Krakow: memorials and long history

On Sunday, April 18, the people of Poland mourned their president, his wife and other aides, who all died in the April 10 crash of the presidential plane which was en route to Russia.

The Polish leaders were to honor some 22,000 Polish officers and leaders of Polish society massacred in the woods of Katyn forest by the Soviet secret police, one of the worst atrocities of the Second World War.

But after the terrible accident the bodies of the victims were flown to Wawel Cathedral in Krakow, the longtime spiritual home of the Polish people. Many world leaders, including Barack Obama, had planned on attending the memorial services, but were deterred by the shroud of volcanic ash from Iceland which prevented quick flights in and out of Poland.

There is not much more I can say about the tragedy. I did not know the Polish leaders who died. But the Poles are friends of America and as it is with friends, their loss is our loss. What I can add, however, is to talk today about Krakow and why it has held a special mystique for me.

During a weeklong tour of Poland by the Society of American Travel Writers some years ago, I spent several days in Krakow. Knowing how both the Nazis and the Soviets during World War II seemed to compete with each other to see who could wreak the most havoc on Poland, I was surprised to find Krakow almost untouched by bombs or artillery shells.

The answer was quickly forthcoming: Warsaw had almost been leveled to the ground, so the Nazis set up their Polish command headquarters in Krakow.

One of the oldest cities in Poland, Krakow today is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Present-day tourists delightedly claim it is more beautiful than either Prague or Budapest.

Krakow has one of the largest public squares in the world. But it’s the tower of St.Mary’s Church on the edge of the square that attracts the most attention.

In early days, Krakow was fortified by an encircling wall. From the tower of the church, at noon, I heard a bugle start to sound a call. Then, abruptly, it stopped.

I asked our guide about this and he quickly gave me the history of this custom.

“The bugler in Krakow sounded a call every evening when the gates were closed to the farmers living outside the walls. In the morning he sounded a call to announce the gates were open. But he also was a watchman. If enemies approached he sounded a warning.

“In 1240 he spotted armed Tatars approaching the city. He started to sound the alarm, when a Tatar warrior shot an arrow through his throat! But the farmers had heard enough and rushed into the city and fended off the invaders.

“The bugler became the hero of Krakow. And to memorialize his bravery, his interrupted bugle call is broadcast every day. Indeed it is the oldest permanent radio broadcast in the world.�

In the 1800s, the famous bugler was almost forgotten. The town government was short on funds and cut off the bugler’s stipend. (Cost-cutting by government is nothing new, you see.) But a town merchant and his wife donated the money to pay the bugler until the town fathers resumed their responsibilities to their longtime hero.

I also learned about an English tourist who reported that on a Polish cruise liner in the North Sea the captain interrupted the ship’s customary music program to broadcast the Krakow Bugle Call. These days, Krakow in July is the scene of a bugle festival.

Krakow had a large and thriving Jewish population before World War II, and though most of them were killed, their section of the city now jumps with night clubs and shops. Hitler had in mind to preserve the Krakow ghetto as a museum to “A Vanished Race.â€�  

Since Krakow was the Nazis’ Polish headquarters during World War II, German officers and guards must have come through there on their way to one of history’s most horrible testimonials to man’s inhumanity to man: Auschwitz. Beautiful Krakow is about 30 miles from Auschwitz, so it is the last stop even now for visitors to the Nazi death camp.

For many hundreds of years, Krakow was the capital of Poland, but it was moved to Warsaw because it was more central. Kings were crowned in the Wawel Cathedral where the memorial services were held this week for the victims of the plane crash.

Barnett Laschever, the curmudgeon of the Litchfield Hills, is the author of five children’s books and co-author of a guide to Connecticut, now in its seventh edition.