Poland – Otwock
I’m aware I’m jumping around topics a bit at the moment, this is from when I was in Poland a week ago.
Otwock is at one end of the S1 line in Warsaw and I thought I’d go there to distract myself for the day. The town dates back to the fifteenth century, but it expanded quickly in the late nineteenth century when the railways arrived here. Located in a forested area it became a popular place for people to take the air and the wealthy Poles came here for rest and relaxation. There was a large Jewish community here (around 5,400 out of a population of 8,500) before the Second World War, but their population was decimated, with most ending up at Treblinka extermination camp. There were five synagogues in the town at the outbreak of the war, but they were all destroyed in October 1939. A ghetto was set up here by the Germans and there’s a plan of it at https://museeholocauste.ca/app/uploads/2017/03/plan-ghetto-otwock-1947.jpg.
It does have one of the most beautiful railway stations that I’ve seen in Poland.
I think this is really rather lovely and it first opened in 1877 as part of the Vistula River Railroad project, although this building is later and dates to 1910. The line was electrified in 1936 as part of the plan to improve the rail services to suburban Warsaw.
There’s a news report in August 1906, when Otwock was part of the Russian Empire, that reads:
“Last night, at Otwock near Warsaw, a band of revolutionaries, all of them Russian Jews, attacked the railway station, firing revolvers. They stole 800 roubles and shot a railway employee dead. During the night troops searched the neighbourhood and arrested eleven suspects. This morning, as the train carrying the prisoners approached Warsaw, it was stopped by fifty men, who fired revolvers at it”.
I’m not sure I entirely understand, as in 1906 there were pogroms across Russia against Jews, although they did defend themselves. There’s another reality that newspapers at the time may or may not have reported accurately anyway.
The town’s Christmas tree was still up in late January.
As noted on the sign, Warsaw is around 25 kilometres away.
I’m not sure that I’d go quite that far. However, Michael Jackson applied to lease a property here in 1997 (in Otwock, not this playing field) so it has attracted many over the years.
I was less interested in this sign than wondering where those Five Guys stickers came from, as I don’t think that they’ve reached Poland yet. Monterock have got the rights to open the brand across the country, but I’m not sure any have opened yet.
Otwock is known for its architecture and this shows some of that off. The style is quite located and took off in the late nineteenth century, primarily formed of quite complex wooden construction, rich ornamentation, verandas, balconies and an attempt to blend in with nature.
As another aside, and as more riveting content, why are the seats like that?
That swing looks like something I’ve arranged. Although something I’ve obviously got some help with as otherwise it wouldn’t be level, nor would it be attached to the trees still.
A water tower.
Just as a note about the railway line that I travelled on from Warsaw, this goes through a town called Wawer. In February 1940, the Germans killed 138 people in reprisal for someone shooting at their police officers and that included a train they stopped which was going to Otwock and they just shot dead one in five of the passengers as a reprisal punishment. This reached the news internationally, it was clear to the world just what was happening in Poland very early on.
In March 1941, the Germans killed seventeen Poles in Otwock because they were dis-satisfied with the number of volunteers who had put their names forward to work in Germany. In late July 1944, the Russian troops liberated Otwock, but it took until January 1945 for them to liberate Warsaw. This was deliberate, they wanted the Polish resistance crushed in Warsaw and were happy for the Germans to do it and this strategic inaction is part of the dislike of Russia that pervades the wider region.
I must admit, I meandered around for a while and this was all that I could find that looked interesting and exciting. The restaurants were mostly not open yet and as I had to get back to Warsaw so I didn’t miss my flight, I limited myself to a three mile walk up and down the streets of Otwock and then went back again.