Seventy years ago today Hitler invaded Poland and ushered in a half century of misfortune for its people. The war ended in 1945, but Communism followed shortly after, and Poland suffered - in addition to tremendous loss of life and massive emigration - the double curse of having its cities (with the exception of Krakow) destroyed by the Nazis and then rebuilt by the Soviets.
Igor Stravinsky reportedly said of Poland's geographical location: "If you pitch a tent in the middle of 5th Avenue, you're going to get hit by a bus." And, with the exception of the Tatra Mountains in the south, which today border that military powerhouse Slovakia, the land runs as flat as a Manhattan street.
It is also said that the first business to open in Warsaw after the war was a flower shop. Poles love flowers, and when I first heard this I thought it touching and eccentric, emphasizing the romantic over the practical and symbolizing the return of normalcy to daily life. Then I realized that the flowers were needed for all the fresh graves.
