Krakow
April 7-11
April 7
From Prague, I took an overnight sleeper train to the main station in Krakow. The train left around 8:30 PM on April 7th and got to Krakow at around 7 AM on the 8th. The story behind the train is an anxiety provoking one, but it actually turned out for the better. A week before I left for my spring break travels, I got an e-mail from the Czech airlines that my flight from Prague to Krakow was canceled. Obviously, this was the last thing I wanted to hear since booking anything a week before you leave is stressful and can be expensive. I started looking around at other flights and none seemed available for the days I wanted, so I asked Shay what she was doing. Shay had booked a sleeper train, so I automatically found the same train and booked the ticket. Once I got it in the mail, I became super excited for this part of the journey since I don’t feel like you are a real ‘backpacker through Europe’ until you take a train across countries.
Since Shay and I booked our tickets at such different times, I never imagined we would be in the same room. Once we boarded the train though, we found out that we were roommates in the triple! To make matters even better, we never did get the third roommate, so it remained a double. The room was so cute and small. Surprisingly the beds were comfortable and warm! I will admit that I did not have the most sound sleep since the train kept on stopping and starting throughout the night, but it was definitely better than flying between cities. When I woke up at 6:30 AM the next morning, I got to see the ending of the sunrise in Poland and some of the countryside. Like I said in a pervious post, if I could redo this trip- I would be training it everywhere!
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| Shay enamored with the suite. |
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| The triplet beds! |
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| Our drinking water and 'washing teeth' water. |
April 8
Once we got into the station in Krakow, we started to look for our hostel. The hostel (named Greg&Tom’s Hostel) was recommended by a friend back at Haverford and had won a ton of awards from different hostel-booking sites, so we had high expectations. Well, it turned out that the hostel was literally a block away from the train station- what a relief! Once we got to the hostel, we put our bags down and were offered breakfast! Well, it turns out that this hostel has free breakfast AND dinner! What a catch! Once we had our fill, we checked in, but couldn’t actually get into our room until later that day. Also, as we checked in we also bought our tickets for the Auschwitz tour and the Salt Mine tour.
Even though Shay and I were exhausted from the little sleep and early rise, we decided to walk around the city a little bit. We walked into the main square and it was a ghost town. Granted, it was 8 AM on Easter Sunday, but it was eerily empty. We saw the main church called St. Mary's Basilica in the main market square, so we headed in for some Easter Mass. To tour the church on a normal day would have to cost money, but since we went in for service we got to see it for free! The church was beautiful! It had a light blue ceiling with gold designs all over. I wish I took pictures, but I didn’t think it would be smart during the Easter service. The whole service was in Polish, so I was completely lost, but Shay had been to church enough time to know exactly where we were. She knew when each thing was coming up. Once she received the Eucharist, we stayed a little longer and then headed out.
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| Ghost town on Easter Sunday. |
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| St. Mary Basilica. |
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| Market Square |
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| Market Square |
What we found as we reappeared in the Market Square was truly amazing…it was SNOWING! And no, it was not just a flake here and there….but a mini blizzard! Let me remind you, I was wearing a north face jacket, jeans, and my boat shoes. I was literally freezing. Once my hands went numb, I figured it was time for me to give up and just buy a hat and gloves. Since it was Easter, nothing was open as expected. We searched until I found a store and I bought my necessary commodities. Now, with proper ware, Shay and I wandered into the Jewish Quarter for some more touring.
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| Say hello to my new gloves and hat! |
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| Wandering through Krakow! |
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| Krakow Castle |
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| Wandering through Krakow! |
When walked back from the Jewish Quarter, we ran into an American girl. After talking to her for a while, she convinced me to buy a ticket for a tour she was taking. While Shay was cold and was hesitant to spend money, I on the other hand bought my ticket for a guided tour of the Jewish district and Schindler’s factory. Shay headed back to the hostel for her ‘Easter nap’ and I went on my way. On my tour was a family from New Zealand and this other American girl. The tour guide was a very nice Polish man, who obviously did his homework. I was really impressed with his knowledge of Judaism….I mean he knew more about the Talmud than I did!
On the tour, I got a quick run down of the medieval history of religion in Poland. Surprisingly, Poland was a tolerant country to many religions, so it became a haven for many. As the tour guide said, “During the reformation time, all the Catholics from Protestant countries moved here and Protestants from Catholic countries came here.” Krakow itself had almost every sect of church possible and multiple monasteries. There were nuns and monks everywhere! Moreover, during those times a lot of Jews and Muslims moved to the country and were respected by the country.
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| A plaque dedicated to the Medieval Jews |
As we moved through the Jewish Quarter, he pointed out sites from where Shindler’s List was filmed and explained important buildings. Ironically, I learned that almost all of the Polish Jewish goods that were stolen from synagogues during WWII were in a museum in Prague. I was just in Prague, but didn’t get to see that museum! We saw all seven synagogues in the Kazimierz district, saw the Kosher market, and an old Yeshiva. We then walked across the Vistula River and into the area of the Krakow Ghetto. In the main square of the ghetto stood an SS building that had the dates of the Ghetto’s inhabitance. Also, the square held a memorial of empty metal chairs. The memorial is meant to signify three different things:
(1) When the ghetto was liquidated, the Jews were forced to wait in the square for the trains to take them away. The chairs signify them waiting for the trains.
(2) After the ghetto was liquidated, the Nazi’s stole all the furniture from the Jewish apartments and threw them into the square. The chairs could be seen as being the furniture stolen.
(3) The chairs could lastly be seen as ‘waiting’ for the owners to reclaim them, which they never will.
The ghetto also holds a famous apothecary, in which a Polish gentile lived in and helped the Jews. He would sneak in food, weapons, and letters to the Jews. He ended up surviving the war and his shop is now a museum. On the ground also there are bricks that outlay where the ghetto wall used to be.
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| The reform Temple Synagogue |
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| The reform Temple Synagogue |
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| JCC! |
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| A site where Schindler's List is filmed |
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| An old Kosher meat market |
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| An old Yeshiva |
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| Izaak Synagogue |
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| The 'Old Synagogue' |
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| A place where a mezuzah is usually held! |
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| Memorial to Krakow Jews that perished in WWII |
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| Memorial to Krakow Jews that perished in WWII |
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| Jewish Quarter |
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| An old Hebrew School! |
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| An old Sephardic Synagogue |
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| Crossing the Vistula River |
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| Krakow Ghetto |
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| Remaining SS building in the Ghetto Square |
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1941- Beginning of Ghetto
1943- Liquidation of Ghetto |
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| Chair Monument |
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| The apothecary's house in the ghetto. Now a museum. |
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| Bricks outlaying the Ghetto Walls |
After leaving the square, we walked to Schindler’s factory where we got the lay down on the guy himself. The last part of the tour consisted of seeing the final remaining park of the ghetto wall. It is somewhat creepy since the wall looks just like tombstones. Jews always put their cemetery’s outside the city walls since they are considered dirty. When the Jews were sent into the ghetto, they we sent ‘beyond the city walls.’ To make matter worse, the walls looked like tombstones! In the eyes of the Jews, they were literally being sent to their graves!
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| Schindler's Factory |
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| Address of Schindler's Factory |
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| The remaining section of the ghetto walls. |
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| The remaining section of the ghetto walls. |
At one point on the tour, we stopped to get coffee. I got to talk to the tour guide about the city and country a little bit more. During the conversation, he asked me if I was Jewish, which I replied obviously yes. He told me that he noticed me nodding a lot, which tipped him off. I complimented his knowledge and he told me (in his thick Polish accent) “liked when Jews liked his tour, since it made his studying pay off.” |
I had a little learning experience on the tour. Even though I paid for the tour, I was still under the impression that we were supposed to tip. I always thought my parents tipped tour guides, so I ended up asking the mother from New Zealand what she was planning to tip. She gave me a super sassy reply basically implying that she was not tipping since she ‘already paid for the tour.’ Well, I was just wondering woman! I did not need her sass! I am a newbie at this stuff anyways.
After the tour, I went back to the hostel and took my ‘Easter nap.’ After relaxing and letting the snow settle down, Shay and I ventured out back into the city. We walked around the Jewish district and found a good restaurant there. We then went to bed in preparation for the next day.
April 9
When we woke up, we got breakfast at the hostel and then ran to Schindler’s factory. In the factory was a museum that is free on Mondays. PERFECT! As we got our free entrance ticket, we entered the museum and began the journey. The museum walked us through Poland and Krakow during WWII. The original Schindler office and desk is still there too. It took us from the beginning of Poland and the war to the very bittersweet end. It was very well done and I could’ve spent even longer in there.
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| The snowfall in the morning! |
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| The snowfall in the morning! |
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| The snowfall in the morning! |
Once we finished the museum, we ran to the market square and got a quick lunch. We then ran over to the meeting spot for our tour. We hoped on the bus to Auschwitz and the afternoon began. The ride out to the first camp was around 80 minutes. The tour began in Auschwitz I when we walked right under the “Arbeit macht frei” sign. The sign was not the original since it was stolen a while ago.
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| Work will set you free. |
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| The Blocks |
Walking through the buildings was almost a dream. I have been reading about it for so many years that walking through the buildings were almost surreal. Especially after the readings I did for my “Working through the Holocaust through German Film and Drama” class, I had a real knowledge of each room and building in the block. Walking into Block 11 just made me remember all the stories and personal accounts that happened there. The severity of the camp didn’t really hit me until I left.
After a short coffee break, we then took a bus over to Auschwitz-Birkenau. We walked through the main gate and over the tracks. We followed the route that people would take from the trains to the crematorium. We walked into barracks and through the different buildings. What took me back about the camp was how large it was. I mean…I knew it was big, but you never really get the full magnitude of the camp until you are in it. It was almost a small town. Moreover, you also see how weirdly beautiful the area is. Auschwitz is actually German for birch trees. The area of the camp is surrounded by those lush trees and green fields. You are left feeling unsteady for something so awful occurred in such a beautiful place. Moreover, now houses are built near the camps, so you could potentially look out your window and see the camp!
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| The 'famous' gate and the train tracks in Auschwitz-Birkenau |
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| The remaining parts of barracks + the gate in the distance |
At one point the tour guide mentioned how there were still ashes in the camp, which made you look around and almost feel sick. “Am I breathing in ashes? Am I walking on ashes?!” When you see the ponds next to the crematoriums, you realize that there are ashes in there! There are ashes in the Vistula River!
I must admit the tour guide was not the best, but then again how can one be enthusiastic about their job when it is to go to Auschwitz everyday! I ended up filling Shay in since I just had so much knowledge that I felt compelled to say. I wish I could have just sat there and told the tour all the stories I knew. I feel like touring the camp is not the same unless you know personal stories. You cannot believe it until you know a survivor.
For Shay, the moment for her was when I told her about my flatmate at the moment, Oren. Oren’s grandfather was in the camp from 1942-1945, survived, and made aliyah to Israel. She finally made the connection in her mind that Oren was a product of a Holocaust survivor’s lineage and I could just see it click for her. I also told her about all my friend’s grandparents, who were survivors.
On a side note- I was in the camps during Passover. What good timing?
We left way too soon from the camp. I wanted to just wander all around. I wanted to wander through the streets in between the barracks and just sit down and think, but the tour I was on offered transportation, so I needed to go back with them.
I always pictured myself going to the camp with a bunch of Jews (like Erica did), but instead I went with a bunch of Scotsmen. It was probably a much different experience between the two of us and it just makes me want to go back and see if I feel anything new from a different tour.
I ended up buying a book from the Auschwitz bookstore about a Jewish man, who worked as Josef Mengele’s assistant. I wanted to support the bookstore and I just have a weird/unhealthy obsession with Mengele. I just can’t seem to wrap my mind around the complete abuse of medicine and power. I have read many books on the man and I just am captivated by his evil, it is almost sickening. I am halfway through the book and it is very well written. It is no literary success, but a good scientific write up of the happenings through the camp. I am considering reading a book next about a gynecologist in the camp that willfully aborted babies to save the mother’s lives.
When we got back to the hostel, Shay and I just decompressed and went to bed. We kind of just wanted to be alone, which we granted each other.
April 10
In the morning, Shay and I took a bus 20 minutes out of the city to the Wieliczka Salt Mines. We had to walk down 57 flights of stairs to get to the bottom. Basically the salt mines are a small city. In the two hour tour, we only saw 1% of the mines. The layout of the bottom layer of the mines are not even known to the public since it his a hideout for the government just in case of a nuclear war! In the mines, you get to see the chapels and different statues. EVERYTHING in the mine is made out of salt. The statues, the chandeliers, the floor, the walls, etc. I licked the walls…and it was super salty. Everyone made the joke that the next time they came down they would bring tequila!
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| A salt church with the salt crystal chandelier |
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| Salt Statues |
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| Salt Statues |
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| Salt ball room |
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| Salt Chapel |
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| Salt carving on the Last Supper |
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| Salt crystal chandelier! |
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| Salt crystal chandelier |
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| A salt statue of the best Pope John Paul II |
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| The salt mine is one of the original 12 UNESCO sites! |
The tour guide was really awesome and hilarious. A fun tidbit of knowledge we learned was that during WWII, the Nazi’s tried to use the salt mines as a nuclear power plant. They would send down prisoners of war to work on the bombs and stuff, but since they were resistance fighters, they all screwed around with the equipment and prolonged the work. The war ended before any of the equipment was ever finished, so Poland just acquired a lot of useful materials! After the tour, I learned that a good friend from home (for those who know him, Matan)’s grandfather worked in the mines in the nuclear power plant during the Holocaust. Just another personal story to make the tour that more meaningful!
Also, side note- we took an elevator back UP the mines. No way I was walking up 57 flights!!
After the tour, we headed back into the city. Shay and I wandered back into the Jewish Quarter so I could explore the remuh synagogue and cementary. The remuh synagogue is a still working orthodox synagogue in Krakow. The Nazis did not ransack it so it is still in pristine condition. The cemetery had an interesting story behind it too. A famous Talmudic scholar, Rabbi Moses Isserles, is buried in the cemetery. A lot of orthodox people come to visit his grave. During WWII, the Nazis wanted to destroy his grave/tombstone. When they got to the Remuh cemetery, they found it covered in trash! It was so trashed that they couldn’t even enter it and never had the chance to destroy it. Also, a tree and its roots covered the grave so it remained well hidden during the war. Now it was fully restored and many people still come to visit it. The cemetery had such old graves and holds great history.
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| Inside Remuh Synagogue |
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| Remuh Cemetery |
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| Remuh Cemetery |
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| Remuh Cemetery |
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| The new wall is made up of destroyed graves |
We then had dinner in the hostel. At night, Shay wanted to go vodka tasting. I had zero desire to try anything, but I still went out with her to the “wodka bar.” There she tried so many different flavors such as honey, hazelnut, and grass?! By the faces she made, I don’t know how much she enjoyed the grass flavored one. We then proceeded to go to bed!
April 11
Shay woke up early since she was catching a flight back to London. Me on the other hand, got to sleep in and relax a little. I woke up with Shay already gone. I had a hostel breakfast and then wandered around the city. The extreme temperature changes were crazy. It had been SNOWING days before and now it was around 65 degrees! I walked around the Krakow Gardens and then took the train to the airport where I was catching my flight to Berlin to meet up with my friend from high school! I had a huge layover in Warsaw, but it allowed me to rest and get some lunch.
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| My final day in Krakow. |
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| My final day in Krakow. |
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| My final day in Krakow. |
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| My final day in Krakow. |
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| My final day in Krakow. |
Overall, I really loved Poland. It is extremely difficult to put my finger on what it was about the city that attracted me to it. I have always been enchanted with Eastern Europe and I was not let down by Krakow. The city was well preserved and felt old. While almost no one spoke English there, I felt comfortable walking around. I have always been obsessed with Jewish heritage and Krakow offers that. I have little Polish ancestry in me, but I still felt some weird bond with the city. Maybe I’m crazy and maybe it’s all in my head. I know I really really want to go back to Poland. I just want to go to all the cities and see the countryside. Maybe when I go back to Poland, I’ll also hit up Romania and Ukraine (where I can REALLY trace my roots!!!). I would’ve gone there this trip, but no one would accompany me! I’ll try to convince my sisters to go with me next time ;)
Lastly, I just wanted to give a shout-out to our hostel! Greg&Toms Hostel was not the most high tech place we stayed, but it was definitely the friendliest. The hostel basically feels like one big apartment. You have 'family' dinners and you become really close with the other people in the hostel. Even the receptionist people were awesome and learned our names! The hostel also helps you book tours for Auschwitz and stuff, making your stay super easy. One really interesting person we met was this guy from Hawaii. He was going on an 18 month trip around the world! He quit his job and sold his apartment! He was 40 days in and seemed to be loving it. He said he was mostly traveling by himself, but loved meeting people along the way. He also said he would be spending most of his time in Asia and South America. We wished him well with his journey...now THAT is a trip of a lifetime!
New Addition: After going to Auschwitz, these youtube clips just hit home.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHM__a27XV4
and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJe0uqVGZJA&feature=relmfu
Newer Addition: I previously posted that I thought I had no Polish ancestery. Well, my poppop just e-mailed me to inform me that I actually do! Well a very far removed ancestery. My great, great, great grandmother on my mom's side was from Poland. Her name was Annie! One of these days, I really need to do a family tree. I really know little about my distant past...
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