Auschwitz

This is the post I've been dreading.  As a 21st century woman of privilege, I feel humbled and inadequate to address the subject of Auschwitz, but the truth is Auschwitz was really the centerpiece of our trip.  When we talked to our friends about making this trip, they often replied that it was not a trip they wanted to take.  We knew it was going to be a difficult experience, but this was something we were both committed to doing and I think we were both glad to be making this trip with each other..

Cindy made arrangements for us to have a private guide, which proved to be a very wise choice.  I highly recommend doing this as I have participated in many group tours and I know how easy it is to lose important points the guide is making when you end up at the back of the pack.  This site really demands intense focus, and being in a group of three facilitates that kind of concentration.

Our driver met us outside our hotel at 9 a.m. and drove us to Oswiecim in his minibus.  During the drive we saw a monastery on the top of a hill.  Our driver revealed that it had been used by the Nazis during World War II.  Today it is a restaurant and popular wedding site.  We were both struck by that.  How does one knowingly schedule a wedding at a site with that kind of taint?

We saw a Bactrian Camel (two humps) outside a restaurant called the Flamingo--in the snow, mind you.  I also saw stars of David in graffiti on the walls of a building.  Neither Cindy nor the driver noticed them.  These sights were disconcerting in wildly different ways, but I was particularly bothered by the graffiti.  Did I imagine it?  Was this what I was expecting to see?

Once we arrived, our driver took us to the welcome center while he went in search of our guide. 

 The center had an iron curtain quality to it.  It seemed a bit rundown and anachronistic. 

Our guide was named Jacek, a young-ish (late 30s/early 40s), very intense and knowledgeable young man.  If I remember correctly, he held an important position at the Auschwitz educational organization.  He wasted no time in starting the tour.  The dreariness of the morning seemed apt as we walked through these infamous gates.

There was so much to learn; it was hard to take it all in while confronted by these horrific sites and devastating data. 

There were many useful informational signs throughout the camp which offered facts I hadn't known previously.

There were architectural features which took me by surprise as well, such as this guard shelter.

I was also struck by this sign, which says, "the corpses of prisoners shot while trying to escape were displayed here as a warning to others."

There were numerous signs which were reminders of well-known details about life (such as it was) at the camp.

It is appalling to read about the expansion efforts by the SS.  I was surprised to read that they added eight buildings to the original 20 in Auschwitz I, as well as a second story to 14 other buildings.  As we all know from many sources, the guards beat their prisoner crew at the slightest provocation, and sometimes completely without provocation.

Most people know well the reputation of Auschwitz as the worst of the Death Camps.  This graphic emphasized the scope of its power, indicating the transit camps which transported prisoners to Auschwitz.

We saw the expected displays of shoes, luggage, toys and hair.

Even though I thought I was prepared for them, it was still difficult to encounter them in this venue.  The hair, in particular, upset me.  The piles of hair were in nearly colorless heaps.  A friend of mine said, "What did you expect?  Of course the hair was without color.  Hair color fades with time."  I thought about that and realized that what really got to me were the occasional bits of colored hair--a swatch of red or blonde, black or distinctively brown.  It was those spots of color which touched my heart because they represented life.

The display of the prosthetic limbs and crutches was also particularly moving.

I've spent the summer reading Holocaust books.  As I've read the various testimonies, especially those of Auschwitz survivors, I have been struck in a more palpable way than before I visited the camp, by the reality of their stories.  I find myself faced with a much clearer sense for what people experienced.  It is easier to place myself at the scene as I read the stories of those who described the daily humiliations and acts of torture.


I think I understand with greater intensity what it meant to have to strip naked before the enemy while menstruating and to be deprived of all sense of one's own humanity.  I perceive what it must have been like to subsist on three sips of ersatz coffee and bits of bread.

As we walked through the camp, visiting this or that building containing various displays, I felt the horror building.  It was probably intentional for our guide to bring us to Block 11 toward the end of our visit to Auschwitz I.  There we saw the standing cells where prisoners were forced to stand through the night after having worked all day and consumed only the barest of meals, only to be returned to this cell day after day for upwards of twelve days.

Not everybody could withstand this torture.

We saw the wall of death where prisoners had their hands cuffed behind their backs and were then hanged from their raised arms, a most painful posture leading to death.

We saw the shooting wall,

we saw canisters of Zyclon B and noted where it had been tested on Russian POWs.

Our final stop at Auschwitz I was at the perimeter of the camp, in front of a hanging gallows, within view of the Commandant's home/villa.

Jacek told us that Hoess had been hanged right there in the camp.

I asked if it had been a public, private or secret hanging.  He said it had been secret, which was no surprise.  What did surprise me was my reaction.  It was at that moment that my emotions overtook me.  I was vibrating I was so upset.  Through tears of anger, no...hatred, I said, "I would have paid good money to see that Son of a Bitch hanged."

Our tour continued at Auschwitz II-Birkenau, the women's camp, a short trip by minibus.  By the time we got there, the clouds were clearing.  The contrast with Auschwitz I was remarkable.  Auschwitz II-Birkenau was enormous.

Most of the buildings have been leveled, but there are enough structures still standing to give a clear sense for what that place was like.  The railroad tracks divide the camp, and you can still see the outline of the selection place.

The gas chambers and crematoria have been leveled, but the rubble remains.  It was blocked off giving the impression of a toxic waste site.

We walked through one of the barracks and also the latrine and washrooms.  We saw the building where evil doctors did their experiments on the women.

Some of the buildings were propped up because they were in danger of falling down, they had been so poorly constructed.

It was an overwhelming experience.  Recollecting what what we saw and how I felt, has not been easy.  I am glad I went.  I felt as though my visit was a way of paying homage to the victims, however poor a gesture it might be.

A satisfying read

It's been a long time since I have found myself sobbing at the end of a book, but it happened today when I finished the novel I've been reading this week.  My traveling pal Cindy, recommended we read The Lost Wife by Alyson Richman at the same time.  The novel is set in Prague and Terezin, so it seemed like a good choice for the two of us to share, having visited both just this past January.  It's a Holocaust novel, which won't appeal to many, but this romantic tragedy has innate appeal for  people like us.

I will acknowledge a penchant for stories of love and loss (to quote the promotional materials for the book).  I'm a huge Jane Austen and Bronte sisters fan, and indeed this story did not disappoint my inner romantic.  That said, there was a kind of thrill in recognizing the artists and locations recounted in The Lost Wife.  The cover is a lovely hand-colored shot of a couple kissing by the Charles Bridge.

 
The book notes that Prague was not as severely affected by World War II as other European cities.  The U.S. Air Force conducted several bombing raids on Prague toward the end of the war, but on our January visit we did not see evidence of the damage which had taken place (1000 people had been injured, over 700 killed, and hundreds of buildings and historic landmarks had been destroyed).

Unfortunately, Prague was well known for an unfortunate association with the Third Reich.  Reinhard Heydrich, one of the most notorious Nazis, served as the Stellvertretender Reichsprotektor (Deputy Reich-Protector) of  Bohemia and Moravia.  Prague also takes pride in the fact that  Jan Kubiš and Jozef Gabčík,  two young soldiers representing the Czechoslovak government in exile, assasinated the evil Heydrich.

As much as I loved the love story, the book really drew me in with the story of the main character's time at Terezin.  Our visit to Terezin had been a real mixed bag.  On the one hand, we did learn a great deal.  We spent most of our time at the Small Fortress.  It was an enlightening and disturbing visit, as I've written in a previous post, but I guess I had envisioned more time in the ghetto--the town of Terezin itself.  Our trip to the town itself was divided between the crematorium and the museum.  We felt a bit rushed through the museum, but we did see a mock-up of the Magedeburg Barracks, which allowed us to get a sense of what the living conditions must have been like.

I think this book is a must-read for anyone who has visited Terezin or who has an interest in the artists who were imprisoned there during the war.

Touring the Old City of Krakow

So much time has passed since our trip to Poland, I have to rely on my notes, photos and the Internet to tell the story of our visit.

After the feast of the Three Kings parade, we went on a wander.  We were on the hunt for an excursion. Cindy had read about the tour of Krakow's salt mine, also known as Wieliczka Mine.  Unfortunately, we were too late to get in on that due to our wandering.  We had walked around a bit just to explore and in so doing, we had lost some time.  The salt mine tour lasts four hours, demanding an entire afternoon.   Instead of the salt mine tour, we ended up reserving space on a tour of the old city. 

There was some time to kill before we set off on that tour, so we headed across the street from the place we booked the tour for a cup of hot chocolate, or "ho-cho" as my dad used to call it.  The chocolate shop was hopping, but we managed to get not only the ho-cho, but also a few pieces of delicious chocolate confection.

We then headed back in to the Rynek Glowny/Grand Square where our tour was to commence.  While there we took a closer look at some of the wares for sale.

I think Cindy regretted not buying one of these Psy pops for Isabel, but we moved on to other attractions, such as this quartet.

It had started to snow, but it seemed like it was just a step beyond rain--at least at first.

We were told to wait by the Church of St. Adalbert's.

The interior was more like a chapel than a full fledged church.  The nativity scenes (including a mechanized version) and other Christmas decorations were still on display.  It was quite cozy, charming and attractive.  All too soon, it was time to go on the tour.

The red circle on the map marks our starting point.  We met our guide "Jack" at the appointed time.  He presented as a brash man; he dressed in an overcoat and fedora and smoked like a chimney throughout the tour.  Jack told us he had studied architecture and the history of culture at the university.  He took us first to a strange courtyard off the main street.

Apparently, this was part of a sales ploy to encourage tour participants to sign up for the salt mine tour for the following day.  Once Jack had processed the tickets of those who were inclined to sign up for the next day, we moved up the street.

Jack offered a proud narrative of his native city, pointing out the sacred and secular landmarks.  He told us there are no skyscrapers permitted in the old city. 

I'm not sure what the model in the center of this light sculpture represents, but I liked it.  It might have been the Barbicon, but I'm not sure.  As we walked up the street, Jack told us that the old city of Krakow had been influenced by the Italian Renaissance.  The Polish and Italian nobility intermarried, bringing a court of 5,000 Italians to Krakow.  Jack said that one in five Krakovians is part Italian, and many of Krakow's restaurants are Italian. 

Jack pointed out this statue of Tadeusz Kościuszko who fought in the American Revolution and shared a passionate interest in human rights with his friend Thomas Jefferson.

We moved on past the Franciscans' church, also known as  the church of St. Francis Assisi.

As most people know, Krakow is a very Catholic city.  Of Krakow's 1,618,593 population, 1,566,555 (96.8%) are Catholic.  Most people are also aware (or would be once they set foot in the city), Krakow was home to Pope John Paul II.  He was archbishop of Krakow before he was named Cardinal.  The evidence of John Paul's importance to the city can be found in many places.

Just as there's a bar on most corners of Wisconsin towns, there's a church every few blocks in Krakow.

This is St. Andrew's church, built in the 11th century and served a defensive function as a fortress church.

Jack told us that some of the statuary outside the church had been damaged by acid rain during the communist rule--the assumption was the Communists didn't spend any money on restoring churches.

The Church of Sts. Peter and Paul is a baroque church noted for having the largest seating capacity of Krakow's  historic churches.


We also passed by many of Krakow's great academic sites, including the Collegium Juridicum of Jagiellonian University.  Our rooms were also connected to Jagiellonian University..

Apparently, at 11:00am you can see the beautiful clock outside the library play the university anthem and watch the figures come out and travel around the clock.  We were there on a holiday, so we missed that.  The universities and colleges in Krakow date back to the middle ages.  The Jagiellonian University boasts the world's oldest library, predating Oxford's Bodleian by 100 years.  The great Copernicus is its most famous (and greatest?) graduate.

The focal point of the tour was the Wawel Castle.  I failed to change my clogs before commencing the tour, which made the walk up the hill to the castle rather treacherous, particularly in the snow, but we soldiered our way to the top.

The only building we entered was the Cathedral.

There was still quite a lot of religious activity, so it didn't seem polite to take too many photos--that and we were admonished not to do so.  Plus, man were told to remove their hats.

While in the church, Jack told us the story of Hedwig who had succeeded to the throne at 14 as "King and queen in one."  She was originally slated to marry the Hapsburg prince who was handsome, educated, fluent in many languages, a good warrior and only six years her senior.  Jack referred to him as vital, code for virile.  Hedwig's advisor pushed her to marry the Lithuanian Casimir instead.  Casimir was 20 years older, a pagan, not as well educated as the Hapsburg prince and didn't speak other languages.  Hedwig was very devout and prayed in the cathedral for weeks.  Legend has it Jesus spoke to her and convinced her she should marry Casimir so she could baptize him and all Lithuanians.  This she agreed to do.

The cathedral features many beautiful marble tombs--all with remarkably intact noses, feet and fingers, unlike many of the tombs I saw in England.   This was the cathedral where John Paul II presided for official ceremonies when he was archbishop of Krakow.
 
We were ushered in to the great courtyard after our visit to the church.

The courtyard is a combination of Gothic and Renaissance styles--heavier columns on the bottom, narrower and narrower columns on the third level where there were two-column lengths.   The roofs were not Renaissance style.  They are pitched vertically which is more decidedly Polish, given the weather.  The four main colors of fresco paintings are red, green, gold and blue.  These colors can still be seen on the remaining wall paintings and columns.

Jack told us about one king who loved women (he'd fathered 552 children), gambling and porcelain--all very expensive pastimes.  He ordered his alchemist to produce the philosopher's stone so as to improve his wealth.  Instead, the alchemist figured out how to make thin porcelain, which had been a state secret of the Chinese and then Japanese for centuries.  The king was well pleased and commissioned a statue of himself in porcelain.  While that wasn't produced, a model was.

Jack also told us about the Chakra stone.  According to Wikipedia, it "is believed to be a holy stone, one of seven mysterious energy sources placed in different locations around the world - the seven main energy centres of Earth.  The  Chakra stone guards Wawel’s hill, and thus - the whole city.  There is an assumption that the Earth has seven special places quite like ‘force centers’ of the human body called chakras in the tantric and yogic teachings of Hinduism. Krakow, and specifically the Wawel Hill, is supposed to be one of those holy areas. Also Rome, Jerusalem, and Delhi are usually awarded the same status. No consensus as regards the remaining three places on the list."

We ended our tour with a rather enchanted snowy walk through a park bordering university buildings, but it started with this unusual sight.

The rest of our walk was more "traditional".

Unfortunately, we ended our day by eating at a terrible Trattoria.  Cindy had tomato soup which she said tasted like Prego with a few noodles.  I had Risotto con Frutti di Mare which was too crunchy.

Still, it had been a full day and we learned a lot.  The next day we went to Auschwitz which served as a dramatic contrast.