You can Gdansk if you want to...

Monday/Tuesday

That Monday we had an extensive lecture on the Solidarity movement in Poland. We learned all about Gdansk and the dock workers who started a revolution. It was in Gdansk that the people first publicly started talking out against Soviet occupation in Poland. Eventually all their work and that of the rest of the nations worked out and Poland became free after years of Communistic control.

The following day we had an early wake up call and started our trek to the port city of Gdansk. What we originally thought would be a four hour drive, ended up being over eight hours. By the time we had arrived we had missed most of of what was to be our tour of Gdansk that afternoon. Thankfully the tour guide was fine with only doing an hour tour. He showed us around the gorgeous Old Town of Gdansk and told us about its amazing history. Gdansk truly is a romantic city full of amazing architecture and wonderful views along the river. 

That night we had a scrumptious dinner at a very nice restaurant. There was a woman singing opera music while we ate! We had broccoli soup and grilled eggplant for dinner, delicious. 

       

Tuesday we got to ride a pirate ship! It was just a tourist boat ride down the river. But it was fun to ride on a pirate ship! The ride took us all the way down the river to where we were to have our next tour. We were given an educational tour of Westerplatte. This was once one of the last strongholds of the German invasion on Poland. We explored old bunkers and walked along memorials describing the events. Finally we came upon the main attraction of the area, a huge statue to commemorate the soldiers who lost their lives defending Gdansk. After our tour was done we took the Pirate ship back to the city of Gdansk and were free for the rest of the day. Shopping! I spent the rest of the day exploring the city and taking advantage of the fair that was going on in the city. Tons of stalls with hand made crafts everywhere. Perfect for souvenir and gift shopping. 

                                    

   

Ketchup

I am truly sorry for falling to far behind in my blogging duties. I will try my hardest to catch you up with all that has happened in the past week or so.

So, we left off on Thursday...

FRIDAY

Friday was essentially a travel day. But we did have a few stops along the way from Krakow to Zakopane.

While driving our Co-Professor had the bus driver pull over. At first we were all so confused as to why we were pulling over on a deserted road with cow pastures surrounding us. But then she pointed out something to us all. High above us on a light pole was a Storks nest! Poland is one of the few places in the world where these birds exist and she wanted to make sure we were able to see one.

Our first stop was to the Rabka school. Which is located about halfway between Krakow and our destination of Zakopane. This school was once used to train German soldiers and SS officers during WWII. Here they learned the correct and most efficient way to dispose of mass quantities of their genetic enemy, the Jew.

However, today the building has been converted to a school for the blind. Apparently no trace of the evils once enacted there exist and if you were to ask anyone in the small town about this areas past they would deny everything.




So of course a historians we had to prove them wrong. We were then lead of a trespassing mission through some fields and woods. This trek lead us to a small cemetery a good ways behind the school. This cemetery was set of by the Jews to commemorate the Jews who had been slaughtered and maltreated on those very grounds. Proof!

We were unable to tour the grounds of the school due to it actually being in use. But we were able to see the outside of it and imagine what happened inside those walls. We had readings and a lecture on the atrocities and we were all aware of what those soldiers were once trained to do inside.

After sanitizing ourselves from the walk through the wildlife we all hopped back into our Mercedes-Benz mini bus.

Before reaching Zakopane we needed to make a lunch break. Starving college kids are not fun to deal with.

We ended up eating in this very mountain-esque restaurant. Fitting since we were slowly making our way into the mountain ranges of southern Poland. It was a giant wooden structure made of tree logs. our tables and chairs were actually benches. And to top it all off our bench backs were covered in actual fur. Picture evidence of this does exist!

By mid afternoon we had finally arrived in Zakopane. This place is a picture perfect mountain town. During the winter it is a ski resort but during the summer it seems the main marketplaces are almost like amusement parks. Little kitchy shops and people dressed up in costumes to take pictures with.

Our hotel was something unto itself. Beautiful old hotel with amazing views of the mountain ranges surrounding us. Old hotels are my love when it comes to traveling. They always feel both homey and romantically gorgeous at the same time.

The Royal Way and Kosher rules

Thursday 

Back to fun tours! 

We started off the day by taking a two hour tour of the Royal Castle of Krakow. It sits atop a hill near the middle of the city with amazing views of it and the surrounding river. 

Most of the castle interior had actually been destroyed during a fire way back when. So, most of the furniture inside was placed there in hopes of providing an image. And parts of the reconstructed walls were never reprinted and as such were plain white. 

Original Ceiling and border

Reconstructed Office with no original embellishments

Luckily, only some portions of the Palace were lost in the fire. The ones that remained are breathtaking. In one section of the palace walls were draped with detailed leather instead of painted or draped with carpets. Typically tapestries were employed as they kept in heat. But these intricate leather walls had gold and other dyes pounded into them to provide not only warmth but beauty. 

After we finished touring the Palace we were taken underneath to view the armory. This collection included many works of metal, beyond even weaponry. However, the sword, gun, and cannon collection was quite extensive and impressive.

The next part of our tour of The Royal Way was to the Cathedral. A rather large and gorgeous place. It was full of marble and gold everywhere. 

Outside the Cathedral hung three large bones. Of which were according to legend supposed to part of a dragon. There is a tale told in Krakow of the dragon that used to live in the hill underneath which the Wawel Castle stood. This dragon was eating all the herds and virgins within the city. Due to this the king decided that whoever could kill the Dragon would get a grand reward and of course get to marry his daughter, the princess. Knight after knight came to the king in hopes of killing the dragon and knight after knight was slain. The story continues until one day a simple shoe cobbler approaches the king asking if he could try his hand at killing the dragon and claiming the reward. The King in concern informs the man that he is rather small and untrained in the ways of knighthood, how could he possibly manage to kill a dragon. The cobbler replies that he will outsmart the dragon and the king decides to let him try his hand. The next day the cobbler fills a sheep with sulfur and sets it outside of the dragons cave as to entice him to eat it. Because as we all know sheep are a dragons favorite meal. The dragon wakes up and consumes the sheep. But as the sheep was full with sulfur the dragon's stomach begins to bubble and burn. The dragon rushes to the lake and drinks and drinks, all day long until he is big and round like a balloon. At this moment the Cobbler sneaks up behind the dragon and pops him with a sword. The dragon explodes and the kingdom is saved. Thus, in Krakow is considered lucky to own a small statue of the dragon that was defeated.

The. End.

...But not really. Because we had to continue our day. We spent our afternoon in the Jewish quarter of the city. This section of the city is considerably smaller and much more run down. But it still has it's little quarks. Very few Jews are left in Krakow and this leads to not being able to take care of the section as much as would be desired.

While in the Jewish quarter we toured a synagogue and its attached cemetery. This arrangement is very typical for a christian church but normally a Jewish cemetery is not located near the synagogue, making this one unique.

The Jewish religion typically has very strict rules regarding the location and treatment of their cemeteries. They typically must in a high location and near a water source, and much more regulations that I do not know of. The tradition of leaving flowers at a grave is also only practiced by the Christian faith. In Jewish cemeteries to honor the dead one is supposed to leave rocks on the graves. This tradition dates back to the crossing of the desert. When people died during this extensive crossing they were given a burial and their graves were marked with rocks. And as no flowers grow in the desert they could not place these plants on top of the graves. 

smutek (sadness)

Wednesay

This day was an extremely emotional day for us all. We went to Auschwitz. I can personally say I cried twice. The whole experience was very overwhelming. 

There are no words to describe the feeling you get when you step through those gates. All the horrors that happened on those grounds definitely left an imprint forever. 

Arbeit Macht Frei - Work will set you free (not true)

We walked through barracks and saw pictures posted on the walls, statistics of those murdered and how they were persecuted. 

Some rooms held shoes, hair, suitcases, and personal articles taken from the dead. The numbers of these articles were immense and it was only a tiny portion of what the Germans weren't able to destroy before they ran at the end of the war. The tons of human hair piled up made you sick to your stomach. At one time that was on the head of an innocent. But worst of all for me was the shoes. The shoes ranged from large adult male shoes, delicate women's heels, to tiny children's clogs. I broke down walking through the endless hall piled up with them. 

suitcases

shoes

Up next we were showed the torture chambers and areas were people were lined up to be shot. To top it all off we ended that portion of the tour with the gas chambers and cremation rooms. 

Now realize this first half took around 3 hours and we still had more travesties to see. 

We then went a mile away to the second portion of the camp where the train went through. This section had many more barracks and two crematoriums. It was 3 square miles of death. 

By this point almost all if us were silently crying. Our travel tissues really came in handy this day. 

There were memorials in this section of the camp. Begging people not to forget so this never happens again. They were written in almost every written modern language available. 

We walked through the male barracks. These already seemed like horrible conditions but we were informed that the female were much worse. In that they did not have floors or walls throughout the inside, allowing for more of the winter cold to penetrate. This along with being the main focus for medical experiments is why women were more likely to die faster. 

Alright I'm done for now I can't keep writing about this. I promise the next days will be happier posts.

Hi Ho Hi Ho off to work we go!

Monday 

The better part of our Monday was spent in a bus driving to Krakow. These hours are too boring to fully describe... So I won't. 

That afternoon when we eventually got to our destination of lovely Krakow we had a lecture. Exciting day I know, sorry guys. 

Our lecture was on the three most prominent Nazi death camps that were located in Poland during World War II.  It was very depressing and I won't sadden you with retelling it. 

Tuesday

A salty day! We went exploring the famous salt mines located outside Krakow. The tour started off with taking 400 steps to get underground. It got increasingly colder as we went and my ears kept popping. But it was worth it! The mines were way cooler than I thought they'd be. 

Everything was made of crystallized salt. And I mean everything! The floors in some areas were tiled... With salt tiles! 

When the miners were down in these caves they became artists. They sculpted statues, chapels, chandeliers, and much much more. Out of the only thing around, salt. 

Pretending to lick the walls of salt

Salt statues

Once upon a time...

Salt was a very lucrative business. Those who mined it and lived in the town around it were very wealthy. It was even more valuable than gems and gold. More than 1/3 of the royal wealth of Poland once came from these mines. Salt uses to be the only way to have food to keep through winter. It was used to for healing as it kills bacteria. It preserves like crazy, and not just meat. It was once used to help slow the look of aging. This stuff was a one stop shop for Europeans and Poland had the largest supply. 

Giant underground chapel made of salt. Actually used for services

Salt carvings

Salt Chandelier

And do you want to know where the German fairy tale of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves came from? Salt Mining! I know Disney showed us gems in the movies but it was actually salt they were mining. I mean who now-a-days would think salt valuable? Of course they used gems so little kids would understand! 

Dwarves scene carved out of... you guessed it... Salt

That afternoon we went exploring the inner city of Old Krakow. Gorgeous! Old architecture abounds here since the Germans didn't destroy it. This part of the region technically uses to be part of the German empire and they planned to make it apart of the country again. Hence why they didn't want to destroy it. So glad they didn't because I love adventuring through old streets and studying old architecture.

Clock tower

Weekend Adventures

This past weekend was extremely eventful for me. I ended up scrapped, bruised and at one point lost in Poland. Yikes!

Saturday

We spent the better portion of this day taking a quiz, writing papers, and doing tons of readings. I will say one thing about this Dialogue; we read a ton here. Every person in this Dialogue knew a good deal about WWII and Holocaust history before we arrived, but once we leave we will all be experts on the topic. 

That afternoon, the plan was to do a ropes/obstacle course, and then cook out. The cookout afterwards was a great deal of fun. Students from Warsaw University came to our hotel and we talked and talked and talked. The good thing is we now have contacts in the city that can show us around.

However, the ropes course didn't end well for me... And truthfully many other students. 

The ropes course was going well and was a lot of fun for all of us. We were all joking around and taking pictures while others tried out the training course and then moved on to the actual (very tough) course. I ended all that happiness unfortunately...

I came to a section in which you had to swing on a rope from one platform to another. There was no where to hang on to the rope I.e. a knot in it. If you know me you know I have bad shoulders and there was no way I was holding my weight up. But the guide told me to go. Yeah, that was a bad idea. As predicted, I slid down the rope, and instead of landing on the platform I smacked right in to it. Ouch ouch ouch. And as I hung there the guide told me I had to go back, and do it again. So, I did. The ending was the same needless to say. 

At that point I demanded to be unhooked and let down. My legs were covered in scraps and rapidly swelling bruises, and my fingers were painfully scraped from sliding down the rope. I had to immediately go back inside the hotel and clean everything up and bandage myself. 

Proof... some of my ouchies

Don't worry I am fine. It was just painful, but thankfully I carry around a lot of very strong antibiotics and such to make all this go away at a more rapid pace. 

Sunday

Sunday started off great! We had the day off so we all planned to go into the city. But, first we had to take advantage of the absolutely delicious Brunch that was available at our hotel. Salmon with chanterelles, bacon, fruits of all kinds, crepes, and an unforgettable chocolate fondue fountain.  Yummmmmmm

Buffet!

Fondue

That afternoon we went into the city. We spent the first 2 hours searching for a synagogue.  Two of the girls in our group are Jewish and really wanted to find one in the city. Sadly, the hours were fruitless and we did not find the synagogue. 

Waiting for bus into Warsaw

After that disappointment, we headed to the large mall located in the middle of the city. Some girls needed banks, others restrooms, postcards, some essential articles if clothing, and a pharmacy; all those items could be found in this mall so it seemed a great one stop shop. When we arrived those two girls and the one guy in our little group left us. 

At the mall we all found what we needed and more. I found the Hard Rock! And for the sake of tradition I got another international Hard Rock shirt :) these little babies keep racking up. Love it!

When it came time for dinner the group wanted to stay in the city and go drinking. We had to be out of the hotel extremely early in the morning to drive to Krakow. This did not sound like a good idea to me as we still needed to pack and being hungover for an early wake up calm sounded terrible. So, I decided to make my way home by myself... This starts my second adventure. 

I jumped on the bus to head an hour back to our hotel. The city bus I have to take back ended up changing routes due to traffic and bypassed my area/stop without me knowing as I don't speak the language and didn't understand the announcement. As the stops kept coming up and the time kept passing I started to get antsy. Nothing looked familiar and I was sure I should have already been at my hotel. Eventually, I decided to take a chance. 

I tapped on the shoulder of the girl who looked about my age sitting in front of me. Sadly, she spoke no English, just like everyone else around me. I, thankfully, remembered how to spell the name of the city our hotel is in, accents and all. I pulled out the paper bag my postcards were in and wrote the name on it, showing it to her. She said the name smiled and proceeded to use universal body language to tell me that my stop was passed a VERY long time ago. At the next stop she motioned for me to get off with her and showed me to a different bus stop. She talked and pointed at the signs and schedules on the bus stop wall. I basically understood but thankfully she waited for the bus with me and put me on the one I needed. Thank you kind Polish girl! 

But my tale isn't done yet!!! Once I got on the bus I realized I needed to let the driver know when he should turn off for your stop on this bus. Problem! I had no clue when to turn off. About 3 stops after that another girl walked onto the bus. She had a suitcase and was reading a textbook. I knew two things about this bus, it had my stop in it and it ended in Warsaw. I made the educated guess that she was a university student and went over to her seat at the bus. I hoped I didn't scare her senseless and said, 'excuse me' with the biggest smile I could muster. She answered in English! Thank The Lord. We proceeded to communicate in a conversation partially in English, partially in Polish, and partially in pointing. Again, I was fortunate to find a helpful person who got the driver to pull down the street to my stop and then gave me directions on how to walk from there to my hotel. 

Crisis averted! Thank goodness for my ability to stay calm and figure things out. Also, for my amazing luck finding kind and helpful people. 

Torture and a show

I know I know. My titles are getting increasingly sadistic. I can't promise it won't continue...

Friday

Today, started with a lecture on the Soviet secret police and their torture methods. I know I keep writing the happiest stuff right. 

History lesson coming up, but still super interesting... If your a history buff too. 

Stalin era torture is some of the most graphic and extreme methods of torture perpetuated by a peoples unto another human that most of us have ever been able to gain knowledge of, partially due to the fact this occurred in recent history, and partially because it was so well-documented. The Soviet secret police was not only out for information, but to both physically and mentally break down a population of people. 

Subsequently, the Soviet secret police were distinctive and diverse in their use of torture during their investigations in comparison to past regimes and nations. Contrasting with other investigations undergone throughout history, the Soviet secret police were not only seeking out truth, but forcing someone to admit to crimes they hadn't committed. 

These investigations and torture methods were meant to break a person, completely. With their extreme methods, the Soviet secret police were able to not only break the individual and humiliate them, but were also able to intimidate the entire populace into submission. The fear of these interrogations became so appalling amongst the insurgents that many would even commit suicide ahead of being captured. 

It was known throughout the population that the tortures were exceedingly cruel and slow. To break a person into confessing to a crime the Soviet secret police would not only beat those held prisoner, but subject them to freezing temperatures, starvation, lack of sleep, the risk of disease, lack of sunlight, and multiple devices intended to inflict mass amounts of pain. Throughout these interrogations one was not allowed to pass out as to avoid the pain, in many cases those being tortured were administered shots to keep them alert. The end result was to get each and every one to confess to the crimes that were brought before them and because of the methods used, almost all did confess. Those few who did not confess were more often than not killed or their health was severely affected as to pain them for the rest of their shortened lives. The central theme and intention of these interrogations and mistreatment of the populace was to terrorize and to assert dominance by the invading army.

The most interesting fact about the Soviet police was that they understood all the ethnic cultures they encountered and systematically broke the populace. For instance, in areas of the Ukraine bodies were desecrated after death and put on display in the city center. People were made to pass by it everyday and if you reacted the Soviet's then realized you knew the person and you were taken away as well. Whereas, in Islamic cultures, after tortures men were shot in the back of the head and then dressed in military gear and arms so as not to insight extreme violence from the population. 

The afternoon was filled with the rather long movie The Pianist. While long it is a great movie, very well done, and I recommend it to everyone.  Just be prepared to spend the whole movie depressed. 

It is based off of the book The Pianist, an autobiography. It is the true story of a Jewish man who lived in Warsaw throughout the war. I don't need to tell you what he went through. I have a feeling as we are heavily educated in Holocaust history during the war you have some idea. 

Side-note: If you do decide to read the book I have some great music list ideas I can give you while you read it. My iPod seemed to know what I was reading and provided the perfect background music for the moods of the book. 

I Saw an Uprising and Went to Prison

The day started off early as we had a jam packed plan of tours in Warsaw. By public bus (a harrowing way to make it into town) the trip into Warsaw takes about an hour, so we always have to factor that into our schedule. 

Outside the prison

The day was to start with a tour of a former KGB prison. Here is the catch... It's still the working prison in Warsaw. This happens to be one of the most notorious prison for prisoners of war and as such was a must for our study of WW2 history. While there we were supposed to only get a history lesson and see the historical portions of the prison. While we did get to view the cells of the former KGB prisoners and the old torture cells, we were also given tours of the ACTUAL prison. 

Prison basement (torture area)

Stepping inside those former (we hope) torture rooms was already an our of body experience. The mood in the room dropped by more than half and everyone became quiet. There is no describing the feeling you get when stepping between those walls. It's as if you can feel the horror that fills them. 

To find ourselves next surrounded by inmates just caused everyone's hearts to fall into their stomachs. Poland is one of the societies that believes in rehabilitation. This is in part due to their tragic past in which people were persecuted for no proven reason. As such the prisoners are basically allowed free reign and are not hand cuffed! They go through therapy lessons, are able to go out to take classes in the University, and even obtain jobs on the outside. The guards joked that some of the prisoners actually made more money than them... Just crazy. However, since the inmates are roaming the grounds that means we were given extremely close contact with them. I think I stopped breathing at points!

 I know I should not overly judge these individuals and that I'm surrounded daily by dangerous individuals, but sorry I couldn't help that paranoid panicky feeling.  

metro

After the prison tour we had an hour to grab some lunch and take our mug shots for our bus passes. Basically to get a monthly bus/train/metro card in Poland you have to provide a passport photo. But the thing is none if ours were acceptable because for these the focus of your picture has to be the left side of your face. We all found out that this is not our good side haha. 

The afternoon was filled with the Warsaw Uprising Museum. 

Ticket to museum

Many people combine or confuse the two uprisings that occurred within Warsaw. There was the Ghetto uprising that was done by the Jews and then there was the city wide uprising undertaken by those outside the ghetto walls. 

I became aware of the strength of those people who lived in Warsaw during this trip to the Warsaw Uprising Museum. During our lectures and readings there were mentions of the trials the people had to endure and the ways they were able to survive. The imagination is only so strong when there are no sensory elements to use, and when you've never experienced some of these things it is hard to even comprehend such torture. It was when I was crawling through those reconstructed sewers within the museum that I came to realize the extremes a person will go to; to survive. In those small dark tunnels with the noises of the sewers playing I started to panic and my breathing became erratic even though I was in no real danger. At those moments, I began to imagine what it must have been like to have been starving, tired, scared and then forced to crawl through tunnels full of filth and bodies. I know there is no way I could ever truly understand, but in those moments my pride in being Polish was not just in their abilities to rebuild themselves but in their abilities to conquer their surroundings.

There are many debates now-a-days as to whether the people in Warsaw should have fought back. If maybe they didn't fight they could have survived longer. I completely disagree with that viewpoint. As part of the museum we got to see the death certificates written of people found in a mass grave in one part of the city.  Hitler had given the order that 100% of the city and people within be destroyed. Within a day 60,000 men, women, and children had been murdered. The people of Warsaw chose to fight back and survive. It is the same decision I would have made in those circumstances. I don't know anyone who would just lie down and be exterminated.

Another part of the tour showed an birds eye view of what the city looked like after the Soviets forced the Germans to leave.  It's hard to imagine a city that used to be considered on par with Paris and St.Petersburg reduced to rubble - 85% destroyed. In parts of the city today the remains were just pushed into hills and built over. Before the war 1.3 million people lived in Warsaw by the end only 1,000 people remained. The city is a living graveyard, and it very inspiring to me that the people of Poland decided to rebuild in it. 

Needless to say this day was nonstop emotions and extremely hard for me to come to terms with, nevertheless fully express to others.