Poland

Few European nations have suffered more under Nazism and Communism than Poland did. Traveling around Poland, I was sometimes overwhelmed with sadness and melancholy. Whether it was a visit to the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp or the Warsaw Uprising Museum, learning from Poland's history could be painful but also essential. The country’s resurgence during the 1990s was nothing short of a miracle. Today’s Poland is a traveler’s delight. Much of the cultural heritage lost in the war has been faithfully restored and reconstructed. At the time, the legacy of the tragedy was selectively preserved for remembrance and warning to the future generation.