Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - In Eastern Europe
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impressed by the fact that the Polish teachers were
extremely fond of drilling the boys and girls. Oddly
enough, it seemed as if they had followed the
example of the leaders of the Hitler Jugend. The
Swedish people in charge had commented on this
situation, but it had proved impossible to induce
them to change. Later on, I had similar experiences
when I contacted the Polish Scout Movement in
Warsaw.
Warsaw seemed to me to be one of the most
severely devastated cities I have seen. When, after a
visit to the Polish Red Cross, we surveyed the town,
I soon discovered that here the Germans had worked
more systematically and more thoroughly than
usual. The old parts of the city, possessing exquisite
examples of Gothic architecture, had been mostly
destroyed. The Ghetto had been totally levelled.
Innumerable Jews had been suddenly wiped out. I
was not able to gather figures in terms of
percentage which would throw more light on this terrible
destruction. On the other hand, Swedish and Polish
people told me that the reconstruction work had
recently made rapid progress. The Warsaw we
visited was therefore not nearly so grim and
depressing as it was immediately after the war. The Polish
Foreign Minister informed me that it would take
fifteen years to rebuild the town completely.
As is known, in 1944, a revolt was attempted in
Poland, thus far the last in a long line of
revolutions in the tragic history of Poland. It was
suppressed. Thereafter the Germans started their work
of destruction. High explosive bombs were placed
in the houses. Block after block was destroyed.
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