News from Berlin - In the end of July, German president Joachim Gauck, together with his Polish counterpart Bronislaw Komorowski,  opened the exhibition ‘Warsaw Rising’ in the Topography of Terror Documentation Center in Berlin. The exhibition was prepared in cooperation with the Warsaw Uprising Museum in Warsaw,  and will be on display until the 26th of October. This year marks the 70th anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising, and the joint exhibition is thus an excellent example of how enemies of the past can be the friends of today

The Warsaw Uprising began on the 1st of August 1944, and would eventually last just over two months. Polish resistance forces attempted to liberate Warsaw from German forces, with the Uprising meant to coincide with the Soviet Union’s advance into Poland, which was occurring simultaneously. The Soviet advance stopped just short of the city however, and the Polish resistance was on its own, ultimately leading to the destruction of the city by German troops.

The exhibition focuses not only on the events of the Warsaw uprising itself, but takes into account the history of Warsaw since 1918. It shows how the 1944 destruction of the city interrupted the development of the city for quite some time, but also how the city managed to recover after the Second World War, turning into the beautiful city it is today. With the exhibition being addressed specifically to the younger generation, people of all ages can come together in Berlin to remember the past, and look at the future.

The exhibition focuses on documents and photographs taken before, during and after the Uprising, with English and German speaking guides available for those who want to have more knowledge of specific events that took place during the Uprising. With the event taking place in Berlin, it is great to see how the Polish people have managed to forgive their former enemies, looking at the future, while at the same time remembering the past.

News from Berlin - Berlin Global