Next we went to the Katyn Memorial commemorating the 22,000 Polish Intelligentia military leaders who were murdered and dumped in mass graves in 1940 by their professed Russian allies. The entire Polish leadership killed in plane crash in 2010 on the way to celebrating the 60th memorial of the massacre This was the first time the Russians had made a public statement of apology for the massacre--or even acknowledged that it had happened.
After that we made our way to the Panarama builging, a huge painting of the 1794 Battle of Racławice where Polish peasants clobbered the Russian army--albeit temporarily. This huge painting is 15 feet hight and 114 meters in width. Artificial terrain blends with the painting, making it seem more lifelike. The Panarama was opened on the 100th anniversary in 1894 in Lwow. When Lwow became part of Russia after WWII, the painting was shipped to Wroclaw. Not too surprisingly the Russians weren’t anxious for the Poles to display the painting, so it was poorly stored until 1980 when a new round building was built specially for it and it was carefully restored.
After this we kayaked on the river--lots of fun, the first time I’ve been in a kayak. First we rowed to the little bronze statue of the gnome doing laundry.
and to many of the bridges we had crossed earlier. 
and then spent some time at the National Art Museum. 
I was surprised to find that I liked the modern art most, the briefcase 
with the surprise inside
, the people going into the sidewalk 
(prototypes for the outside sculpture Transitions by Jerzy Kalana which we saw the next day), and the big boots. 
I was surprised to find that I liked the modern art most, the briefcase 
with the surprise inside
, the people going into the sidewalk 
(prototypes for the outside sculpture Transitions by Jerzy Kalana which we saw the next day), and the big boots. 
This is a private party which had rented out a boat. They shared their music with everyone.
After that we walked past the Ukrainian Monument. 
“If we forget about them, God will forget about us. “, a reminder of the Ukrainian Polish conflict during WWII--apparently the Poles didn’t have enough on their hands fighting the Germans and the Russians; they also were fighting the Ukrainians.
“If we forget about them, God will forget about us. “, a reminder of the Ukrainian Polish conflict during WWII--apparently the Poles didn’t have enough on their hands fighting the Germans and the Russians; they also were fighting the Ukrainians.
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