Krakow and Wroclaw

I am behind again! This blogging deal is fun but difficult to keep up with. I think I avoided writing after my trip to Auschwitz since I could not really find words to describe the experience. So...here is what I have been doing the last few days in Poland.

Tuesday, July 7:
We took a bus out to Auschwitz Birkenau concentration camps. It was a long and difficult day. There are not words to describe the feelings you have when you walk the grounds where so many perished at the hands of the Nazis under Hitler's Final Solution. Most of the camp was destroyed by the Nazis as they tried to hide the evidence of their mass murder so a lot of what you see has been reconstructed. Some has been left as is so you can see the damage. Here are a few of my thoughts:

**I felt like the most difficult part of the trip to Auschwitz was seeing the materials- shoes, toothbrushes, human hair, leg braces, shoe polish, and baby clothes- brought the most emotion for me. It was difficult not to tear up when looking at the massive amount of belongings and realizing these belonged to real people who had most likely died in this camp. It was unreal.

**Graffiti- In one of the most sacred places I can think of, a cemetary for so many, you would see graffiti everywhere. Why people feel the need to write their names on the walls and the dates they visited along with other things is beyond me? Can you not respect the history of the place? It was unreal to me that people would defame such a sacred place.

**The vastness of the camps and the proximity to the town was amazing. Birkenau is so large it goes as far as the eye can see. You see rows and rows of barracks and you can imagine the thousands of prisoners as they walked in the cold and snow each day. The lack of heat during the winter was apparent due to the lack of heaters.

**The train tracks going into Birkenau literally traveled halfway up to the point of the gas chambers. People getting off of the train cars would be divided into two groups-those deemed healthy enough to work and those who would go straight to the gas chambers. They literally walked to their deaths, most unknowing. It was unthinkable to them that they would really be killed, even after they had heard the stories. By the end of the war, 5-6 trains arrived each day with a few thousand prisoners on each train.

** The Nazis often forced Jewish prisoners to work the gas chambers and to burn the bodies in the crematorium. I did not realize this. The Nazi officials realized at the beginning of the war that their soldiers who were involved in this process where having mental and emotional difficulty doing their jobs.

**There are people who worked at or were prisoners of Auschwitz who return to visit the camps. Many do not identify themselves but some do. Soon, though, there will no longer be anyone left from that era. The story will be left to the rest of us to tell to future generations so nothing like this can happen again. What a huge responsibility we have to our youth to make sure this incident is not forgotten nor repeated.

Final note on Auschwitz Birkenau- I am very aware that I did not see everything in this camp. It would take several days to go through the camps and see all the exhibits and to process it all. If you ever do get a chance to visit, take at least two days to really see the camps. You will appreciate the extra time. I hope I can someday go back.

Lighter note about July 7th- Colton turned 28!

Wednesday, July 8:
We had a wonderful lecture in the morning by a professor from Jagiellonian who spoke to us about Poland's position in the EU and NATO. He was actually a sociologist so he spoke from the viewpoint of the Polish people and not the political viewpoint. We talked a lot about Poland's reasons for joining the EU and NATO and the effect this has had on the identity of the Polish people. Poles love America and usually support most of what we do. They are fiercely loyal allies, partially because they hope in being so loyal that those feelings/actions would be reciprocated by the AMericans should they ever come under attack again. In his opinion, so this is not hard fact, the professor said Poles view America as the only true protector of the world, the only country capable of coming to one's defense. It was an interesting thought to consider.

We had a free afternoon set so I shopped some and bought some souvenirs. Traditional souvenirs from Poland include hand carved wooden boxes, hand painted eggs (similar to fabrige eggs), and amber. Of course, I made sure to purchase these! I also purchased a set of stacking dolls...the little dolls that you open up and inside is a smaller doll. These are traditionally a Russian gift but I figured I may never get to Russia so I bought one now!

I ended up attending an optional lecture by the former Prime Minister of Poland who is a candidate for the President of the Council of Europe. It was a great opportunity to see someone of such merit in Polish and European politics.

Thursday, July 9:
We had the second part of the lecture on NATO and the EU in the morning and a lecture on Polish literature in the afternoon. Both were good but the highlight of my day was my trip to the Jewish quarter to see a movie at the Cinema City. I saw Angels and Demons (in English with Polish subtitles) and it was almost like being at home at the movie theater. ALthough I will say, my experience with the Polish version of the American hot dog was not so pleasant. Laura and I saw a sign for American hot dogs at the mall so we decided to try them due to our limited time available before the movie began. (There was a Jeff's American restaurant, too, but sadly we did not have enough time to try this because it was sit down.) So...we order a plain hot dog. The man proceeds to try and dump every Polish condiment on my hot dog. If you know me and how picky I am, this is totally not going to fly. Let me give you an idea of the condiments available.....a yellowish green mustard (maybe...that is what I am guessing it was), saurkraut, chili with CORN in it, and mushrooms. Umm no! Finally he gave me my hot dog (With only a hint of the green mustard) on a french baguette bun. Lets just say it was no American hot dog. I enjoyed the movie but I have not read the book. It was just nice to sit and relax watching an American movie.

Friday, July 10:
We took a guided tour of Wawel Castle, home of the Polish kings in Krakow while it was capital for 500 years. It was a beautiful castle and has some of the original walls still intact. Many of the items inside the castle have been donated and do not necessarily belong to Polish royalty. Many of the items of Polish history and art were stolen during the several periods of occupation by the Nazis and the Communists as well as when Poland was divided between Prussia, Lithuania, and Germany. We also took a tour of the cathedral of the castle where many Polish kings are buried in the crypt.

We had a free afternoon so I spent it shopping (again) with Gaea, my Texas Tech buddy. I had already purchased gifts to bring back but of course I cannot resist a good deal. I bought another hand painted egg. I also purchased a set of teacups and saucers along with a dessert plate. One set is of traditional Polish pottery in a blue and white pattern. The other is real Polish fine china. I got the idea from a friend who was going to purchase a place setting of china whenever she traveled to a different country. Once she had built up a collection, she would use those dishes as her fine china for formal dinners and holidays rather than buying a matching set. I thought this was a wonderful idea but I have changed it slightly. I plan on buying a teacup with saucer and dessert plate from countries I visit to use for serving all the yummy homemade desserts I will make for holidays and dinners! I can now check Poland off my list!

Saturday, July 11:
We switched cities today. We traveled by (old) bus to Wroclaw, which is in the western part of Poland. It was actually under German control until 65 years ago with the end of German occupation after WWII. I am excited to explore the city because of its cultural diversity and German influence.

We took a tour of Wroclaw University and several churches this afternoon. We even saw two brides as they prepared to enter the church to be married. (This made me homesick and wish I was in Texas about to get married) We also toured the botanical gardens of the university, which were beautiful! We had dinner as a group tonight and Shelby and I ordered hot chocolate after our meal. It was the thickest hot chocolate I have ever tasted. It was good but the consistency was closer to hot chocolate pudding than hot chocolate! Still, it satisfied my sweet tooth.

As of today, I have 6 more days in Poland. I will enjoy them to the fullest and I will enjoy even more returning home to Texas to my family and COLTON.

Good night from Wroclaw!