The only story I had heard about Warsaw before I went there was the story of the movie “the Pianist” from 2002. The movie told the story of a Polish Jewish musician who was struggling to survive life in the Warsaw ghetto during WWII. This was also the story of nearly half a million Jews who were living in Warsaw and a story I wanted to learn more about during my stay there.
I first started off with a two hour free walking tour about the Jewish history of Warsaw that took us through the neighborhoods where the Jews used to live and the ghetto where hundreds of thousands were starved to death. After the tour I headed to the museum of Polish Jewish history which was free on Thursdays. The museum was huge, with a massive ancient Jewish history which I thought was quite boring and a part with post war Jewish history including the emigration to Israel that I found really good. Warsaw was also a place to see some interesting architecture and get a final good night out before starting my six month trip through Africa.