Friday, May 15, 2015

Krakow/Auschwitz (Blog #9 due May 17th)

9. Field Trip #3

Last weekend we visited Krakow, Poland for our second to last field trip.  For this blog I mainly want to talk about my experience at Auschwitz, but first I will talk about our two days in Krakow.  Early on Friday we arrived just outside of Krakow at the Wieliczka salt mine.  I had no idea what to expect at the salt mine, but I ended up being happily surprised at how unique it was.  We traveled hundreds of meters underground, into what felt like a giant cave.  We weaved in and out of the winding pathways, and learned all about the history of the salt mine.  When we got to the main chapel, I was completely blown away.  First of all, I was not expecting there to be a chapel in a salt mine at all, and it was absolutely gorgeous! We also saw a laser show along with other smaller presentations.  Our tour guide had a great sense of humor, so that made it even more enjoyable also! 

Chapel


Tasting the Salt Walls!

On Saturday, we visited the Wawel Royal Castle of Krakow.  We saw the treasury, armory, and several of the rooms inside.  One thing that really stuck out in my mind from this castle was the different ceilings in each room.  Some were beautiful, and some were very strange and unique.  After touring the castle, we went to the main square.  We dispersed, had lunch, and met back again to go to Schindler’s factory.  Schindler’s factory is basically a museum about the Jews in Krakow during WWII and the Holocaust, located in the exact spot where Oskar Schindler’s factory once stood.  It was very interactive, and so incredibly informational.  After seeing the factory I could not stop thinking about how we were going to visit Auschwitz the next day. 

Royal Castle

Inside Schindler's Factory


Sunday was one of the most emotional days I have ever had.  I felt so unprepared to see Auschwitz, but then again I don’t know how anyone could ever really prepare themselves to see something so horrific.  When we walked through the gate “Arbeit Macht Frei” I instantly felt sick to my stomach.  In fact, I felt sick to my stomach for the entire tour.  The atmosphere of Auschwitz was filled with an eerie despair, despite the fact that it almost looked like a peaceful place.  As we walked throughout the camp, I could not think of anything except for the fact that I was walking along the same ground as those who were so innocently killed 75 years ago.  One of the worst parts was walking through the exhibits of belongings from the victims, including the mounds of hair that had been cut off of the victims’ heads.  To see all of this in the raw was almost too much for me to absorb.  I still cannot wrap my head around how atrociously the Nazi’s could treat these victims.  It is as if they had no morals for humanity whatsoever. Not only did they set out to exterminate all Jews, but they did so in the most horrendous ways of torture.  To make it even worse, they had every single aspect perfectly calculated to insure that it would be a complete “success.”  


Prosthetic parts from the victims

Just a fraction of the victims' shoes



We also went to Birkenau, the extermination camp near Auschwitz.  It was so vast, and I again felt that eerie atmosphere throughout our time there.  We walked into one of the wooden buildings where the prisoners stayed, and learned that they were actually intended to be horse stables.  It sickened me to think that the Nazi’s thought of the Jews as something less than a human-let alone an animal.  As we continued to walk through Birkenau, we listened to the horrendous stories of the victims who were sent there.  As soon as they got off of the train (which had no windows so they had no idea where they were going) they were immediately put through a selection of who would be sent to the gas chambers and who would become a worker.  We were also able to see the remains of the gas chambers, which were destroyed by the Nazi’s themselves in an attempt to hide the evidence.  Near the gas chambers, we saw a couple of small ponds.  We learned that the human bones, which wouldn’t burn in the crematorium, would be crushed up and thrown into these ponds.  By this point, I did not know how much more I could stand to hear.  I was already sick to my stomach and this about put me over the edge.  We ended our tour shortly after that, and I was more than ready to leave. 

Entrance to Birkenau

Remains of the Gas Chamber at Birkenau

  As we left, I continually thought about how lucky I was to be able to freely walk in and out of the doors.  I was so sickened by the thought that it was all a problem of humanity.  How could one human possibly do this to another human?  It is something that I will never be able to understand, and it goes way beyond hatred.   I also don’t understand how some people can try to say that the Holocaust never actually happened, or try to downplay the gruesome events of it all. Although I learned about the Holocaust for nearly six years in school, no amount of information could have prepared me for what I saw at Auschwitz.  I now have an entire new appreciation for the Holocaust, which I could never have gotten from any textbook.  I feel as though none of my words can do justice for the way I felt in Auschwitz.  It is just one of those places where you cannot fully form a full appreciation for until you have seen it in person.  I will remember this visit for the rest of my life, and I can only hope that humanity has learned from this horrific event. 

Sunday, May 10, 2015

Anything But Average (Blog #8 Due May 10)

1. Daily Life

Life here in Olomouc has been anything but routine.  Every single day we wake up to a new adventure with so much to explore.  Since we do not have class until 3 in the afternoon on weekdays, our mornings are usually free to do whatever we wish.  On a typical day I wake up around 9:00 A.M. and make breakfast in my room.  This mainly consists of microwavable oatmeal and an apple.  We have a small kitchen area in our flat, but we do not have any pots or pans to actually cook food in-so most of my meals in the dorm have to be microwavable.  After breakfast I like to get caught up on any homework or other tasks that I need to complete before we head off into the city.  I also like doing my laundry at this time in the morning, if I need to.  Around lunch time Maddie, Erica, Lauren and I catch one of the trams and find somewhere to eat.  One of our favorite things to do is find new cafes and try different kinds of food.  When all else fails though, pizza or crepes are our go to meals.  With the remaining time left before class we then will run any other errands we have, go shopping, or simply wander around and try to find something interesting.  When it’s time to go to class we head towards the history building and prepare ourselves for the four hours of lecture.  Our lectures take up a big part of our day, and by the time we get out it is 7:15 P.M.  By then we are all starving, so sometimes we will go find another restaurant to eat at.  When we need to go grocery shopping we usually do it after class also, so we can take everything straight back to our dorms.  By the time we get back to the dorms, I am ready to shower and relax in bed.  I knew from the day we got here that our time in Olomouc was going to go fast, so I try to make the most of every day I have while I am here.  We are gone so much with our field trips and other excursions, so the actual time spent in Olomouc is short.  My “routine” is so much different compared to when I was living at home.  At home I felt as though I actually had a scheduled routine; wake up, work out, read, go to work etc.  Here, I never really know what is going to be on my daily agenda.  In some ways I miss the routine schedule I used to follow, but in other ways it has been so fun not knowing what each day holds in store for me.  One of the things I miss is working out.  While home I would run 3-5 miles every single day, and here I have only gone running a couple of times.  It’s not that I absolutely can’t find the time to run; it’s just that I would rather be using my precious time here to explore and find new things.  I also feel like I have adapted more to the “European” lifestyle, where I’ve learned to take my time and not worry as much about the little things.  It feels as though I just got used to life here in Olomouc, and we are now down to our last week!  Although I am ready to see my friends and family back home, I am definitely going to miss this amazing city more than anything.

Dorm Room

Beautiful Olomouc!