequently I'm about to break my promise,
But only to thank Anthony VERY warmly for including those last 2 heart rending photos showing that he PERSONALLY had not forgotten or trivialized the terrible events which took place in Warsaw and Poland 70 or so years ago and which affected so VERY many people that I know (or knew) personally!
 
Thanx again Anthony and I certainly apologize if I gave the impression that I was in any way criticizing you personally !

 

 

 

I would just like to have clarified ONE point that you have brought up ----- HIJACKINK !!!

In the 'old' JA it was very common.

I myself was totally umused to the phenomenon.

But some members thought it was great fun !

Frequently in the middle of a serious discussion, somebody would deliberately change the thread-topis COMLETELY - often with something they thought hilarious (but always so for everybody)

I disliked this 'behaviour' but it was seemingly very acceptable.

And so - in this new Ja where a little of the same went on (not too much IIRC) since I thought it was 'kosher' - I adopted the same behaviour.

I have no objection whatsoever for stopping it - the opposite.

BUT I WOULD REASLLY LIKE TO KNOW - IS HIJACKING A TOPIC CONSIDERED **GOOD** or **FROWNED UPON** now ???

Thanks in advasnce for your reply !!

P.S,. No time to correct so please excuse any/all typos due to my bad eyesight !!!

Krakow was mostly undamaged by World War II, which is remarkable considering the German blitzkrieg and invasion, the Allied bombing in Europe and the Red Army "liberation" of Poland.

Anyway, there are many buildings dating back to the middle ages.  The Royal Castle:

The Wawel Cathedral, which was the church of John Paul II when he was Archbishop of Krakow prior to becoming pope.

St Mary's

St. Peter and Paul:

The Cloth Hall:

Very nice. 

I love the Pope's old church.  It looks like they just stuck all sorts of domes and towers willy-nilly onto the original building at different times in different styles, wherever they could find an empty spot.  Brilliant result.

We stopped at a notable building in Krakow that experienced increased tourist traffic starting in 1993.  Any idea?  Here are a few clues.

What's this?  Photos of Krakow, but none of the dragon?  The fire-breathing dragon just behind that castle?  How can this be?  How could you?  Anthony, I am disappointed. ;P

I'm clueless.  I give in.