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The streets west of New Town Square lead across ul. Bonifraterska to ul. Gen. W. Andersa, a main thoroughfare which marks the boundaries of the Muranow area. South, ul. Bonifraterska leads to the large plac Krasinskich , now augmented by the Warsaw Uprising monument , a controversial piece commissioned by the communist authorities and viewed with mixed feelings by many Varsovians. Built on the spot where AK (Home Army) battalions launched their assault on the Nazis on August 1, 1944, it's a memorably dramatic piece (though now dwarfed by the glass and concrete monstrosity built to house the National Court), the large metal sculpture depicting AK insurgents surfacing from streetside manholes to begin their attack on the Germans, as well as their final forlorn retreat into the sewers of the city. Just beyond the monument, on the corner of ul. Miodowa, is the Muzeum Warszawskego Powstania (Museum of the Warsaw Uprising; Tues-Sat 10am-5pm) currently housed in the office of the Union of Warsaw Insurgents, the surviving combatants from the Uprising. The small exhibition (free, but contributions are welcome) details the course of the 63-day assault in different parts of the city, showing, among other things, how the AK used old aerial maps of the city to plan their initial attacks on German positions. Material is provided in English as well as Polish. Additionally, a short but sobering film chronicling the events of the Uprising is shown downstairs regularly throughout the day. Following the fiftieth anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising in August 1994, plans were announced for a permanent, fully fledged Uprising museum in a new complex on nearby ul. Bielanska, built on the site of the prewar Bank Polski, a key insurgents' stronghold. Work on the site, hampered by lack of money, is nowhere near completion. Immediately opposite the Uprising monument is the Kosciol Garnizonowy (Garrison Church), the soldiers' main place of worship, with the key Uprising symbol, a large anchor, and a streetside tablet with a roll call of World War II battles in which Polish units participated. Overlooking the west side of the square is the huge and majestic Palac Krasinskich (Krasinski Palace), built for regional governor Jan Krasinski by the tireless Tylman of Gameren, its facade bearing fine sculptures by Andreas Schluter. Most of the palace's collection of documents - forty thousand items in all - was destroyed in the war, so today's collection comes from a whole host of sources. Theoretically, the building is only open to official visitors, but enquiries at the door should get you in to see at least some of the library. The inside of the palace is splendid, the Neoclassical decorations being restored versions of the designs executed by Merlini in the 1780s. Behind the palace are the gardens , now a public park, and beyond that the ghetto area. If you've got the stomach for it then you could visit the Muzeum Pawiaka (Pawiak Prison Museum; Wed 9am-5pm, Fri 10am-5pm, Thurs & Sat 9am-4pm, Sun 10am-4pm; 4zl), ten minutes' walk west at ul. Dzielna 24/26, which tells the grim story of Warsaw's most notorious prison from tsarist times to the Nazi occupation.
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