One of the things that sets Warsaw apart from every other European capital is the noticeable lack of an old city center. Athens, Paris, London, Rome, Prague, Kiev-- these cities are thousands of years old, and it shows. One of Europe's delights, in fact, is the continent's well-preserved architecture.
Yet despite being founded over 1,000 years ago, Warsaw is largely devoid of such splendor. Most of the city was completely demolished by the Nazis after several years of invasion, occupation, and insurrection.
It was right around this time 73-years ago, in fact, that Nazi forces began to mass at the Polish border in preparation for invasion.
- Roman and Lucja Frydman enjoying a leisurely summer day with their two young daughters shortly before the Nazi invasion in 1939. Miraculously, all four survived and were reunited in 1945.
Warsaw after the invasion
The example of World War II may be extreme, but history is full of other instances when people made a conscious decision to be a spectator rather than a victim. Of course, there have also been untold millions who packed their bags and sought greener pastures overseas merely to avail themselves to the opportunities abroad.
Hanseatic peasants fled their feudal lifestyles and flocked in droves to the imperial free city of Bremen where they could be regarded as free persons and own property. 13th century Venice became the center of the merchant class universe, and intrepid youths were making fortunes under the city-state's venture capital structures.
Smart, productive people from all over Europe went to London in the 19th century where they had a real shot of success in the country's booming industrial economy.
As the economic tides shift today, the same trend will hold true: people will pack up and head abroad, whether in search of opportunity, to get out of Dodge, or perhaps both. This trend has held for as long as there has been human civilization. This time is not different.
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