Extracurricular: A lot has happened over the past couple of weeks,
but I’ll try to make this section short and sweet. One of our free afternoons in
Olomouc a few of us took a bus just outside of town and visited Holy Hill. Holy
Hill is a pilgrimage site with a legend of an Olomouc citizen who was asked in
a dream, by Virgin Mary to build a chapel. It was beautiful out and a great
time spent relaxing in the sun, looking down on the town of Olomouc. Later in
the week our class took a day trip to somewhere about an hour away and toured a
palace that we had to wear funny slippers over our shoes for. Following the palace
tour we visited the second oldest wine cellar in the Moravian region of the
Czech Republic. A lot of us agree that while being down there, touring and sampling
wine, we knocked off a few years of our life from the musty air and excessive
amount of mold. Although I have yet to know the name of the town we were in, it
was a memorable field trip to say the least! As I mentioned in previous posts,
a club here in Olomouc (that we’ve familiarized ourselves with) allows a
different group of students to host a party for their country, every Wednesday.
The club provides decorations and the necessities for making a popular snack of
the country as well as a choice of beverage. This last Wednesday, it was
America Night! Let’s just say that the club thanked us for the crowd we brought
in with our Jack Daniel’s Whiskey and PB&J sandwiches. America Night is
definitely in my top five of most fun nights out! The next day was May Day, and
the town square was holding festivities all day; a live band, food vendors and
an assortment of stands with handcrafted items similar to what we had seen at
the Easter Festival. Our other and most recent trip not surrounding the
Holocaust was to Ostrava, Czech Republic. It’s located near the Polish border
and is the third largest city in the Czech Republic; it’s known as the “steel
heart of the republic”. We toured the industrial steel plant, their pride and
joy, and then proceeded to Krakow, Poland.
Cutie Pie Jenna
Kaitlyn and I representing Gamma Phi Beta with a crescent moon, at Ostrava's Industrial Plant
A little set up of what work in the salt mines would have been like
Terezin: Before our trip to Auschwitz in Poland, we visited Terezin
(Thereseinstadt), Czech Republic the weekend before, giving us more build up to
the Holocaust. Terezin is located near Prague and once served as a ghetto and
concentration camp established by the SS during WWII. Tens of thousands Jews
were sent here, but it was not an extermination camp; thousands died in
Terezein but mainly due to malnutrition and disease. Most significant about
Terezin is its role in Nazi propaganda, creating a film that portrayed decent
living conditions in the camp. The Red Cross sent representatives to Terezin to
assure that the living conditions there were okay. However, the Nazis were aware
of the upcoming visit months in advance and created false advertisement to get
the Red Cross’s approval. Several Jews were deported to death camps to reduce the
overpopulation of the camp, and rooms were added to the camp such as a
barbershop that would never be used. Following the tour of the camp, we visited
a few museums; there was old artwork from the children in the ghetto as well as
set ups of what the barracks would have looked like.
"Work Makes [You] Free"
Sinks in the Barbershop that were never actually used by the Jews
Poland Shtuff: The first day in Poland we toured a massive salt
mine in Krakow. We only saw 1% of the mine and that alone took three hours! It
was pretty funny on our tour as we stopped to lick a lot of the walls. After
the salt mine we checked into our hostel and wandered around the neighborhood
in search of some supper. The next morning we visited a Jewish Museum; there
was a sequence of events with readings of life in the ghetto during the war.
Afterwards we walked to Krakow’s town square to do a little shopping before
heading back to the hostel to play cards. Sunday, we got up early and visited a
castle, its treasury, and the dungeon. After the tour we were eager to get to
the little festival we noticed from afar, with lots of traditional Polish foods
and handmade trinkets. Speaking of food, Poland is second on my list of best
cuisine for this semester’s cuisine. Over the weekend I had perogies, which are
Polish dumplings stuffed with meat, cheese, sauerkraut, or fruit, Polish
sausage and potatoes, two hamburgers –first ones since being away from the States,
and they weren’t nearly as good as the State’s, and Mexican food –also incomparable
to the State’s. Nevertheless it was a spectacular weekend of good eats!
Polish flags were everywhere; definitely the most patriotic country we have visited in Europe!
Enjoying our margaritas and Mexican food
Schindler’s Factory: We visited the museum in Oskar Schindler’s
Factory which has been devoted to the experiences of the WWII Nazi occupation.
Oskar Schindler was a German industrialist, spy, and a member of the Nazi party.
He is most known for employing Jews to work in his enamel factory and by doing
so, saving 1,200 lives during the Holocaust. The museum exhibits the German invasion
in 1939 and everything in between to the Soviet capture of the city. The museum
was nothing like what I expected; I really thought we would just be seeing the
factory and work aspect of the Jews, but there was so much more to see. If you
haven’t seen the 1993 film, Schindler’s
List, I highly recommend it.
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Auschwitz: This was our final and most anticipated destination for
the weekend in Poland. Words don’t really do this site much justice, but it was
an experience I will always remember. Hearing and learning about the Holocaust
in class is one thing but getting the opportunity to visit the historical site has
left me with a much greater impact. I can’t even fathom my being there in
Auschwitz, walking over the same steps thousands of Jews. The tour seemed to go
by so quickly that I wasn’t able to fully take in everything presented before
me. It was a weird feeling overall. I actually got legitimately sick to my
stomach upon arrival to Auschwitz, and I honestly don’t know if it was from something
I had eaten or a mental buildup of preparation of going to the camp, maybe a
little of both. Auschwitz consisted of three parts: Auschwitz I, Auschwitz II-Birkenau,
and Auschwitz III-Monowitz. Auschwitz I was the original camp which first held
Polish political prisoners; this was where the administration and gestapo were
and where the torturing was done. Here I saw piles of pounds of hair on display
which really choked me up. Following this was a portion of thousands of pairs
of shoes of men, women, and children. Touring Auschwitz I was definitely the
hardest part of the tour. Auschwitz II-Birkenau, this is where the Jews went
through the selection process after being transported by the countless trains
entering the camp and either worked or were gassed immediately. We stood where
the Jews stood and walked the paths they took to their filthy barracks and to
the gas chambers. Being in Auschwitz II-Birkenau didn’t hit home as much as I
imagined it would. It just didn’t feel real; being on the same grounds that
marked history not even 100 years ago. We saw the destroyed crematorium and
beyond them monuments sculpted, recognizing the lives lost. The most surreal
part of being there was the shockingly peaceful environment it is today. It was
so strangely beautiful; the camp is now surrounded by trees that were planted
by the prisoners of the camp. I felt like these trees represented so much more
than what they’re acknowledged for because the ashes of those who suffered in
the gas chambers were scattered all along where those trees stand strong and
tall today. While we were still walking through the camp, I overheard a tour
guide having a one on one conversation, maybe even an interview, sharing that
he loved his job and felt like it was rewarding. Aside from educating others
and gifting them with knowledge, I can’t imagine ever loving being at Auschwitz
every day. I’m glad that I was able to fulfill the opportunity of seeing
Auschwitz, but I don’t think I will ever go back.
Only a handful of the thousands of cans of Zyklon B used in the gas chambers; one can could kill 700 Jews.
T-Minus: 25 DAYS UNTIL I AM HOME! Bittersweet, but I’m ready. May
is already a quarter over! Tomorrow I leave for Budapest, Hungary and return on
Sunday. The next weekend I have free. May 20th through the 23rd
I’ll be in the Bohemian region of the Czech Republic, and immediately after
that I’ll be headed to Barcelona, Spain, with Jenna and Taylor for the majority of the
last week! Crazy to think of how fast this semester has gone by! Thanks for
reading, love and miss you all!
-Molly
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