Criminal History of Warsaw

Dark Echoes of Old Warsaw — What Will You See on a Guided Tour?

Warsaw, a city repeatedly destroyed and rebuilt, has chapters in its history you will not find in standard guidebooks. In the shadow of momentous political and cultural events, another, much darker life unfolded. At the turn of the 1920s and 1930s, the capital’s largest market, the so-called Kercelak, was ruled with an iron fist by gangster Łukasz Siemiątkowski, known as Tata Tasiemka. In elegant interwar cafés, shady deals were struck, while in luxurious hotels, prostitution flourished. Even after World War II, during the communist era, Warsaw witnessed crimes so audacious that all of Poland talked about them.

This walking tour of Warsaw is a journey through the traces of crime and the most infamous criminal cases that have forever marked the history of the city and the entire country. As a long-time tour guide in Warsaw, I will lead you to its most intriguing corners!

Zamoyski Palace — From Assassination Attempt to Police Headquarters

We will begin our journey back in time in front of the Nicolaus Copernicus Monument near Zamoyski Palace. This building has witnessed dramatic events from two different eras. If you want to hear more about an assassination attempt on the Russian governor Fedor Berg, this is the perfect place to listen to the story — the building itself was involved in the momentous events of 1863. Learn more about a failed bombing, brutal Russian revenge, and hear the legend of Fryderyk Chopin’s piano, immortalized by poet Cyprian Kamil Norwid. I will also tell you what happened to the very same building complex during the interwar period, letting the events involving criminals of the interwar period, such as Tata Tasiemka, unfold in your imagination.

Holy Cross Basilica — The Heart of a Nobel Laureate and Financial Controversies

Holy Cross Basilica is famous for housing the hearts of Fryderyk Chopin and Nobel-Prize-winning author Władysław Reymont. How is this related to the criminal history of the Polish capital? Let’s just say that before the writer of The Peasants received the Nobel Prize, his life was changed by a railway accident and a certain financial controversy that followed this event. During my guided tour of Warsaw, you will learn all about the darker side of the renowned author, debated to this day by historians and biographers.

Hotel Bristol — Walking in the Footsteps of the World’s Oldest Profession

During the tour we will stop in front of the legendary Hotel Bristol, which in the interwar period was not only a symbol of luxury but also a place where the colourful nightlife of the capital thrived. It was here, as in other exclusive hotels, that the most elegant and sought-after prostitutes appeared. They sought wealthy clients among diplomats, politicians, and industrialists. In front of Hotel Bristol, tour participants will hear about the realities of this profession in its most luxurious form, as well as about the social conditions of prostitution in old Warsaw, since it was a phenomenon far more complex and intriguing than it might seem.

Warsaw’s Underworld — From Kercelak to Elegant Cafés

During our walk we will also head to the area of one of Warsaw’s well-known attractions — Saxon Garden on Marszałkowska Street. Despite today’s friendly atmosphere, echoes of the old criminal families of the capital still linger here. Although the main domain of the most infamous gangster of the area, Tata Tasiemka, was the Kercelak market in Wola, his influence and terror reached right into the city center.

Not far from Saxon Garden, in the famous Goldstandt tenement house on the corner of Kredytowa Street and Dąbrowski Square, there operated the elegant Café George. Why was it so special? How is it intertwined with the criminal history of the city?Come to my guided tour of Warsaw to learn more about this place and the role of telephone dating in the development of Warsaw’s twisted, shady past.

Nearby, in a small palace on Kredytowa Street, was the headquarters of the Hunting Club — a place known for discretion. We will stop here to hear a gripping tale about illegal gambling in the capital.

House Under the Eagles — The Story of the Robbery of the Century

Standing in front of the monumental House Under the Eagles, we will be transported to a completely different era — the austere reality of communist Poland. Here, right in front of the seat of the Third Branch of the National Bank of Poland, events took place that the press dubbed the “robbery of the century.”There is no better place to listen to the dramatic story of an attacked convoy carrying over 1.5 million złoty. Gunshots, theft, numerous conspiracy theories, including those involving members of the security apparatus — let me recount for you the events worthy of a Hollywood action film.

Murder in an Art Gallery — The Tragedy at Zachęta

During our walk through Warsaw, we will return more than once to the interwar period to stand before the site of one of the greatest tragedies of the Second Polish Republic. On December 16, 1922, in the Zachęta Gallery building, painter Eligiusz Niewiadomski shot and killed Gabriel Narutowicz, the first president of reborn Poland, who had been in office for only five days. In front of the Zachęta building, I will tell you about the red-hot political atmosphere of those days, the motives of the assassin, and the shocking consequences of the crime, which cast a shadow over the entire interwar era.

Get to know the criminal history of Warsaw with a local guide. I tell the story of Warsaw’s landmarks in English, with passion, knowledge, and never a dull moment!