Terezin

we visited the jewish ghetto, Terezin today. we were very rushed, and i felt cheated out of the experience. we were able to watch a video about the history of Terezin, it used to be a fortress for czechleslovakia in the 18th century. we walked around in the walls and some underground passageways. the guide showed us the cells that were unacceptable for one person to live imprisioned and the SS guard would cram 6 people into this tiny space. there were also exihbits of the art work that the children in the ghettoes made to capture the everyday lives of the prisioners and the sadness and lifelessness of the people there. what a humbling experience to know that i have family, friends and a job to pay for a vacation overseas and have enough money to buy souvenirs, and these people were stripped of their humanity and dignity, and all their possessions were taken away, and the families were split apart. they lived in attics, shared beds with people they didn't know and were forced into labor and the only thing they had to keep their sanity was their art and their religion.

Prauge

Its SNOWING!!! it is so stinking beautiful! we are going to chezky crumlov (sp?) today and staying the night in an inn. we had a beer party last night and did a walking tour yesterday of the city. we are about to catch the bus so this is a short update. i'll post again soon!

salt mines and krakow university

we went to the salt mines today. there are 40 chapels carve in the 9 layers of the mines. we only went about 130 meters down, we had to take these shaft elevators down into the mines. they go so fast and we had to sqeeze 9 people into an area the size of a small pantry. we also visited the university in krakow were nicholas compernicus studied. it was beautiful. we also went to the saint mary's church in old town and saw the trumpter again. saint mary's church is so beautiful. we also went on a tour of the cathedral and wawel hill where the castle is in krakow. the cathedral took 600 years to build so it has a wide variety of styles throughout. mostly gothic style; very, very beautiful. we has a lot of free time, and did some exploring of krakow and the market square. we had dinner at this nice restraunt, first time we haven't had fried meat and french fries (not good for digestive system, ps). but i'm eating yougurt every morning, no worries! tomorrow we are catching a train to Prauge. the bus picks us up at 6 am! so of to be for this old lady!

auchwitz/birthday

ok, first things first. i spelled synagouge way wrong yesterday! so there it is, the correct spelling...

 

secondly, we went to auchwitz kl and berkinau today. we saw piles of shoes, hair, suit cases with names & addresses, hairbrushes, kids clothes, and many other personal belongings. the hair was the part that really hit it home with me. that was the last thing the prisoners possesed before they were completely striped of  their sense of humanity. That was also a part of them; a physical representation of 40,000 people in the case of hair in the museum. we also trecked over to berkinau where the trains came in and hans frank (i believe thats his name) would stand and point right or left, right to the camp where they would be slave laborers or left, if they were seen as unfit for work, to the gas chambers. there were only a very samll percentage that made it to the work camp. you could just sense the evil on those grounds. my heart was physically aching, with pains in my chest and a lump in my throat. i couldn't believe it. also at one point during the tour, i had held myself for almost an hour and it began to become painful. it made me think of how the prisioner were only allowed to use the restroom in the morning and evening, and if they stopped working, they were shot. i couldn't imagine having to hold myself that long, especially when most of the prisioners suffered from diharrea.

 

on a lighter note, i am 22 today! woohoo! its all down hill from here!

First Full Day in Poland!

So today we went to Madiwice, where Pope Jean Paul was baptized and served as cardinal. The town was very beautiful, and there were of course things that we had never really experienced before. Like a phone booth...who uses those these days! Only kidding! We also went to the old Jewish quarter in Krakow and ate lunch and went to the synagogue. The lunch was tasty, dark roast turkey, carrots, potato wedges, and slaw. I was almost left in the synagogue because I apparently am the only one who likes to read the posters with the descriptions because they had to come find me. We then went to the old town square where the trumpeter plays every hour and the famous cloth hall is. They have beautiful amber jewelry, but I still haven't found any pottery. Tomorrow, sadly I turn 22 and we spend the whole day at Auschwitz, I’ll let you all know how that goes. Off to bed!

The Day Before Departure

It is almost 8 am, and I am already on campus, and have been for almost half an hour. This time tomorrow I will be making final preperations, waiting for my professor, Dr. Boettcher, to come fetch me.

We have spent the semester reading liturature that pertains to children experiencing the Holocaust. Makes you wonder how anyone could be so evil to a group of people because of their traditions and spiritual beliefs, but then again, isn't that precisely what is going on in the world today?

I don't really know what to expect from this trip. I hope that I gain an understanding and appreciation for what really went on during the Holocaust. I hope, also, that I can obtain a different outlook on the world around me.

Off to study for 2 exams, finish a paper, and a ridiculously long math assignment!