Well actually you forgot about Poland

I spent a few days in Warsaw. This is the old town which had to be completely rebuilt after the failed 1944 uprising against the Nazis when it was reduced to rubble.
Since I've been on this subject, here is a monument to the partisans that died in the uprising. First, you can tell how they care more than the Russians because they bring flowers. Clearly the Russians don't care about partisans as they patiently waited as the Nazis crushed the uprising. Also any Polish, or Italian, or Yugoslav (or Russian for that matter) partisans that they did get their hands on they usually sent to death camps for having been polluted by the west.

I will say that the Russians were the only ones to put women in their monuments as fighters and not just grieving for men like here. That shows the different ideas about women in Catholic countries like Poland or Italy. However, Russia is the one place I've been to where men won't sit on trains or buses if women are standing. This, of course, is great because it means more seats for men who don't obey that rule.

Here is the only piece of the Warsaw Ghetto wall that is still remaining. I had to double check this because when I got there I couldn't believe it was just part of someone's yard and not a monument, but this is it. On the other side they've got a plaque.
This is an exhibit in the Warsaw uprising museum (not to be confused with the 1943 Warsaw ghetto uprising) on Wladyslaw Szpilman who is played by Adrian Brody in the Pianist.
After Warsaw was destroyed following the uprising, a few people like him lived in the rubble. They called them the Warsaw Robinsons like Robinson Crusoe.
Oddly, speaking of Russians, the most popular Pierogi is called the Ruskie. It has cheese and potato and sometimes like here a little bacon. That really is the best, eventhough I did have the ones with lentils, or cabbage, or buckwheat groats, or dried mushrooms. I found it interesting that they don't always give you sour cream like in the U.S. They do put fried onions, melted butter, or bacon bits on top.

As to why this variety is called Ruskie, I don't know. The pierogi itself must have come from China as it is a dumpling. It probably would have reached eastern europe then through mongol control of Russia. But why potato and cheese is called Russian, I don't know.