"Love is always there" and the City that cheated death.

Today's column is exceptionally on Tuesday and not Wednesday or Thursday. And quite exceptionally it is not about technology. But it is probably about something more important than technology, business or even civilization. For today is about love.?

And a little bit about my city too. Because today is the 79th anniversary of the outbreak of the Warsaw Uprising. The slogan for this year's anniversary is "Love is always there." And this slogan and the story associated with it just inspired me to write this text.

My Polish audience probably knows all about the Uprising, but for the non-Polish audience, which seems to predominate on this channel, a short note about what the Warsaw Uprising was about:

In the face of retreating German forces and the Soviet offensive, the underground Polish military authorities decided to make an armed action of several thousand Home Army soldiers (Polish underground armed forces) in order to capture Warsaw before the Soviets occupied it.

On August 1, at 5 p.m. (the "W "hour), a dozen thousand mainly very young Home Army soldiers, about 20-25% of whom were armed with guns, started the Uprising and shortly captured the city center, large residential districts like Wola, Mokotow and Zoliborz, and the Old Town. The right-bank district of Praga (the Soviets were advancing from that direction) and the bridges over the Vistula were not captured.

The uprising was supposed to last 24-72 hours. It turned into one of the largest urban battles in history lasting 63 days. The Soviets finally took the right bank of the city, but did not come to the insurgents' aid across the river when it was militarily possible. Not only that, according to the principle of "the enemy of my enemy is my enemy all the time if he adheres to democratic values," the Soviets forbade allied (mainly Polish and South African) RAF crews flying from Brindisi with supplies for the insurgents to land to do refueling. They made an exception for a one-time major USAAF drop action.

As a result, 200,000 civilians were killed, the city was largely wiped off the face of the earth, the loss of cultural property collected over several hundred years can hardly be mentioned anymore. In the first few days of August 1944, SS bandits slaughtered some 50,000 civilians in the western district of Wola. I will not elaborate on the bestialities. I will only mention that they also carried away in loot all the furnishings of the apartments- sounds familiar?

In the midst of all this, at 11 am on August 13, 1944, two loving 20-year-old Home Army soldiers decided to get married. Boleslaw Biega and Alicja Treutler did not have a lavish wedding. A few packets of sardines, rusks and a dozen friends and colleagues were enough. They may have had some wine. Boleslaw wore a 1939 pattern uniform, Alicja's friends helped a bit with the creation. You can see them in the photo at the top.?

They were not the only insurgents to get married. But photos of the wedding by famed photographer Eugeniusz Lokajski made them icons.

They lived together for 75 years. Alicia died four years ago, and Boleslaw in May of this year. He was 100 years old.

Hence the motto of today's celebration is their story. And the motto that love is always there. Even in the worst hell of mass murder and street fighting.

To this day, the Uprising has very different opinions in Poland. The decision to launch it is ready material for a thriller film. Squabbling officers, an indecisive Home Army commander, couriers from London who bring conflicting recommendations. The government's secret courier Jozef Rettinger is almost chased by General Sosnkowski along the runway in Brindisi, lest he jump to Poland and convey his approval for the Uprising.

Was the genocide of 200,000 people, the annihilation of architecture (Warsaw was called the Paris of the East) and the loss of priceless books, paintings, worth something?

It was feared that even without the decision on the outbreak, the youth of the working-class neighborhoods, who were not Home Army soldiers, might spontaneously rise up against the Germans, and the few, but with Soviet support, Communists might take control.

What would have happened otherwise we do not know.?

What we do know is that the young soldiers fought against the absolute evil of the Nazi machine. With the paranoid ideology of murdering people in the name of racist bullshit. With forbidding them from everything-education, sports and even love.

And what is the opposite of absolute evil? Love. To loved ones, to a place, but also to another person. The belief that people are and should be good to each other. One of the most touching photographs from the Uprising is that of liberated Jewish prisoners of war (mostly Greeks and Hungarians) from a small concentration camp in the West of the city. People in striped uniforms are smiling. A young Home Army soldier stands next to them. He has a confident smile. He holds a gun vigilantly. But it is not a gun that evokes terror in the prisoners. It evokes a sense of security in them. The forces of good are on guard.

Many people believe that the generals who decided on the Uprising would have been court-martialed had the Soviets not occupied Poland. But many believe that without this "spirit of 44," there would not have been the Solidarity movement, the fall of communism and the Soviet Union. Over the past 30 years, Poland has been one of several fastest growing countries in the world. From a poor, post-Soviet country, it has reached the standard of living of Spain and Italy and is chasing countries like France.

I'm glad Alicia and Boleslaw saw all this and lived to see it.

When war broke out in Ukraine, Poles went to the border en masse. With as much help as they had. The British would call it the "Dunkerque spirit." But the term "Spirit of 44" probably fits better.

And more about love? Hip hop artist Sokol recorded an amazing music video, where he used photos from the wedding of Alice and Boleslaw in 3D (I attach in the links, be sure to watch to the end because it is incredibly impressive). For those who don't know Polish- the song is about how important what we have here and now is. Or rather, how important are those who are here and now around us.

And more about Warsaw? I found a quote here on LinkedIn today that it is "the city that cheated its own death."?

At 5pm every August 1, this city that cheated death suddenly comes to a standstill. People and cars.?

If the story of Alice, Boleslaw and Warsaw has moved you, I have an idea: today at 5pm of your time, think about the people who surround you and that it is good that you have them. If you can- give them a hug.

From Warsaw with love.

Piece by Sokó?:

If you are interested to get to know more about the Uprising:

Dla polskich czytelników- legenda Powstania "mówi jak ?y?" i mówi to przekonuj?co:

Metallica tributes to the "city that cheated death":