Every topic could easily fill
not only it's own Blog . . but . . Pages and Volumes
We're going to fast track here
and try to catch up.
So many interesting places . .
and such important historical events
we can only hope to sample a few highlights in these posts
Picture 4 eyeballs .. belonging to Rusty and Wrinkles . .
peeking out from under
a huge mound of . photos . maps . pamphlets . etc
a huge mound of . photos . maps . pamphlets . etc
overwhelmed with . . what to leave out . . what to put in . .
most has to be left out
there's only . . 24 hrs . . in a day ( ! )
___
This time we'll start with
. . Poland's Baltic Seaside . .
. . Poland's Baltic Seaside . .
known as
THE AMBER COAST
AMBER has been washing up on the beaches here
for an estimated . . 40 million years
Nearly 75% of the world's Amber
is mined
in northern Poland
is mined
in northern Poland
It's found in a variety of rough shapes and sizes
People with nets
can scoop up chunks along the shore
after winter storms
People with nets
can scoop up chunks along the shore
after winter storms
Artists . . have fun with the stuff . . making large items like
guitars . chandeliers
bowls of fruit . ships . jewelry and much more
Archeologists . . have found . . Roman citizens
buried with . . Crosses
made of . . Amber
It comes in about 300 distinct shades
from
yellowish - white to yellowish - black
Darker shades . . are more fragile . . mixed with ash and sand
Lighter shades . . are found to contain . . gasses and air bubbles
. . but . .
It all seems to originate from . . fossilized tree resin
. . possibly a mixture of
SAP . . from a variety of evergreens
News junkies ( in the . . 1980s ) remember the name
Lech Welensa
( as the world pronounces it )
Lech . . spells it . . "Welesa"
It's a fun story . . because it has a mostly good ending . .
and also because it reminds us of the
- POWER of ' ONE ' -
( . . Hitler and Stalin
also demonstrate the power of 'one'
in a . . negative way . . )
. . But Lech's story . .
being a simple shipyard worker
. . reaching the point of . . 'Enough is Enough'
. . deciding to confront "EVIL"
. . NOT 'GIVING UP' . .
using
. PERSUASION
. STRIKES
. growing PUBLIC OPINION
. toughing it out . on the FRONT LINES . for more than DECADE
armed with nothing but
. sound ARGUMENTS
. persevering GUTS
played a huge role in
bringing
d o w n
communism
not only in . . Poland
but . . for . . ALL of Europe
➤ This part of the WW2 story comes a few years after WW2 ended . .
when ➤ Hitler was . . "long gone"
( . . but just as bad or ➤ worse . . )
➤ S T A L I N . . "moved in"
☛ pretending and promising
to 'rescue' and to 'help'
but his
☛ "Communist" . . strong - arm " tactics "
only
☛ oppressed . weakened and . further humiliated
what remained of . . a
"destroyed " . . PEOPLE
and . . a
"devastated" . . LAND
G d a n s k
is . . Lech's . . "hometown"
These SHIPYARDS were .. HIS DAILY "WORKPLACE"
There were more 'downs' than 'ups' . . in the . . Solidarity MOVEMENT
At one point . .
the Movement was ☛ legalized . .
then ☛ outlawed
Lech was . . ☛ fired
★ Each event only proved the necessity of the "movement"
★ causing greater "notice"
★ gathering larger numbers of supporters
☛ in Poland . ☛ in Europe . ☛ around the Globe
When Pope John Paul II . . insisted on meeting with . . Lech
in Solidarity with his own Polish people
☛ ( because HE HIMSELF HAD subtly fought "Communism")
( before he became . . Pope )
★ The World "took notice" - "joining" in SUPPORT
★ Communism . . began to . . "c r u m b l e "
★ All . . of . . Europe . . was . . inspired
During Poland 's parliamentary election . . the Communists
reserved . . 65 seats . . " for . . themselves"
It . . ☛ b a c k f i r e d
★ Every open seat was won by . . Solidarity !
Long story short . . .
★ The Poles had thrown off . . the shackles of . . "Communism"
Then
★ The Czechs and the Slovaks staged their . . "Velvet Revolution"
( They agreed to . . SEPARATE . . peacefully )
★ Germany's "Berlin Wall" c r u m b l e d
★ Lech . . won the . . " Nobel Peace Prize "
★ Democracy . . came to the . . Polish people
. . because of the workers of . . Gdansk
and . . it all began with
✔︎ A shipyard "electrician" . . named "Lech" !
It was a . . long difficult "struggle"
This beautiful new building tells the whole story . . .
Visitors get to Interact . . by writing a message . . .
and then HANG the message
on the cleverly arranged colors that spell out
" S O L I D A R I T Y "
( On the way . . to Warsaw . . by train )
we stopped off in
Malbork
to see the
largest BRICK CASTLE in the world
This was the . . Headquarters . . of the
Teutonic Knights
a Germanic band of
. . former . . (Christian)
Crusaders
who . . dominated . . Poland
➤ ( in the . . Middle Ages )
➤ ( In the . . mid - 1400s ) . . Polish kings turned it into a royal residence
used for that purpose for 300 years.
➤( In the . . 1700s ) . . Germans took it over
using it as . . Barracks.
➤ ( 50 years . . later ) . . the German Nazis used it
for . . 'prisoners of war'
➤ ( Then in . . 1945 ) the . . Soviet Russian Communists . . destroyed it
. . because they associated it with . . German 'domination'
Just a couple quick glimpses . . we're standing in a
2 - tiered 'Dungeon'
It's amusing to remember that
. . Hot Shots . .
( including Castle - dwelling . . "Teutonic Knights" )
pee and poop
. . like the rest of us !!
Look closely . . the shelf above the seat is holding
'cabbage leaves' . . used for . . toilet paper
And on the heels of that UN - expected
' slice of life '
. . we leave this castle . .
( which has been . . newly . . restored to it's . . former . . Teutonic . . glory ! )
We . . RE - Board . . the next train . . and . . head south to the
Polish " Capital "
____________________
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