Warsaw Uprising

This is something very unique and very intense. If you have the chance to be in Warsaw, the capital city of Poland, on a 1st of August you will have the privilege to see and experience a unique sight.

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People of Warsaw (this is also spreading of course in whole Poland but nothing comparable of what you will see in Warsaw on that day) actually pay a tribute to over 200 000 citizens of Warsaw who died heroically in 1944 during what is now known as "Warsaw Uprising" (Powstanie Warszawskie). Civilians of Warsaw rebelled against occuption of the nazis during WW II but suffered very cruel repression.

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Every year on that date at 5 PM sharp, the whole city just stops for one minute to pay a tribute to the deads! It actually really stops, like cars, buses, tramways, I am pretty sure trains also! People just stop wherever they are at 5PM (people get out of their car if they were driving) and just stand silently, some the hand on the heart, some with Polish flags raised in the air. I found this very emotional and so intense!

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I could not help thinking what a foreigner in Warsaw who would not be aware of this would think and feel, that must be an amazing experience when you don't know what is happening around you! This is just one day in the year but this is very much bound to Polish culture and definitely a must see as to my knowledge no other country/city in the world does something similar...