A view of Baluty: Second exploration of Baluty

For our second exploration of the Baluty-district we focuse on the old Baluty again but 'north from the church' which seems to be in the middle from 'Stare Baluty'. On the map this part of Baluty is described as Os Berlinskiego. It's roughly the area inside the lines Zachodnia, Lutomierska/Zawiszy, Franciczkanska and Wojska Polskiego.

One my way to Baluty I nearly 'tumbled' over this sign on the pavement... Earlier I must have missed it or it was covered by snow. Anyhow, it shocked me. I walked just through the gates of the ghetto!...

The sign on the pavement says "Litzmannstadt Ghetto 1940 - 1944". Litzmannstadt is how Lodz was renamed by the Nazies.

Read about this - this is a must - an article about language policy in the Third Reich written by William Bostock which tells also in short but very adequate what happens in the ghetto . More words are no needed to understand.

See for the whole article of William Bostock this link .

I realise as never before that I walk in a 'guilty landscape'. This term is coming from the Dutch artist Armando who dedicated his whole work to this subject since he played as a boy in the fields and woods where many cruelties from war had been taken place.

He speaks of guilty or accused landscape, which means that the landscape/cityscape itself is also 'guilty' by transforming and hiding what had happened.

How do we/I deal with this topic? I mean, I see at the very moment I walk there the fences, and the gate, and all the people hopeless locked in, I nearly feel the pain and the suffering; it's still in the streets...

I meet Agnieszka and Gosia, tell them about my discovering of the sign and my thoughts and feelings. We decide to do our walk, that's probably how we and people in general deal with the horrible facts from the past: just go on with life and doing what you planned to do.

The sun is shining. We are impressed by the photographic opportunities we see around and start walking and taking photographs which us deliver comments from people around that it is if we are walking in a museum.... Not the best way to connect with the people but we decide one time to sin...

Next time we will hide the camera. But for now it's 'reading the city'. With the camera. Without avoiding all stereotypes.

That's why the rest what follows in this message now: photographes with a very few comment, and a very few people.