04/08/2025
81st anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising.
“W Hour” - At 5 pm on August 1st every year, time stops in Warsaw to commemorate those who fourth for a free Poland. Sirens echo and for one minute.. We Remember.🤍❤️
In the summer of 1944 insurgents fought for 63 days to free Warsaw from German occupation and Soviet control. What was meant to last only a few days turned into over two months of unimaginable courage, staggering loss, and an unbreakable will to be free. It became the largest underground resistance in German-occupied Europe. The civilian population suffered immensely - starving, hiding in basements, enduring bombardment and executions.
Here with Halina Rogozińska, nicknamed “Little” or "Blue", who was just 17 when she became a soldier, liaison officer, IV Ochota District during the Warsaw Uprising in 1944. Halina and I share birthdays, October 30th, though decades apart. At 17, our lives took very different turns: she was risking hers in an occupied and burning city, and I was moving abroad to Canada.
Despite the hardships Halina endured, today at 98, she radiates warmth, resilience, and light. Her words convey the message that even in the most difficult and darkest times, joy and gratitude can be found - "Enjoy the little things, don't wait for the big ones."
In one photo, she’s handing my niece a sticker. In another, laughing with TVP1’s Tomasz Wolny. Then there’s the moment she embraced Rambo, my niece’s dog, in a tight squeeze full of strength and tenderness.
