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Pre-Tour Day 2 | Dzień Drugi
Pre-Tour Day 2 | Dzień Drugi
Museum of the Second World War
Museum of the Second World War
We went to the Museum of the Second World War was well worth arriving early for our tour. Detailed and informative, this museum was consistently engaging throughout. Gdansk is where Hitler started WWII. He had a plan in conjunction with Russia who invaded shortly after from the east. Germany's goal was to cut Poland off from the sea. Poland never surrendered even though its people were enslaved, killed, and more. One of the aspects they do not teach much in the US is the terrible treatment by the Russians as well as the essential abandonment of Poland by The Big Three: Great Britain, the United Sates, and the Soviet Union. By the time WWII was done, 20% of the Polish population was dead from war-related causes. I highly recommend this museum if you are ever in the area. You can find out more about the museum at their website.
TRAVEL TIP: Do not skip purchasing an audio guide. It is a wealth of information and automatically adjusts to your location as you move from room to room. No need to press a next button with this smart technology! It is available in a number of languages if you are not fluent in Polish or English.
Diane entering one of the rooms at the Museum of the Second World War
By the time WWII came to an end, a full 20% of its civilians had died, 80% of Europe's Jews killed as well. Previous to WWII, Poland had been a safe haven for the Jewish people compared to other countries that they fled, though they were not given full rights of Polish citizens, even then (more about this in Warsaw)
From a street in Gdańsk before the German invasion above to what it looked like after they destroyed the city (below; model of the same street)
Right: A copy of the map of Poland partitioned by the Third Reich and the Soviet Union with signature of Joseph Stalin (in blue) and Joachim von Ribbentrop (in red).
Below: Antisemitism propaganda
Left: The motto of the Polish Army; Above: The uniform of the Norwegian underground army; Diane knew someone who was part of this movement from when she was an exchange student
Above left: Memorial of Polish Jews who died in WWII; Above right: The exterior of the Museum of the Second World War
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