Walking around Warsaw, it's easy to forget that the city lay in complete ruins just a few decades ago. WBJ.pl sits down with Ewa Mazur, curator of the exhibition “Let’s Build a New Home. The Reconstruction of Warsaw,” at Warsaw's History Meeting House (Dom Spotkań z Hisorią), to discuss the impact of the war on Warsaw's current urban landscape 

Courtesy of dsh.waw.pl

Ella Pałka: How has history influenced Warsaw's urban landscape today? That is, how does Warsaw differ from other cities which were not so completely destroyed and rebuilt with Soviet ideology?

Ewa Mazur: The war period had an enormous impact on Warsaw's current urban landscape. This of course resulted from the destruction from the first air raids and then bombardment in 1939. After that there was the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, where the entire ghetto district was razed to the ground. And at the end there was the Warsaw Uprising, which also brought great destruction. And after the Uprising entire parts of the city were destroyed.

Courtesy of dsh.waw.pl

So the Varsovians who in 1945 began to return to the city saw a sea of ruin. At that time the Office for the Reconstruction of the Capital (BOS) was established and started to plan for the rebuilding. There were two visions that clashed: one which represented the spirit of the time, and in line with the wish of communist authorities to build of a city in the style of social realism. The second, innovative for those times, wanted to rebuild that which was destroyed. It was innovative because during those times in Europe, what was destroyed was not rebuilt but rather built anew.

In Warsaw, there was a strong will not only from the architects but from the people to recreate as much of the prewar Warsaw as possible. These two visions clashed and the effect of these clashes is now evident in the city today. On the one hand we have a reconstructed Old Town and the Royal Route. On the other hand we have social realistic influences like the Marszałkowska residential district, the Palace of Culture and Science, the widening of Marszałkowska street, whole neighborhoods in this new style. How all of this blends gives Warsaw a multidimensional character.

Courtesy of dsh.waw.pl

In your opinion, what decisions or events during the reconstruction had the biggest influence on how Warsaw looks today?

Our exhibition puts the spotlight on the department which was responsible for rebuilding the city's monuments, BOS. Because of the great efforts of professor Jan Zachwatowicz, the reconstruction of the Old Town as it was prior to the war was possible. There were plans among communist authorities that the Old Town square be open towards the Vistula river so that one could see a panoramic view of the river. This, of course, clashed with the prewar scene.

Before the authorities visited the site, Mr Zachwatowicz directed the workers to built the highest possible wall from the side of the river. When the delegation arrived they decided that since there was already something standing there, they would call off their plans. Afterward, professor Zachwatowicz had all of the prewar buildings rebuild in this place.

In our exhibit, we present over 100 photos which have never been seen, also documents from the BOS archives, which in this year were put on the UNESCO heritage list, under the Memory of the World program.

 

Courtesy of dsh.waw.pl

Let's Build a New Home (Budujemy nowy dom) lasts until Sunday October 16 at the History Meeting House (Dom Spotkań z Historią).

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