Press Release
Rotterdam, 23 April 2025 – On Monday, 12 May 2025, the participants of the “Four Days In May” commemoration will depart early in the morning from Berlin to Warsaw on a poetic train, where the second day of this international celebration series will take place. They will arrive in Warsaw at around 11:00, and at 13:00 they will visit three different museums. Just as in Berlin, the day will be ceremoniously concluded with an open stage under the stars, where participants will have the opportunity to share their anti-war and peace stories, poems, and songs, performing on an open stage located at various spots along the ancient city wall.
13:00–15:00 | Black Monday
Warsaw Uprising Museum, Grzybowska 79
Join us on an unforgettable journey through Warsaw’s rich past. Today we will visit the Warsaw Uprising Museum and uncover the legacy of resistance that shaped the nation. Discover how the heroic Warsaw Ghetto Uprising (19 April – 16 May 1943) inspired the Home Army to launch a bold, 63‑day uprising against the German occupation – a monumental struggle in 1944 and the largest resistance action in Nazi-occupied Europe, during which the Poles fought fiercely for freedom from both German and Soviet domination. We will also come to know the spirit of a proud nation that, despite more than a century of foreign rule, refused to succumb in the face of overwhelming adversity. Experience the poignant history of the air raid known as Black Monday, which took place on 25 September – a relentless, 10‑hour assault from 8:00 to 18:00 that has forever been etched into the memory of the city.
Presentation of the Anti-Bomb Treaty Immediately after the lecture, the Anti-Bomb Treaty will be presented – a call for a worldwide ban on the production, storage, use, and transfer of aerial bombs. Visitors will have the opportunity to sign the treaty at the end of the presentation.
15:30–18:00 | Warsaw Ghetto
Warsaw Uprising Museum, Grzybowska 79 / Bersohn and Bauman Children’s Hospital, Sienna 60
From the Warsaw Uprising Museum, we will ride our bikes to the former Bersohn and Bauman Children’s Hospital in order to officially begin our profound bicycle tour, which traces the traces of Europe’s largest ghetto. Established in October 1940, this ghetto confined approximately 450,000 Jews under brutal and inhumane conditions, where hunger, disease, and the lack of adequate medical care claimed many lives. By 1942, deportations to the newly constructed extermination camps had begun, setting off a devastating chain of events. The eventual clearance of the ghetto sparked the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising (19 April – 16 May 1943), the first serious urban rebellion against the Nazi occupation. The bicycle tour of the Warsaw Ghetto will end at POLIN – the Museum of the History of Polish Jews. POLIN is a museum located on the site of the former Warsaw Ghetto. The Hebrew word “Polin” used in the museum’s English name means either “Poland” or “rest here” and refers to a legend about the arrival of the first Jews in Poland.
20:00–21:00 | Lecture: Konrad Swinarski
Adam Mickiewicz Literature Museum, Rynek Starego Miasta 20
At the Literature Museum, theatre expert Michał Smolis — whose work at the Theatre Institute and the monthly magazine Teatr broadens our understanding of stage art — invites you to delve into the fascinating transformation of Konrad Swinarski (4 July 1929 – 19 August 1975). Once Brecht’s assistant, Swinarski became one of the most innovative and esteemed artists in the history of Polish theatre, and his influence remains undiminished even 50 years after his death.
21:00–22:00 | Open Stage: Under the Stars
Slovak Institute in Warsaw, Krzywe Koło 12/14A
The official program in Warsaw is drawing to a close. But we cannot leave Poland without also sharing poems, songs, and words of peace under the stars. We will do so at several locations along the ancient city wall, including at Mały Powstaniec, the Monument of Wars and Sava, and the Monument of Jan Zachwatowicz. After your words of peace, we will listen together to Chopin’s “Nocturne in C-sharp minor, Op. posth.”, before bidding farewell to this marvelous city.
“Four Days In May” – International Commemoration
Berlin – 11 May
In Berlin, six celebrations will be held. The day will begin with an inauguration at the Anti-War Museum. Then, a special poetic bicycle tour will take place: starting at Checkpoint Charlie, passing the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag, and ending at the Brecht-Weigel-Haus. There, participants will take part in a jubilee program at the Literature Forum at Brecht House and at the Berliner Ensemble, celebrating the 125th anniversary of Helene Weigel – the widow of Bertolt Brecht.
Hengelo – 13 May
In Hengelo, a poetic walk will commence from the Stakingen Monument (April-May Monument) located behind the station and leading through the city, which was bombed no fewer than 42 times. During the walk, participants will have the opportunity to recite poems in the formerly heavily affected city center. In addition, there will be a visit to the Hengelo Museum, and before rejoining the Poetry Train, the journey will pause at St. Lambertus Basilica, where a candle will be lit in honor of the 107 bombing victims that have occurred since October 1944.
Rotterdam – 14 May
In Rotterdam, a lecture is planned that is dedicated to the first commemoration of “Four Days In May”, focusing on the invasion and subsequent bombing of the city, which ultimately led to the capitulation of the Netherlands. Precisely at 13:27 – the moment the first bombs fell – a three‑minute silence will be observed at an increasing number of intersections along the historic Brandgrens. Following that, recitations of poems in memory of bombing victims will take place worldwide. In 2015, recitations were held at 75 intersections; this year 85 are planned, and by 2040 the number is expected to rise to 100 along a 12.5 km stretch of Brandgrens. In this way, a human chain of remembrance is formed along the Brandgrens. This year, the focus is on the poem “Und was bekam des Soldaten Weib?” by Bertolt Brecht.
Background
Since 2015, Rotterdamse Festivals has organized a unique commemoration in Rotterdam: every year, citizens recite poems at a dedicated street corner along the historic Brandgrens, until the entire border is symbolically linked “hand in hand.” In 2024, this concept was extended internationally for the first time, with Gregory Corsos’ poem “Vision of Rotterdam” as the central element and celebrations in Rome, Zurich, Paris, and Rotterdam. This year marks the second international expansion, and the Dutch recitation at Brandgrens is taking place for the 11th time.
More information and registration:
www.14mei.nl
Press Contact:
Erik van Loon, Stichting 14 Mei
E-mail: stichting14mei@gmail.com
Phone: +31 6 3826 5666