While in Warsaw, I couldn’t help but fixate on the cost of war. I know how lovingly I collect and organize my physical world in my house. But virtually every house in Warsaw was destroyed in 1945…so many cultural and personal treasures simply gone forever. And, now, just two generations later, Germans and Russians stroll through the city on vacation — joking, licking ice cream cones, and snapping photos. Of course, we need to forgive and move on. I’m just amazed at how good Poland is at it. Perhaps some other countries — victims of similar horrors — can learn from the Poles. As Hubert says in this clip, “Hate changes nothing.”
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This clip really takes me back to our first trip to Europe back in 2004, only a few weeks after Poland joined the EU. We spent nine days in Warsaw and seven in Krakow. Spent an afternoon at Lazienki. I must say that Hubert seems to have moved on a lot more than the woman who was taking care of us had. She expressed utter hatred for the Germans. Nonetheless, it is one of our favourite places in the world and I heartily recommend it to all.
He didn’t speak for all Polish people. I don’t share his forgiveness. What is Warsaw today compared to what it was and could be now? And this is just a Warsaw, not mentioning rest of Poland. Germans tend to think that what they have done had an impact only then and only on people of those times. Wrong. Results affect Poland (and other countries/nations) now and will affect forever.