Attend A Museum: Warsaw Uprising Museum

Powstanie Warszawskie

1 August-2 October 1944

With the Red Army approaching, the polish resistance decided to form an uprising. The plan was for the Red Army to attack at the same time so that they could overwelm the occupying German forces. However when it came time to fight the Red Army waiting on the outskirts of the city until the polish resistance was crushed. During the uprising men, women, and children fought to free their city.

The Warsaw Uprising Museum is a very unique museum about the uprising. It recreates the feeling of the time. Inside the building it is darker and you can hear radio announcements that were played throughout the war. Then starts the sound of bombs and gunfire. All around the walls recreate the look of the city at the time. Its hard not to feel like you are standing in the middle of Warszawa 1944.

 When the Nazis took over Warszawa, all streets were renamed to have german names. ul. Dworcowa became Bahnhofstrasse (both are names for a street containing the train station)

 Poster calling Poles to arms to defend their countries.

 The result of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. The Soviet Union and Nazi Germany divided polish lands amongst each other.

 German propaganda

 Very pretty motorcycle.

 Polish resistance armbands. These are bands were worn by members of the polish resistance, Armej Krajowej. During german occupation owning something like this could get you shot. For 11 Listopada (11 November, Independence Day) the school I was attending had an assembly were a few people who participated in the polish resistance talked about their experiences.

 Posters asking Poles to help the Red Army fight the Nazis and free polish lands.

 Article from Pravda, the soviet propaganda newspaper villainizing the polish resistance.

The Uprising museum is by far one of my favorite museums to visits. It really feels like you are there in 1944s Warsaw.

Analyze a Historic Item

When I was in Warszawa I went to the Praga District to visit a flea market. The Praga district is in an older part of town that is only now in the process of being renovated. You can still see bullet holes in the building was from World War II. At the flea market they were selling a lot of antique items such as officer's sabres, war medals, and various currencies. I ended up buying a Russian Ruble Banknote.

Its a 3 ruble note from 1905. That was the year of the Revolution of 1905. This revolution led to the creation of the State Duma, a constitution, and a limited monarchy. Despite these changes, the russian monarchy was later overthrown and a communist state created.

Both the front and back of the ruble have the double headed eagle that represents the Russian empire. The curved lettering (государственные кредитные билеты) above the denomination amount marks the bill as a state credit note which were first used in 1843. Underneath this is the denomination (3 rubles). The banknote consists mainly of green and red colors and its texture is similar that that of old US bills but slightly softer.

Visit an Old Cemetery (or three)

Kohrville-Amos Cemetery

As soon as my Physics class ended, I picked up Ayla and we headed out to visit the various old cemeteries in our area. The first one we went to was Amos Cemetery on Hufsmith-Kohrville Rd.
I've driven past this place many times on my way home from class but never stopped there before.

 Someone has been going through and replacing/cleaning up the old tombstones. Over on a tree stump we could see where they were setting concrete for the RIP placs.

 Many of the original tombstones appeared to be hand made. In all the cemeteries I've been to before the stones were fancier and likely bought stones.

After looking around for a little bit we headed on to the next cemetery. Before Hurricane Ike hit I lived in a subdivision called Willow Oaks. Its a fairly small, rundown subdivision off Kuykendahl Rd in Tomball. If you turned onto the third street in the subdivision, Willow Glen Rd, the was/is a small cemetery between two houses. The story I was told when we moved there was that the entire subdivision used to be a cemetery but graves were moved so the land could be developed. A few families however refused to allow their loved ones to be moved and so that small part was left behind.
The only information I've been able to find about this cemetery is its name, Huckabee cemetery. Otherwise there is nothing regarding its past.

When the got there the gate was closed with an intimidating looking lock. Not that that deterred us at all. The place was surrounded by a short chain link fence so we quickly hopped it.

 Many of the graves were run down. For the most part it seems like not too much care has been taken to preserve the graves with the exception of a few. Many of the graves belonged to the Lawrence family and the Brill family.

 These four stone were interesting. The older looking one on the center left it for a Fred Brill born April 1869 died Dec 1929. The newer stone on the left is for a John Frederick Brill born also born in April 1869 but died in Dec 1928. The stones on the right show a similar thing. One is for a Carrie Brill Apr 1870-Aug 1944 while the other is Sarah Caroline Brill Apr 1871-Aug 1944.

I found this stone very interesting. The only thing written on it is Kirby girl. No other information was given.

 There were also some confederate soldier graves as well.

After this Ayla and I headed off to another cemetery. I remembered seeing a sign for one somewhere off Holderreith Rd. When we saw the sign we drove down a small gravel path the cemetery. At first it just looked like a newer one but then we noticed something in the middle. As we walked towards it we realized this will the historic Pillot Cemetery.

The center marker for the family plot was huge. This family must have been well off.

 Another Confederate soldier grave. It was after seeing this one that I realized the some of the gravestones in Huckabee Cemetery were also soldier graves.

 A gravestone in German.

One thing I noticed was the large amount of child graves. The Pillot family lost a lot of children and many of them in the same year. Likely there was an epidemic of some kind. It must have been hard for the family to loose so many kids so quickly.


We were only able to make it to 3 cemeteries that day because of school. Both of us had classes later on in the day. We hope to be able to visit a few more in December during the holiday break.