70 years on and Stalin’s ‘gifted’ skyscraper nonetheless looms over this Polish metropolis | EUROtoday

Seventy years after Soviet dictator Josef Stalin ‘gifted’ Warsaw its towering Palace of Culture and Science, the skyscraper on the coronary heart of Poland’s capital nonetheless stirs robust emotions.

The Palace, marking the seventieth anniversary of its opening on 22 July 1955 when Poland was a part of the Soviet-led communist Eastern Bloc, was conceived by Stalin as an emblem of Soviet domination and initially bore his identify.

“If you put a big palace, a kind of skyscraper at the time, in the middle of the city that can be seen from 30 km (19 miles)away, it shows the power,” mentioned Dorota Zmarzlak, a member of the palace’s board.

Younger individuals not see it that approach, she mentioned.

After the tip of communist rule in Poland in 1989, many Soviet-era monuments had been eliminated and road names modified.

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The Palace remained, despite the fact that distinguished politician Radoslaw Sikorski, who’s now Poland’s overseas minister, known as for it to be demolished in 2007.

It has been used as a live performance venue and hosted political occasions, exhibitions and style exhibits. A riot broke out when the Rolling Stones performed there in 1967, lengthy earlier than communist rule ended.

“It was an escape for me, I could go somewhere,” mentioned Zygmunt Kowalski, 89, a retired railway employee who moved to Warsaw a month after the Palace opened, and swam along with his daughter in its pool in addition to seeing movies and concert events there.

“Everything can be torn down, but let this stay for future generations, as proof of what once was … the next generations will have evidence that communism was here,” he mentioned.

The Palace nonetheless has 4 theatres, a big cinema and museums, and hosts exhibitions. The live performance corridor is being renovated.

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Some youthful Warsaw residents focus much less on the Palace’s political historical past than on its standing as a Warsaw landmark.

Karol Los, a 23-year-old scholar, mentioned the Palace, now surrounded by trendy skyscrapers, is inseparable from the town’s id.

“For me, it’s a symbol of Warsaw. I think young people see it very differently than the older generation,” he mentioned.

Ukrainian architect Valerii Shcherbak, 32, admires the palace’s architectural element and its recognition with vacationers.

“This is history and we need to respect it,” he mentioned, noting that many Soviet-era buildings in Ukraine have been destroyed. “What happened in the past should be kept for history, not destroyed.”