Poland… flying solo

Leaving Patrick, Scooby and Milka at Kernavėland for the second time was just as hard as the first!  They had made your author feel just so welcome and again we parted company not just as friends, but really feeling like part of their family.  Travelling on one's own was never supposed be part of this adventure, however it was necessary for the lovely Mrs Woodfield to spend some time back in New Zealand looking after her Mother who hasn’t been well.  So after dropping her at the airport in Vilnius a further 6 days were spent in Kernavė before it was time to do some driving on my own and forge a path West into another new country – yes, Poland was next on the list!

There were a couple of potential routes however the slightly longer of them was of much more interest so after crossing the border (all of which are open within the EU, it’s just a big lot of dilapidated buildings where border control used to be) I headed west towards Gdansk.  However before arriving there I had one very important stop to make.  That’s right, Wolf’s Lair!  The name may be familiar to some of you however let me refresh your memory… we’re talking about Hitler’s base for the majority of WWII which was a network of massive bunkers and other fortified structures, built in secret by the Nazis in 1941.  From then until the Russians were getting close in late 1944, Hitler and the German high command lived and worked right there in a remote part of rural north-east Poland.  They were in fact so successful keeping this place secret that the allies only learned of it in 1945, a few months before the war ended.  One of the German strategies to foil allied aerial reconnaissance was to cover all bunkers and structures with coloured netting which was changed out seasonally to match the surrounding flora.  As they fled west for the comparative safety of Berlin, soldiers were instructed to blow up the bunkers and other structures so these days most of what was there has been ruined, however you still get a very good feel for how things were and a massive sense of history as you walk around.  In fact I had stayed the previous night in their carpark so when I began my visit bright and early in the morning, I didn’t see another punter, just a handful of staff opening up for the day.

Probably the most famous event to occur at Wolf’s Lair was the assassination attempt on Hitler’s life by Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg and his co-conspirators in July of 1944.  He famously smuggled a briefcase of explosives into the room where Hitler and the high command were meeting and placed it on the floor underneath the meeting room table before saying he had to take a phone call, exiting the building and boarding a flight to Berlin to enact the coup.  The briefcase duly exploded killing 4 people however unbelievably Hitler was not one of them!  The explosives had been placed on the wrong side of a sturdy oak table leg which protected Hitler and, in the final analysis, ended up prolonging the war for more than a year.  It has been speculated that had this attempt been successful, many millions of lives would have been saved however it was not to be.  Von Stauffenberg and co were duly executed and WWII carried on unabated, although the incident served only to increase Hitler’s paranoia.  Within the complex there is a museum dedicated to this event including a full reproduction of the room in which it occurred and plenty of other info to go with it.  Fascinating!

At the time this was happening at Wolf's Lair in 1944, there were other significant happenings going on elsewhere in Poland.  In Warsaw the local partisans had succeeded in retaking control of the city – this was known as the Warsaw Uprising and had been in progress for 63 days at this point.  Following the attempt on his life, Hitler was reportedly so apoplectic that he ordered the uprising to be crushed with the utmost savagery.  His instructions were that Warsaw be razed to the ground and the entire population – we’re talking about some 200000 citizens here – be executed as a warning to any other cities who may be tempted to emulate their insubordination.  And so it happened, slaughter on an industrial scale and the destruction of a major European city.  You may recall your author’s comments in the last blog reflecting on just how much worse the war seemed to be in the East.  Our Anglicised history doesn’t pay much attention to the goings-on in Eastern Europe so travelling in this part of the world has been a massive eye-opener.  At Wolf’s Lair there is also a memorial and small museum dedicated to the Warsaw Uprising, another in the list of truly sobering places we have visited.

I was warned that, outside of the inter-city motorways, roads in Poland would be rubbish, and those warnings were certainly correct.  On much of the drive between Lithuania and Gdansk, it felt like the filling in every last tooth was being rattled out of poor Harvey’s head but thankfully we made it in one piece!

Your author is aware that this is another reasonably war-heavy blog for which he apologises to certain sections of his readership (but he also knows that others will be lapping it up with alacrity J).  Gdansk is famous for several reasons so let me start briefly with the war stuff.  Everyone with even a passing knowledge of history knows that war in Europe was declared by the Allies following Germany’s decision to invade Poland.  However what shape did that invasion take?  Let me tell you, the opening salvo was fired right here in Gdansk when a German battleship opened fire on a military post at the port.  These days the area is Poland’s national war memorial and while visiting, I stumbled across a graduation ceremony for some Polish army youngsters.  I’d estimate there were between 1000-2000 soldiers there with several times that number of family, friends and supporters so altogether there was plenty going on.  After the ceremony I wandered up for a look at the memorial which was still heaving with soldiers, VIP’s, military brass etc.  One interesting observation (for no particularly good reason) was that the young soldiers were entirely caucasian apart from one solitary youngster of colour.  I had always imagined that most militaries in the western world were reasonably cosmopolitan in their makeup but clearly not the case in Poland.

Gdańsk is also the location of the famous Solidarity union uprising of 1980 which I recall was a very large TV news item back in the days when I was just a nipper.  Led by Lech Wałęsa, it started off in the shipyards of Gdańsk and was quickly became a nationwide strike and then union organisation.  Although initially giving their grudging consent, the Soviets did not allow this behaviour to carry on for long and in 1981 martial law was declared which lasted for several years.   The iron curtain finally fell in 1990 and the very same union leader became Poland’s first democratically elected president.

In town there are 2 of the newest and best museums your author has seen on this trip – both in terms of content and architecture.  Opened in 2016, the Solidarity museum excellently unbundles the story I have briefly outlined above, then in 2019 a brand new WWII museum was also opened giving a Polish perspective on that event.  A couple of comments on the WWII story – again, I knew little of events in Poland apart from their invasion being the catalyst for the declaration of war by the Allies in 1939.  What I didn’t know is what ratbags the Russians also were at that time (seems like some things never change!!).  At the start of the war it was well known that Hitler and Stalin signed a non-aggression pact however in addition to that, they also made a secret agreement on the division of eastern Europe.  This included the Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia & Lithuania) becoming part of the Soviet Union and Poland being divided down the middle between Germany and Russia… so, as soon as Germany invaded Poland from the west, Russia simultaneously did so from the east, their armies meeting at the pre-agreed line in the middle.  So not only did the Poles have to deal with German atrocities on one side, the Ruskies were just as bad if not worse on the other!  Then a year or 2 later, Hitler broke his agreement with Russia and decided to open up an eastern front… which meant the Poles in the Western part of the country had to contend with a full on war in their back yard again.  Then in 1944, as is if that wasn’t enough, Russia started to win the war in the east and swept back through Poland on their way to ultimate victory over Germany.  It kind of sucked to be Polish there for a few years – your country was a battlefield for almost the entire duration of the war and ended up pretty much a pile of rubble by the end!

Gdańsk these days has of course been totally rebuilt and has a most picturesque city centre, your author spent a very enjoyable evening exploring by bike, stopping for a quiet refreshment or 2 and some dinner on the banks of the canal (or maybe it’s a river – sometimes hard to tell).  Altogether it ended up being quite a big day on the bike, the war memorial being a bit over 15km from Harvey’s parking place.

The next target was Berlin, however being a bit too far to drive in a single day, was punctuated by an overnight stop in Poznań.  Driving can make one a little weary so only a quick explore by bike was possible before a quiet evening and some relaxing Netflix!  I’ll give a more detailed report on Berlin in the next blog however let’s just say that the few days I’ve spent so far have been most enjoyable and memorable!  On hearing that I would be alone on my birthday, and despite my protestations, my friend Chris from Newport insisted on joining me for the weekend to keep me company and explore the town.  In addition, my cousin Jono is also in Berlin for a conference so altogether it’s been very social and an awesome way to celebrate my birthday.  Chris and I did a double-decker bus tour of the central city, stopping by for a pint with Jono at the end of the day.  The next day we circled back to Checkpoint Charlie and the last remaining portions of the Berlin wall.

Your author is very much looking forward to the return of his lovely travelling companion who flies into Berlin on Thursday.  Having read this blog you’ll have seen that the solo traveller has managed well enough on his own (including driving around 1200km right across Poland) however Adventures with Harvey was always intended as a 2 person exercise which we are both very much looking forward to resuming as planned in a few days from now!  Until next time it’s farewell from the city of Potsdam and best wishes to you all!    

not just Scooby and Milka but also their puppies :-)

exploring Kernave by bike

a breezy autumn day - perfect for getting the laundry sorted

Harvey has very few friends these days - most sensible folk have put their motorhome away for the season!

Wolf's Lair ruins #1

Wolf's Lair ruins #2

Wolf's Lair ruins #3

netting used to disguise the complex and foil airborne reconnaissance

recreation of the room where the assassination of Hitler was attempted in 1944

memorial to the partisans responsible for the Warsaw Uprising

Gdansk waterfront in the evening...

...and during the day

the German soldier riding this motorbike in 1939 was ambushed and the bike hidden then forgotten about until someone found it and donated it to the WWII museum in Gdansk

Gdansk WWII museum from the outside - stunning architecture!

display inside the museum

Polish Army graduation ceremony

Polish WWII memorial

apparently this is a document of massive national importance to Poland. when solidarity first started, the 'rules' were published on these pieces of plywood and displayed at the shipyard entrance. this was the only way they could be communicated and led to the now famous uprising

then in 1981 martial law was declared

memorial to those who died fighting for freedom from Soviet oppression

river running through Poznan

Poznan #2

3 lads having a beer in Berlin

section of the Berlin wall