Krakow has a solid place in European history,
both ancient and modern.
Long a capital of Polish kingdoms,
it played a role in the Solidarity uprising in the 1980s and the eventual
ending of the Communist regime.
But perhaps it is more famous for
what didn't happen to it. During World War 2, it was one of the few Polish
cities not systematically destroyed by the Nazis.
A Soviet pincer move at the
end of the war drove the German army out before it could set off charge
meant to erase the history enshrined in the streets and buildings.
