The Final Days In Poland

    

Jan Karski monument

      I can’t believe that today was our final day in Poland! It has been such an amazing trip and the week flew by way too fast. There is still so much more that I want to see and learn about.

The past couple of days have been focused on tying up loose ends. On Wednesday, we participated in an interactive multimedia learning experience at Auschwitz 1 and traveled to Kraków to learn about the remaining Jewish area as well as some Polish history. Thursday was spent finishing our studies in Auschwitz where we learned about the clergy at Auschwitz and today was our last day. We spent it in Kraków learning about Polish history and visiting Shoah memorials.    

     On Wednesday, we participated in an interactive multimedia learning experience. We were posed with multiple challenging ethical, moral and religious questions that do not have one straight forward answer. We discussed the questions as a group but also listened to the responses of those in an appropriate position to respond to the question.  We then headed over to Kraków to experience the remaining Jewish area of the city. We visited synagogues, a Jewish cemetery and multiple other locations dedicated to the Jews who were subjugated by the Nazis. We also stopped at Wawel Hill to see the castle. We learned about one of Poland’s kings and that one his daughter became king when she was 14 and married the Duke of Lithuania who was also 14. The other daughter married royalty of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and both regions became intertwined.

Castle at Wawel Hill

     Thursday was a lighter day, physically, not mentally. We finished our studies at Auschwitz with a lecture on the clergy who were imprisoned at Auschwitz. We were given estimated numbers as to the diversity at Auschwitz. They were astonishing! The number of innocent people who were subjected to the harsh treatment of the Nazis for doing nothing wrong was outrageous. We learned that approximately 70% of the clergy at Auschwitz perished. Then we had some free time to continue exploring the rest of Auschwitz and visit the exhibits that we were unable to see as a group. I went to the Polish and Russian national exhibits. I could only produce a one word response: wow! The vast difference in perspectives of the war from the two countries was unbelievable. Poland knew that it was struggling to defend its homeland but still managed to push on and ultimately were able to claim victories. However, the Russians believed that what they were doing was not only right, but that through their victories they laid claim to a great feat.

Communist Poland plaque

      Friday was spent in Kraków learning more about Polish history and visiting historical structures as well as learning more about resistance in Poland. We saw a memorial to Jan Karski who smuggled himself into Nazi camps to save Jews and passed Oskar Schindler’s factory.   We also had the opportunity to do some shopping in the main market square and eat real Polish pierogi. We also passed a remaining part of the Kraków ghetto wall and a plaque commemorating the poles from 1978 when Poland was under Communist control.

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The Unknown Side of Auschwitz 1

Auschwitz 1 registration building

     The experiences we had at Auschwitz 1 and 2 are some of the strongest memories that I will carry with me for the rest of my life. To stand and walk where Nazis and prisoners carried out daily activities was surreal. I could not and still cannot believe that I was actually there.

     Monday was the first time that we went to Auschwitz 1. I did not know what to expect, especially not the number of people waiting in line to enter. The air, however, was heavy and the atmosphere solemn and somber and rightfully so; you could tell from the moment you stepped on the grounds. We started our tour by the infamous “Arbeit Macht Frei” (work sets you free) sign that everyone sees who enters the camp. We learned that tragically, six years ago, someone stole the original sign and cut it into three parts. We then continued our tour around the grounds and visited some of the blocks, some more bearable than others. We saw the harsh reality that consisted of a variety of awe inspiring, yet repulsive numbers, creations and things. In one of the blocks, we saw stolen goods from the prisoners such as glasses, shoes, and kitchenware. We saw where roll call was taken and the post where the officer who was in charge of the number of prisoners was stationed. We saw the estimated numbers of people killed and the book of names of people killed during the Shoah.

     In the basement of one of the blocks were another unfathomable creation of the Nazis called starvation and dark cells. Prisoners were put in these rooms as punishment. A dark cell was a bigger room and was entered by a door while a starvation cell was entered by crawling on the floor through a small opening and then the prisoner stood up. However, it wasn't only one prisoner in a cell at a time. It was four! These cells weren't very big either. They were about 90 cm x 90 cm (~35 in x ~35 in). The prisoners inside were denied food (or light if the prisoner was in a dark cell) for a certain amount of time and then were expected to work the next morning.    

     Then, towards the end of the tour, we came to a building with a tall chimney behind a little hill. I couldn’t even begin to guess what this building was used for, especially after seeing the kitchen that looked nothing like a kitchen with so many chimneys. Then our tour guide told us that it was a gas chamber. I was shocked when I heard that. In all the years that I had learned about or done research on World War II and the Holocaust, not once did I come across any information that mentioned Auschwitz 1 having a gas chamber. I couldn’t believe that in a concentration camp there was still the systematic killing of Jews similar to that of Birkenau.

     In lieu of all the death and sadness, there is a glimmer of goodness. At one point, a prisoner ran away and was successfully able to escape from Auschwitz. As a result, the Nazis tortured 10 other prisoners. However, one man begged not to be killed as he was a father and husband and wanted to live and continue to see his family. So, a Franciscan friar named Maximilian Kolbe offered to take his place. Of course the Nazis were confused, but they ultimately allowed the switch. Maximilian Kolbe gave his life to allow one man to continue to care for his family and have hope that he will survive and witness the liberation of the camp.  

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The First Days In Poland

Polish crest eagle

After a lot of waiting and a couple of plane rides, we finally made it to Poland. Initially, I was expecting Poland to be more like suburban U.S., but just spaced out. Little did I know that while it was suburban, it was also quite rural. The small cluster of houses and large amounts of open or farm lands was quite surprising. I was amazed at how peaceful and serene it was. Even when people were outside working or travelling to wherever they needed to go, the serenity was unaffected. Right then and there, I knew that this was going to be an amazing trip.

The first two days in Poland have flown by and have truly been extraordinary. We traveled around Oświęcim to learn about the past as well as the present and Wadowice to learn about one of the most significant popes in history.

We spent the first day in Oświęcim and it enforced my respect towards the challenges others face. We visited the only remaining Jewish cemetery and synagogue as well as a Jewish museum. At the cemetery, we learned that the Nazis, during their attempt to eradicate Judaism from the town, destroyed the cemetery. They caused the destruction and dislocation of the headstones, which when recovered were not necessarily put back in the right place. A man named Szymon Kluger initiated the effort to restore the cemetery. Thus, the headstones no longer commemorate the memory of the person buried in that particular location, but rather honor the memory of the events that occurred and the people that are buried there. No one was buried in the cemetery once the war broke out in 1939 until 2000 when Szymon Kluger passed away. We also visited the only remaining synagogue in the town connected to a museum. In addition to learning about some of the history of the town and that the war should have destroyed the synagogue, we learned that because the synagogue was used for storage, it was able to survive.   

The second day was uplifting and inspirational. We traveled to Wadowice to learn about Pope John Paul II. We visited the elementary and secondary schools that he attended as a child as well as the museum that also contains part of his house. We learned of his struggles as a child and that he was able to overcome them to achieve his goal to become the Pope. We learned about his respect for the various religious beliefs and ways he used to embrace them. He illustrated that it is possible for people of different faiths to get along and be respectful people towards one another. Additionally, we attended a mass since it was Palm Sunday. We experienced the veneration that the Polish people have for Pope John Paul II and all the good that he did for the Catholic faith. Finally, we ended the day with a lecture from Fr. Manfred. He spoke to us about the different perspectives of the Germans, Jews, Polish and Russians during World War II and their influence on their actions in relation to various religious beliefs.

All in all, the first two days in Poland were quite exciting!  

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