(From Warsaw, special envoy)
“Bloodymir” reads a sign under a bridge in Warsaw with the photo of Putin and blood falling from his mouth. The Russian vampire leader a Polish passerby took the liberty of drawing a penis on his cheek.
Warsaw is an angry city.
Auschwitz was just one of the death camps where some three million Polish Jews were held and killed during the Holocaust. Thousands more died fighting, as in the historic Warsaw ghetto uprising in 1943.
But Warsaw is a resilient city.
Proud and hurt, she reopens her wounds and today shelters the massive waves of Ukrainians who reach Polish territory escaping Russian troops.
Infobae walks among Ukrainians who crowd in bus and train terminals, and thousands of others who found shelter and a place to sleep in refugee centers run by the Polish government, which decided to take care of the matter fully.
The images are striking but they show solidarity between peoples who did not always know how to put their differences aside.
The number of people arriving in Poland from Ukraine exceeded two million on Friday, according to data from Polish border guards. They are mostly women with children. Today, two out of three Ukrainian refugees enter Poland, according to information released by the UN.
More than a tenth of all those fleeing Ukraine arrive in the Polish capital. Some settle there, while others continue to travel to other destinations, so the main train stations become crowded centers where people camp on the flats, fatigued and terrified. Locals try to accompany them as they can, with assistance, food and a support arm.
Those who stay in Warsaw face a growing problem, that of housing.
When the war began, 95% of Ukrainians arriving in Warsaw were people who already had friends or family there and were welcomed by them. Today that group is 70% of newcomers, which means that 30% of them “need a roof over their heads” and other support.
The more than 530 kilometers they share on the border with Ukraine made Poland one of the heroic nations of this war. A key NATO ally, she spent months preparing precisely for this scenario.
Already the first Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2014 brought more than a million Ukrainians to Poland to work and study, bringing the two countries of Eastern Europe much closer than they had been for a long time. This humanitarian crisis sets another precedent of brotherhood between Ukrainians and Poles.
“We are dealing with the biggest migration crisis in the history of Europe since the Second World War... The situation is becoming more difficult every day,” said Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski last week. And the truth is that the biggest challenge lies ahead.
And the people who have arrived last are those who have witnessed the most terrible situations; they have suffered a greater trauma than those who arrived weeks ago.
The images Infobae observes in refugee centers are bleak. Women in shock looking for a hug or for someone to hold their babies for a second who will not stop crying, surely aware of the strange situation and the emotions that go through the skin. These mothers are alone in charge of their children, and carry the constant terror in their bodies of never seeing their husbands, fathers or brothers who were left behind again. Some children who observe them, hugging a favorite toy to the chest, and others who prefer to find comfort by running through the corridors overflowing with beds, kicking a ball or making a crescent through the air.
The Warsovians do what they can. Not always with the best attitude or with the greatest sympathy, but the truth is that many have taken time from work or their free time to volunteer at reception centers, try to provide assistance and support. But they can't cope and the tiredness and exasperation can be seen in their marked dark circles and their moody gestures. Reasonable and understandable.
A Pole smokes a cigar on the street, his posture cramped. On his chest, a yellow and blue ribbon. “Can we take a picture of him?” He shrugs and continues to smoke, but now upright and smiling. The little flag shines in the sun.
Franco Fafasuli: Photos
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