Poland [antikvár]

The British historian Norman Davies entitled one of his books on Poland Heart of Europe. In his account of the history of this country and nation he turned his attention to time and place, as a specialist in the field would be expected to do. His description of the course of events and the fate of the people living on this historically none too tranquil territory does not shy away from emotions and subjective, but on the whole accurate assessment, as in the last sentence of its Polish translation: "The Poles are the world's masters in the art of survival."For centuries the lands between the Oder and the Bug, and formerly also those further east, were the setting of dramatic events. It's worthwhile trying to answer at least briefly what that setting - that Heart of Europe -is like today.Let's start with the Vistula.The River Vistula is not another Amazon, Nile, Mississipi, or Ganges. It's just a bit over 1,000 km long. But is a river's length its decisive feature? Sometimes grand events are played out on the banks of modest rivulets. "The River Vistula flows across the Polish lands," says the song. It dissects Poland from north to south, it's like the country's backbone. A symbol of the Polish State. "Just as the Vistula will never cease to flow, so will Poland never perish," say the words of another song. The Vistula is mentoned in the Polish national anthem, and in countless songs and poems, proverbs and sayings. It's still not been fully regulated, so sometimes it's called Europe's last romantic river.Many historic, important towns and cities lie along the Vistula's banks, to mention but Cracow, Sandomierz, Pulawy, Dublin, Warsaw, Ptock, Toruri, and Gdansk.Much has happened along these banks. A major trading route ran here. They are dotted with battlefields ancient and modern. Events that occurred in Cracow, Warsaw, or Gdansk decided the country's future.Let's start with Cracow. Without this royal city there'd be no Poland today. To quote the writer Tadeusz Boy Zeleriski, in Cracow we still have the very much alive "legend of this city of painters, poets, grand tombs and stained glass, this city of life and art." It's the Florence of Central Europe: a place full of magic, its landmark Wawel Hill pinnacledby the mighty Castle; with the Czartoryski Museum, home of "The Lady with the Ermine," Poland's only Leonardo; with its delightful Market Square and the crowds admiring the Cloth Hall and St. Mary's Church with the Veit Stoss Altar, listening to the bugle-call from the church-tower. On special days the sonorous peal of the Sigismundian Bell resounds from the Cathedral.It must have been a miracle that Cracow survived the devastation of the Second World War. Almost all the historic sites, not just the monumental works of art and architecture, but also the private houses and Gothic cellars came out unscathed. Even Kazimierz, the Jewish quarter, was saved - an unprecedented fact for Poland.Today an atmosphere of bygone times still lingers in its narrow streets and lanes-an atmosphere so special you would probably not be too surprised if suddenly Nicolaus Copernicus, Veit Stoss, Jan Kochanowski, Stanislaw Wyspiariski, orJozef Mehoffer appeared round the corner. Only yesterday you could have met extraordinary personalities here, like Czestaw Milosz (until recently Cracow was a city with 2 Nobel prizewinners; today only Wislawa Szymborska is left), or inspired poets, great artists, renowned scholars from the Jagiellonian University, one of Europe's oldest universities. This was the city of Cardinal Karol Wojtyla, John Paul II, the Polish Pope."Cracow was not built in a day," says the proverb. But eventually the job was done, and the result is stupendous, as anyone can see. No wonder that anything you see in Poland after Cracow will seem humbler, not so valuable, not so beautiful.Even if the odd work of art survived in Warsaw, only a bighead would venture on comparing the sights of the capital with Cracow's Wawel Hill, Barbakan, Florian Gate, or the innumerable churches built here in diverse styles and times.Historic sights are not what Warsaw is famous for. The extraordinary thing about Warsaw is its intransigent, patriotic stance at the moment of truth. What's really amazing is that this city managed to survive its clinical death during World War 2. Destroyed and razed to the ground, turned into a desolate heap of rubble, it found the strength to rise and rebuild itself.