A former stronghold of resistance (18 Mila Street (Warsaw, Poland))

Member Name: dangaroo

Product:	18 Mila Street (Warsaw, Poland)
Date:	12/06/09 (29 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Peaceful, nice little monument, free

Disadvantages: Quite understated, very little info available there

Having just spent the best part of an hour huddled under a tree at "Mila 18" during a dog walk that was interrupted by a sudden and long lasting downpour, I started to get a look in to the bleak life there. No one else seemed foolish enough to be out in the cold rain that was slashing down in the dark and the only other person out walking seemed to be a brave and likely drunk elderly guy whose damp cigarette was defeating logic by glowing alight in what otherwise was a giant fish tank. My trusty dog, a water loving Golden Retriever never sought to question the motives behind what he clearly found to be quite an exhilarating and unique walk. Not exactly dressed for the occasion, my long shorts had become skin tight thanks to the excess water and more embarrassingly perhaps so had my shirt which was now showing off my portly contours and had become a longer version of the modern day boob tube.

It was only on the way back to my warm flat as I squelched my way through the puddles of Muranow with drenched shoes and socks and a pair of shorts that had become skin tight, that I realised quite how fortunate I was. Not only had I taken part in a glorified wet t-shirt contest but I had avoided any contact with the enemy! The same can't be said for the 300+ strong Zydowska Organizacja Bojowa (Jewish Fighting Organisation) who were using the bunker here as their headquarters for the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and were tear gassed out by the Nazis (soldiers from Germany, Latvia and Ukraine), many of them commited suicide before they were captured and a handful escaped to other bunkers and similar outcomes.

The memorial is little more than a mound, a budget priced miniature pyramid rising from a cobbled path that at first sight doesn't really do it justice with a simple monument dedicated to Anieliwicz, the leader of the Jewish Resistance Movement. Perhaps though, it's its modest design that keeps the hoards of tourists at bay and gives the site the peace it deserves. It occasionally gets a glance or a small visit but the lack of information and glamour means that you need a bit of knowledge and imagination or a useful guide to make it come to life. Incidentally the grassy verges that surround it was part of a Nazi plan to build a park with labour from concentration camps.

The Polish road numbering system is baffling at the best of times but in this case, Ul. Mila was re-numbered so the modern day Ul. Mila 18 doesn't correspond with the historic one which of course is a monument of the same name. The monument is best found by going to the corner with Ul. Stanislawa Dubois.

Summary: Worth checking out but read up on before visiting