Underneath Poland

Long-Read

An article about Poland, a machete attack, and a visit to an underground city nazis were building – With more didactic content than two hours of History Channel.

[Amazon]

It was the last Saturday from the first month of 2018. I woke up early (much earlier than usual, what it means that it was not lunch time yet). It took me some time to remember where the hell I was: an empty, though quite familiar apartment in Prenzlauer Berg, Berlin. That was my first day without work, after the end of my three-month notice period time, since I had quit my job at the end of the previous year. At the time, I had already left my home and had spent that whole month living in the house of a portuguese friend who was in Brazil at the time.

I went to the kitchen and, while taking a quick breakfast based on coffee and buttered toast, I got all the remaining food I had: some breads, chocolates and a fair amount of cheese. As the house would be empty for some time and I had no plans of staying there longer when I get back to Berlin, I took everything that was perishable and edible to consume as meals during my trip – a common strategy for those who travels without money. My bags were already packed, placed in a corner – they would stay there during the 17 days I would spend travelling in East Europe, going through Poland, Belarus, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. At that moment, however, I was still not sure about my route, once improvising the way is another characteristic of those who travel without reason. The only thing I knew for sure is that I was going to Poland on that morning.

Back to Poland

Just like the German Empire or the Sovietic Union did in past centuries, I was also coming back to Poland from time to time. I have an emotional bond with the country, once I always take with me a small gift Poland gave me: a small scar at the left side of my face. The incident happened in 2011, at my first visit to Kraków, in a tale that was in many opportunities already told, but never before had been transcript in bad-written words.