Steeple People (a follow-up)
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A few weeks ago, I published a piece called “Steeple People.” Today I’m going to do a short follow-up on that, so if you haven’t read it yet, you’ll definitely want to do that first, or this post won’t make much sense. Here are links to Part 1 and Part 2.
You’ll recall that I wrote about spending Christmas of 2022 at the family apartment of a lifelong friend of my late mother-in-law. During our holiday dinner, our host pointed at the wall to the left of where I was sitting and explained that it had been devastated by bombs during World War II. I then lamented the fact that I had not taken a photo of the picture she showed me of the damage.
After I published the piece, the granddaughter of our host (who had also been there with us that day) reached out through social media and offered to get me a copy of the photograph of the war-damaged apartment. (Thanks very much, Anna!)
So today I wanted to share that photo, along with its accompanying write-up from someone who lived through the air raid.
Here is the room where we ate our Christmas meal. The wall with windows was blown out by the bombing, as seen in the historic photograph above.
Following are the most pertinent parts of the write-up (which is from 2013), run through Google Translate and then lightly edited/adapted by me for grammar and clarity:
Honorable Residents!
In the coming days there will be an important anniversary for our [apartment complex]. Exactly 70 years ago, on the night of May 12-13, 1943, a Soviet bomber raid1 took place on Warsaw.
The explosion of one of the bombs damaged the gable wall of the outbuilding of our [apartment building] from the side of Poniecka Street (see the photo below).
Another bomb fell in the middle of the yard, and yet none of the residents of Slupecka 4 were hurt by its explosion. In gratitude for the miraculous rescue, the residents donated a statue of the Virgin Mary, who watches over us to this day.
The only participant of those events alive and living in our house today—Mr. Janusz Kahl—recalls these dramatic moments:
During a heavy Soviet air raid, a series of four high-explosive bombs fell in the immediate vicinity of the house. The first and second exploded at the fork of Niemcewicza and Spiska streets. The third fell right next to the wing of our building from Poniecka Street, blowing out half of the gable wall. The fourth one hit the very center of the yard. It does not take much imagination to come to the conclusion that such a scattering of a series of bombs, which did not hit the building with gas, allowed our residents to take shelter in the basements. It is almost a miracle. Nobody even got hurt.
The crater in the yard was huge—it reached up to the side walkways. Of course, the windows in the apartments were broken, and sometimes the door frames, and even the walls fell over and the ceiling linings were hanging.
The house looked terrible from the yard. Meanwhile, we were extremely happy that we managed to escape these two events unscathed.
Immediately there was an initiative to place a statue of the Virgin Mary in the yard as a vote of thanks for the miraculous rescue. A statue was ordered, and it was decided to obtain the necessary funds by organizing a concert by our residents, who in return would donate money to finance the project.
Due to the small space (the apartment of Mrs. Lenkszewiezów k1.B), the concert was repeated twice. The performers were artists living in our building. They were: soprano Barbara Rudzka and tenor Cywinski, performed by, among others, a duet from the opera "Manon Lesceau" and arias from "Carnen," soprano Pakulska, pianist Tadeusz Gatecki, and the accompaniment of the singers was in my hands. I will remember this concert deeply. It was my first professional stage performance.
Since I have the chance, I thought I’d also include a few more of my favorite steeple shots that did not make it into the original piece. If you’re reading this piece on the Substack website (rather than just in your email), you should be able to click through these in gallery view to see full, uncropped versions. [Just click through on the article header in this email to access the web version.]
Speaking of Steeple People…
Would you like to help ensure that Donald Trump never again wields the levers of power afforded by the American presidency?
I have recently become the secretary for the Northern Italy chapter of Democrats Abroad, the official Democratic “state party” for the millions of Americans living outside the United States. We're a volunteer-run organization, with active chapters across six continents and members who vote in every U.S. state and congressional district.
Democrats Abroad Italy (DAI) is in the midst of our 2024 fundraising campaign, the proceeds of which will help us get out the vote of Americans living in Italy for the November 5th election. (I go into detail about this in Steeple People Part 2, if you’d like to learn more.)
If you are a U.S. citizen, please join us by donating today!
As an added incentive, now through this Saturday (May 25), my husband and I will MATCH DOLLAR FOR DOLLAR the first $2024 raised!
After you make a donation by clicking on the blue button above, just reply to this email letting me know the amount you donated and WE WILL MATCH IT, up to $2024.
Thank you for helping us to give Trump the boot!
Michael
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I stand corrected. This bombing was not done by the Germans, as I wrote previously, but by the Soviets.