POLAND: Young Poles who no longer live under the shadow of war or occupation had their opportunity yesterday to touch authentic history, writes Derek Scally in Warsaw
The church bell began to toll at exactly 5 p.m. yesterday, joined by the wail of an air-raid warning. The mournful cacophony filled Warsaw's Old Town, where thousands of people with stoic faces gathered to mark the 60th anniversary of W-Hour - the beginning of the Warsaw Uprising, one of the most heroic and tragic battles of the last century.
After 63 desperate days, the underground People's Army (AK) capitulated on October 2nd. At least 18,000 AK soldiers and more than 100,000 Polish civilians were dead, and hundreds of thousands more were sent to labour and concentration camps.
The Nazis razed Warsaw to the ground, leaving little to liberate when the Soviet Army marched in three months later, having watched the uprising from their position just across the River Vistula.
Over the weekend, Warsaw remembered its finest hour and the tragic weeks and years that followed.
The most moving moment came when the surviving members of the People's Army marched unbowed, faces lined but proud, into the courtyard of the presidential palace.
For decades communist authorities denied the importance of the uprising and even tortured survivors. Now those survivors were here to receive Poland's highest civil honours from the President, Mr Aleksander Kwasniewski.
"You were so young and wanted to enjoy life. But you gave up that right and fought for justice. You spilled a sea of blood for every stone in Warsaw," he said.
"August 1st is a very special day because Poland then showed the world what it meant to fight for freedom and human rights. It is a symbolic day that represents a national tragedy but national pride."
Chancellor Schröder spent yesterday in Warsaw and visited a new museum to honour the uprising.
In front of a vast black stone bearing the names of the hundreds of thousands of dead, he met with veterans.
"What we can do is keep the memory alive and pass the memory on to the young so that it can never happen again," said Mr Schröder to one veteran, Mr Wojdigch Militz.
Mr Militz replied: "If relations improve we'll be very satisfied." Relations between Berlin and Warsaw have come under strain recently because of an organisation called the Prussian Trust, which plans to force Warsaw, through the international courts if necessary, to pay billions in compensation for land and property lost by Germans after the war.
"It doesn't make sense if everyone who lost something wants compensation," said Bogna Brozyczka, at the uprising memorial on Saturday. "It's too late."
Pawel Babanka, a young historian, said: "The Prussian Trust is rapidly destroying the work many good people have done over the years between Germany and Poland."
A walk through Wojskowy Military Cemetery, where the uprising dead are buried, is a walk through Polish history.
A monument to "the uprising" is, on closer inspection, from the 1863 Warsaw rising, one of four in Polish history.
Three memorials side-by-side commemorate those who fought the German occupation; the soldiers who fought in the 1944 uprising; and the "victims of Soviet terror" until 1956.
In another corner, 12 plaques mark the 12 major battles in the second World War where Polish troops made a huge contribution. As in the general western memory, the plaque commemorating Poland's huge effort in the the Battle of Britain is neglected.
One section, with silver birch crosses, is devoted to the two boy scout battalions who fought heroically in the uprising. Over 80 per cent of the boy scout soldiers were killed, some as young as 11.
"Young people today are looking for some ideals, some examples. Not everyone is into drugs or alcohol for that. Many of them are looking to history for a sense of camaraderie," said Stanislaw Wyganowski, who has three uncles and an aunt buried here.
This generation of young Poles is the first in history not to live under the shadow of war or occupation.
For them, the 60th anniversary was their last chance to feel they've touched authentic history.
They played their part this weekend, with thousands of scouts helping with the organisation of events and helping the survivors with respect and dignity.
Near the cemetery entrance, a group of scouts stood with a veteran, himself a former scout. He supported himself with a walking frame and told them how impressive they have been all weekend and that he knew they will continue to tell the story of the Warsaw Uprising.
After decades of shameful silence, survivors finally got the recognition they deserved in 1989.
This weekend, many were finally happy that their legacy will be passed on.
The man in the graveyard smiled at the young faces, as if his last wish has been granted. "I'm so moved," he said. "I'm almost crying."