On Saturday I had an incredible encounter that I would even describe as impactful. I had already prepared yesterday's article which was related to what I had posted on Saturday about the Evolution of English and so I decided to hold fire and post about this encounter today instead.

The kids were restless and more than a little fractious and all week the big one (5) was asking when we would be going out on a train again and so as a family this is what we decided to do. We took a bus to a nearby train station and then took a city train just a few stops to the city centre. It was enough to give the kids the experience and to get us all out of the house. We then got a direct bus back home. The round trip was probably about 90 minutes with a bit of waiting time at the train station.

So we went to the nearest bus stop to wait for the bus that would take us to the train station and there we were playing "happy families" - to all intents and purposes to the outside world a perfect and loving family - but we know the truth. The bus duly came along and with us having the boys with us we quickly sat down. Mama_Rah had the little one (2) on her lap and the big one next to her and I ended up sitting across the aisle next to an elderly lady who very politely let me pass so I was next to the window. 

I immediately thanked her, because it was a bit inconvenient for her to let me through, but I totally understand why she wanted the aisle seat. She asked me if the children were my grandchildren and I said "No - I am just an older dad."

She then said that she was 87 years old (and I would have believed 67) and to drive her point about her age home she said that she was born in Warsaw and here during the 1944 Uprising.

For me this has always been the pivotal moment in 20th Century Polish history and I was immediately in awe of her. Starting on 1 August 1944, the Poles, under the AK - Armia Krajowa ("The Home Army") rose up to try to liberate Warsaw and after some initial successes they were ultimately defeated, having been pretty much left to fend for themselves with only negligible international support that made no difference (this is still a thorny issue for many Poles, but it is not my reason for writing today so I won't digress). The city was almost completely destroyed, literally building by building, by the fighting and specific instructions of the Nazi hierarchy as an object lesson. Much of the population was simply executed for being there (many were led to the tractor factory in the Wola district) and those who weren't were driven out, often initially to Pruszkow nearby and many ended up in camps. Remember we are talking about civilians here. Sadly the failure of the Uprising was one of the factors that saw a Communist Government - the so-called Lublin Government - established as the post-war rulers of Poland (under Stalin's boot of course), and this was a situation that remained unchanged until 1989.

She lived through it all at the tender age of five. She told me that she couldn't remember everything - that would be impossible, but she remembers the shooting and the fires and the destruction. She also told me that her dad was a fluent German speaker and when the Nazis', vengeful and angry, tried to drive them to where they wanted to be (most probably to be slaughtered) that her dad clung on to the whole family and, speaking in German, he insisted that they go to Pruszkow. His argument must have been convincing and his presence compelling, because his decisiveness almost certainly saved his family's life.

And there I was 82 years later listening to the most incredible woman I have ever met. I genuinely fell in love with her in just a few short minutes and was only sad that the bus journey we shared together was so short.

As always stay safe and well my friends.