8 Curious Urban Legends from Warsaw
Aliens? Ghosts? Demonic cars? Urban legends are sometimes considered modern-day folklore and are certainly an interesting cultural phenomenon. Culture.pl takes a look at eight curious urban legends from Warsaw!
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A black Volga at a countryside farmer’s market in central Poland, photo: Chris Niedenthal / Forum
In his 2017 book Legendy Miejskie Warszawy (Warsaw’s Urban Legends) the writer and draughtsman Marek Dąbrowski says that the legend of the Black Volga is, by far, the ‘most popular’ Warsaw urban legend. Although it’s hard to measure the popularity of a given story it seems that he’s right – the tale of the Black Volga is definitely very well known. Not only in Warsaw, but also outside of the capital as well.
There are dozens of articles about this legend, a whole book on the subject entitled Czarna Wołga: Kryminalna Historia PRL (The Black Volga: The Criminal History of the Polish People’s Republic), written in 2013 by Przemysław Semczuk, and even a song by the popular rock band Hey, where the Black Volga is featured in the chorus of 2003’s Muka (Punch Game).
So what is this infamous legend about? Legend has it that in the 1960s and 70s a mysterious black limo slowly creeped around the streets of Warsaw. The car was a Soviet-made Volga which, at the time, was popular among the communist elite. Its wheel’s rims were white and its windows were adorned with white curtains. It was said to have been driven by a priest, or a nun. Others claimed it was driven by the devil himself. Whoever the driver was, they would stop passers-by to ask for directions and then… snatch them! Their main prey were innocent children. Supposedly, inside the car, there was a full blood transfusion station and the victim's blood would be taken to cure rich leukaemia patients.
Although this story is completely untrue (as is generally the case with urban legends), it stems from a real-life event. On 3rd April 1965 in Warsaw, two women kidnapped a three-year-old girl by the name of Lilianna Hencel. News of this immediately spread across the Warsaw area and eventually, thanks to information from witnesses, the police quickly traced down the pair of criminals and returned little Lilianna to her family. In the course of the investigation one of the witnesses reported seeing the two criminals and the child enter a cab – a black Volga. The detail was passed on to Varsovians by the press.
In The Black Volga, Przemysław Semczuk writes that this kidnapping was formative to the urban legend in question:
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It was then that the black Volga, which the kidnappers and the child entered, became branded in people’s memory.
Fortunately, due to the passing of time, black Volgas (and all other colours as well) are long gone – they no longer haunt the streets of Warsaw.
The Palace of Culture & Science
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Palace of Culture & Science in Warsaw, photo: Arkadiusz Ziółek / East News
This next one is linked to the Palace of Culture & Science – an architectural icon of Poland under the communist regime. The palace was built in 1955 and due to its imposing architecture, and central location, quickly became one of Warsaw’s most distinctive landmarks.
For a while after its completion the palace was off limits to ordinary citizens; you needed a special pass to go inside. This gave the building an air of mystery and – quite probably – gave rise to a number of urban legends about it…
One states that deep in the cellars of the palace there was an entry to an underground passageway that led all the way to the former seat of the Central Committee of the Polish United Workers' Party – the governing body under the communist regime. The headquarters were located in tenement house on Nowy Świat Street, about a kilometre away from the palace. Naturally, the hidden passage was to be used by communist officials dealing with state secrets.
In another version of the tale, the palace’s cellars contain a whole underground train station which connected to the building on Nowy Świat. However, others would have you believe this station actually connected with the Dworzec Centralny railway station which is located next to the palace.
Tragically, during the building of the Palace of Culture & Science a number of workers lost their lives in accidents. This prompted the creation of an additional urban legend about the palace – a rather grim one:
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During the building of the Palace of Culture & Science 16 workers died. There were stories that their bodies were bricked up in the walls or used as foundations.
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From ‘Legendy o Pałacu Kultury i Nauki’, an article at f5.pl, trans. MK
In reality, no bodies were bricked into the walls of the palace. All of the builders that died during the construction of the palace were given a proper funeral. Also, the skyscraper’s cellars don’t contain a hidden train station or passageway. What you can find there, though, are… cats. About a dozen of these animals are kept in the cellars of the skyscraper to scare off mice and rats.
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Lamplighter working with gas street lights in Agrykola Street in Warsaw, 1967, photo: www.audiovis.nac.gov.pl (NAC)
Here’s another Warsaw urban legend dating back to the communist era. Some say that there was a flickering lamp post in the city – but the flickering was not random. The seemingly faulty lightbulb in this street light was actually sending messages in Morse code.
In the story’s original version, the lamp’s messages were secret reports sent by Soviet spies operating in Poland. A Soviet satellite observed the flickering street light and decoded its communication. Since the Soviet Union is no more, today some other foreign power must control the sly lamp post…
It’s unclear exactly which Warsaw street light was the one doing the espionage work (which shouldn’t come as a surprise since the lamp’s part of a covert operation). So if you ever happen to pass a flickering lamp post in Warsaw, it might just be the one sending messages into space!
Aliens at Czerniaków Lake
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Czerniaków Lake in Warsaw, photo: Kuba Atys / AG
Whereas the last urban legend makes mention of a satellite, this one goes even farther and describes an alien spaceship. This story is linked to Warsaw’s Czerniaków Lake, a pleasant body of water located near the neighbourhood of Sadyba. There’s a sizeable beach by the lake and plenty of greenery, making the lake a popular destination for summer relaxation.
However, this quaint landscape is situated beneath the giant chimney stacks of the Siekierki Power Station nearby. Perhaps it is this industrial context – which gives the lake a somewhat peculiar, almost otherworldly vibe – that prompted the creation of a couple of urban legends which revolve around aliens visiting the Czerniaków Lake.
Most of the reports of alien activity on the lake date back to the early 1980s (although suggestions of extra-terrestrial presence here were also made in the 2000s). Probably the most arresting story of the lot is the one describing the events that supposedly took place on the evening of 29th September 1982, just north of the lake:
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[…] The earth was glowing with this orange radiation and right above it, less than a metre higher, a disc was hovering. It had a flat bottom, a convex top, it was about six metres in diameter and was the colour of old copper. In front of this disc you could see a quasi-human figure, about 1,5 metres in height, dressed in a dark, possibly dark-green, suit.
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From ‘Archiwum X nad Jeziorkiem Czerniakowskim’, warszawa.wyborcza.pl, trans. MK
This intriguing account is said to have been reported to ufologist Kazimierz Bzowski by an anonymous 43-year-old man, who purportedly saw the UFO together with his teenage son. Although this statement is highly interesting, it appears to be as credible as the legend of the flickering lamp post…
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Blue Skyscraper in Warsaw, photo: Albert Zawada / AG
The Blue Skyscraper in 2 Bankowy Square in downtown Warsaw is covered with reflexive glass panels that reflect the blue of the sky – hence the building’s nickname. The boxy skyscraper was completed in 1991 after 26 long years of construction. The reason for this prolonged building process is the subject of a well-known Warsaw urban legend.
Before World War II, Warsaw’s Great Synagogue stood on the spot where the Blue Skyscraper stands today. The synagogue was the biggest of the many pre-War Jewish synagogues and prayer houses in the capital. Devastatingly, it was blown up by the Nazi Germans on 16th May 1943 as a symbol of the quashing of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.
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An illumination showing the Great Synagogue on the façade of the Blue Skyscraper on the anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, photo: Jedrzej Nowicki / AG
After the war, the area stood empty for many years until finally a decision was made to build a skyscraper there. But the construction of the high-rise was often interrupted (for example due to the introduction of changes to the architectural design) and seemed to go on forever. According to legend, these frequent interruptions were caused by a rabbi’s curse. The rabbi supposedly cursed the plot of land making it impossible to raise a new building there.
Eventually, however, the skyscraper was completed. Currently, Warsaw’s Jewish community currently owns some space in the building, as does the Jewish Historical Institute (once the library of the Great Synagogue), and important Polish Jewish organisations reside there. Also, a special plaque commemorating the Great Synagogue was attached to the high-rise’s façade. Perhaps that helped dispel the curse?
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The villa in 5 Morskie Oko Street before renovation, 2013, photo: fot. Mateusz Opasiński / Wikimedia.org
Here’s another Warsaw urban legend linked to World War II. This story revolves around an apparition of a lady clad in a white dress that supposedly haunts the beautiful neoclassical villa on 5 Morskie Oko Street.
The villa was built in 1928 and during the Warsaw Uprising it was used by a unit of Polish insurgents. After the war, the house was occupied by three families but eventually fell into disrepair and was abandoned. The empty villa turned into a place frequented by squatters. Fortunately, in recent years the house was renovated and has been restored to its former glory.
Legend has it that during the Warsaw Uprising a beautiful young girl by the name of Hanna found refuge in the house. One night, wearing a white dress, she went into the garden to pick flowers for an insurgent she had fallen in love with. Unfortunately, a stray bullet hit and killed her. Since then, Hanna’s apparition has been haunting the house. The ghost, always in a white dress, seeks to find her sweetheart.
In 2011, back when the villa was still abandoned, a TV programme about it was posted on Youtube. Titled Paranormalna Polska: Nawiedzony Dom w Warszawie cz. 1 (Paranormal Poland: The Huanted House in Warsaw vol. 1), the show investigated the claims of otherworldly activity in the house. In the programme you can find testimonies from two witnesses who went on a walk nearby the villa and supposedly saw Hanna’s apparition:
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- She had long hair, I think, and was wearing a white dress.
- The figure was a bit shapeless, it was something strange, a very ethereal, very feminine silhouette.
Perhaps the two witnesses saw one of the squatters who used to spend time at the empty villa and got scared? Or perhaps…
The ghost of president Ignacy Mościcki
Next up is another ghost story. This one revolves around Ignacy Mościcki, the President of Poland in the years 1926-1939.
In the second half of the 1930s, the president’s wife Maria began building a villa at 126 Racławicka Street. She was hoping to live there with her husband after his second term in office, when the pair would move from the presidential residence at Warsaw’s Royal Castle. Maria Mościcka is said to have paid close attention to the construction of the villa and the president is known to have visited the house while it was still being built. According to one of Mościcka’s letters, the villa made a very favourable impression on her husband.
Unfortunately, the couple never got to live in the elegant house. It was almost ready in September of 1939, but shortly after World War II broke out the president and his wife were evacuated from Poland to Romania. From there they relocated to Switzerland, where they lived for the rest of their lives.
Today the villa on Racławicka Street serves as an ambassador’s residence but the Mościcki’s story seems not to have come to an end just yet. The tale is described in Warsaw’s Urban Legends by Marek Dąbrowski:
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[…] The ghost of president Ignacy Mościcki visits the house and walks among the trees in its garden. […] The residence’s workers say that sometimes at night the alarms go off, for no apparent reason. It’s suspected that a cat might be the cause of this, but not everyone has seen the animal. What has been sighted though, is a gentlemanly figure strolling through the garden at night.
Maybe President Mościcki still longs for home…
Ghost horses at the Służewiec racetrack
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Służewiec Racetrack in Warsaw, photo: Andrzej Sidor / Forum
Our last urban legend is also about ghosts, but not human ones. According to this story, you can sometimes encounter the ghosts of horses at Warsaw’s Służewiec racetrack. Here’s how this story is described at Warszawikia, an online encyclopaedia about Warsaw:
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In the mornings fog hovers above the Służewiec racetrack and in it you can see horses that suddenly disappear. You can hear the animals’ neighs which sound unnatural and ‘otherworldly’. This is believed to be caused by horses that died during races at the Służewiec racetrack – they return to have at least one more run.
The sad truth is that horses do get badly injured during these races and, more often than not, need to be put down. Do their ghosts still return to Służewiec to participate in one last otherworldly race?
Written by Marek Kępa, Aug 2020, special thanks to Ola Galewicz for research