New book and exhibition shows how Warsaw was rebuilt following WW II ruin

Demolition of Marszalkowska Street and below, workers put in place new 'socialist realist'detail: photos - FORUM agency

The exhibition coincides with the release of the book 'Building a new home: the reconstruction of Warsaw in the period 1945-1952' by local historians Jerzy S. Majewski and Tomasz Markiewicz.

“The authors explain why the rebuilding of Warsaw was such a complicated process, what lay behind the individual solutions which were to decide the shape of today’s city and why – despite the many controversial decisions – it is impossible to deliver an unequivocal judgement,” says the History Meeting House's web site.

Already by the end of 1939, following the invasion of German Nazi occupying forces, 10 percent of the city had been destroyed. By the end of the war in 1945, 80 percent of the west bank of Warsaw lay in ruins.

'Building a new home. The reconstruction of Warsaw in the period 1945-1952' tells the story of the conflicts that went on during the reconstruction period following the war, between those who wanted a completely modern city, in the name of communist progress, and those who wanted to recreate the city as it was before the war.

The mixture of Socialist Realism architecture and the reconstruction of the Old Town as it was before 1939, which can be seen in Warsaw today, reflect the tension between the two visions.

The photographs on show in the both the book and exhibition come from the archives of BOS (Office for the Reconstruction of the Capital), which are housed at the City of Warsaw State Archives.

On show is the work of photographer, Karol Pęchęrski, commissioned by BOS to take photographs as part of an inventory of the damage incurred during the war and which are now held by the Provincial Office for the Protection of Historical Monuments in Warsaw.

The book, published in both Polish and English also includes photographs taken by Zdzisław Wdowiński, Edward Falkowski and Zbyszko Siemaszko, as well as material from private collections belonging to the families of the architects involved in the rebuilding process.

The History Meeting House is located at ul.Karowa 20. See web site here. (pg)