Krakow, November 2010

I don't know where to begin! I apologize for having not written a blog for so long, but I will now make up for my absence :)

Krakow, Cracow, Cracovie, Krakau, Kraków... how ever you wish to spell it, is spectacular. An ancient capital now boasts an electric night life as well as a beautiful historical side. It is without a doubt one of the most beautiful cities I have ever visited, and one that you could visit a million times and never see or understand it completely. From the twisting streets, to the Jewish quarter (Kazimierz), to the underground clubs, Krakow is definitely a city worth visiting (numerous times if possible). 

Kinga and I before body-checking our way to our seats

Our trip began at 23.12 at the Poznan Główny (train station, pronounce Gwuvny, kind of). Train stations are one thing, Polish train stations are a completely different thing. Chaotic and frantic, finding the seats of 50 some odd (non-polish) people wasn't easy. We had reserved seats, but people were sitting in them.  We had so many seats in a compartment (6) and they were split throughout wagon 14, and 7 seats in 2nd class. I would highly recommend travelling first class for an overnight train though... Hat's off to Paulina, the main ESN member during the trip... it wasn't easy, but she did an absolutely amazing job! It took probably an hour for us to finally get seated, and everyone was all mixed up. Throughout the 7.5 hour train ride I slept about 45 minutes; excitement and lack of room kept me up, but some needed sleep more than me anyway. 

We arrived in Krakow at approximately 6.45 and set off to the hostel. Once there we settled down for breakfast and a quick nap. We then saw the city. 

Day One

St. Mary's 

Like I said, Krakow is amazing, and my pictures do no justice. It seems like all Polish history originated, passed through or ended in Krakow. The weather wasn't exactly in our favor, but it didn't snow, which was a bonus! We began where all tours should, in the Rynek, or Market. Here we found St. Mary's Church (Basilica), Cloth Hall, and more. We then set off towards what I think was a monastery... but Jan Pawel (Pope John Paul) visited it... and you can buy pope coins... We then saw the courtyard of the University, unfortunately, throughout the whole tour, I had difficulties hearing the guide, so my information about what we saw is limited. Shortly after seeing the University we passed by Wawel (Vavel) Castle. This is one thing I want to go back to Krakow and explore more throughly. The exterior was amazing, and you got a good view of the city itself. Because we just went on a short tour, and like I said, I couldn't hear the guide, I don't have any information about the castle. Here is a link to the castle's website: http://www.wawel.krakow.pl/en/index.php?op=3, if you are looking for more information. The castle dates back hundreds of years; the first historical leader of Poland; Meiszko I and his successors used Wawel as one of their residences. Wawel has also become the final resting place of numerous leaders and national heroes from Poland. Due to the war, many priceless artifacts, works of art, ect. were taken from Wawel.Some made their way to Canada, actually, and were returned after the war. During the war, Hans Frank, the German Governor General at the time lived there. The legend of the founding of Krakow also revolves around this castle, and the dragon Smok Wawelski. 

Smok Wawelski

"A popular version of the Wawel Dragon tale takes place in Kraków during the reign of king Krakus, the city's legendary founder. Each day the evil dragon would beat a path of destruction across the countryside, killing people, pillaging their homes and devouring their livestock. In many versions of this story, the dragon especially enjoyed eating young girls, and could only be appeased if the townfolk would leave a young girl in front of his cave once a month. The King certainly wanted to put a stop to that awful situation, but his bravest knights fell to the dragon's fiery breath. In the versions involving the sacrifice of young girls, every girl in the city was eventually sacrificed except one, the King's daughter Wanda. In desperation, the King promised his beautiful daughter's hand in marriage to anybody who could defeat the dragon. Great warriors from near and far fought for the prize and failed. One day, a poor cobbler's apprentice named Dratewka accepted the challenge. He stuffed a lamb with sulphur and set it outside the dragon's cave. The dragon ate it and soon became incredibly thirsty. No amount of water could quell his stomach ache, and after swelling up from drinking half of the Vistula river, he exploded. The apprentice married the King's daughter as promised and they lived happily ever after."

Scene from Schindler's List

Schindler's List is an outstanding film, and everyone (who can handle it) must watch it. This man was a real person who managed to save over 1,000 Jew from death camps by providing work for them. Steven Spielberg was the director of the film, and we walked through the streets in which it was shot. The movie is not easy to watch, and it will not leave you which "good feelings" but it allows us, especially living in Canada, to get a bigger picture of what happened during the war. 

We visited the "Jewish Quarter" or Kazimierz. By 1630 over 4,500 Jews in Diaspora lived and worked in Kazimierz. There are some doors where you can still see Mezuzah marks on the frames. A Mezuzah is a decorative kind of box that holds a specific piece of the Hebrew Torah and is touched as one passes through the door. 

I am sure I have missed a few steps there, but eventually we returned to the market, just as the bugler was playing from the top windows of St. Mary's... so that was kind of nifty. Everyone was absolutely exhausted, and we made our way back to the hostel to nap and prepare for the night!!

Selin and I 

on tram! 

Of course I slept in, and had, give-or-take, 10 minutes to prepare for the party that night. You know how at home we rent party-buses, or limos? Here there are party TRAMS. ESN Krakow has this thing set up, and you rent A WHOLE TRAM for 2 or so hours, with a DJ, and you just cruise around... drinking and dancing. It is WITHOUT a doubt that is the most fun I have had on a tram yet! When the tram dropped us off we had... a bit of walking to a club. It was fun as well! And close to the hostel (we of course managed to get lost) and that was the first day/night in Krakow!

Day Two 

"Work will make you free"

The next day was a difficult one. We visited the Auschwitz death camp outside of Krakow. In 1940 the Nazis opened the camp. There were actually three camps under the name Auschwitz. There is Auschwitz I, Auschwitz II-Birkenau, and Auschwitz III-Monowitz. Initially there were only Poles in the camp, but in 1942 they were joined by Soviet POW's, Roma (Gypsies), and Jews. The majority of Jews that were sent to Auschwitz were immediately directed to the Birkenau gas chambers. Elderly people, pregnant women and children composed most of the populations sent directly to the gas chambers. It is estimated that 1,100,000 Jews were sent to the camp, 150,000 Poles, 23,000 Roma, 15,000 Soviet POW's, and OVER 10,000 prisoners from other countries. The Gate to Auschwitz I reads: "Arbeit macht frei", or "Work will make you free". Walking under the gate it was almost like you could sense just how much wrong had happened behind the barbed wire fences. Auschwitz camp itself was originally Polish army barracks, the Germans just took over the buildings when they took the surrounding country side and towns. 

Electrified barbed wire fences

When prisoners stepped off the train, after 5-7 days of travelling without food, water, or sanitation, they were met on the platform by the camp doctor. There he would send them right or left, essentially, life, or death. 70-75% of people stepped off the trains, and into gas chambers. In the chambers Zyklon-B was dumped through the chimneys. Within 20 minutes 340-2,000 people were dead (depending on which camp they were sent to). After the gas, the bodies were picked over and the heads shaved to be burned in the crematorium. These people didn't even know what was happening. They were told that after there long train ride they were going to get a shower. There were 2 rooms in the gas chamber. One was the "Undressing Room", men, women, girls, boys, babies, elderly... they were all forced to strip together and leave their clothes for collection (and ultimately re-sale). They were then all forced into the chamber, and the door was locked. It was then that the Zyklon-B was poured in, killing everyone in the room.

 The Auschwitz Museum is set up in the actual barracks, where these people were stored like cattle. We saw photos of people getting off the trains after having to pack up anything that mattered to them in 20 minutes, in one suitcase. There were 2 rooms in the camp that all valuable items would go into. It was called the "So-Called-Canada" which, our guide told us, symbolized hope or opportunity. Soldiers would take possession of the bags and toss them in a pile, to be gone through later. In one room there was a whole display case... and I mean a display case bigger than my room, full of human hair. The hair was shaved off every prisoner, dead or alive, and used to make fabric. Fabric that lined the uniforms was made out of human hair, humans wore this. It's like cannibalism; sick and unnecessary. The army sold the hair to factories, and profited off the sales. There was another display full of glasses, like spectacles, the glasses of any value had been sold, of course. One was full of shoes, not leather, because those were sold; one was full of prosthetic limbs. Another display held only suitcases, all of dead prisoners. The guide told us a story of one of the cases. A man came to see the museum, a former victim of the camp. He was going through and was told that the cases belonged to people who had been killed in the camp. It was then that he recognized his own case. With his name, and arrival date at the camp, but he survived. 

Display of glasses

Up until about this point, I was doing ok... not great but ok. My eyes were dry and I could digest the information to remember it later. But when our guide spoke of the children, and what happened to them, I had to take my headset off, compose myself, and put it back on. 1.5 million children are estimated to have died in Auschwitz, but that is a rough estimate because at the beginning every child was sent directly to the gas chambers. It wasn't until the end, when Nazis were saving gas, and needing small hands, were any children saved, if that is what you want to call it. These children did nothing wrong, besides being born in the wrong place, at the wrong time, and into the wrong religion. They could never have known what life has to offer, because they never had the opportunity. It still sickens me. Children are too special and innocent to be murder amidst strangers... for no one to ever know them, everyone that loved them either dying with them, or bound to die within months, sometimes days. It was the display with baby booties, and clothing small enough for a 2 year old that my eyes grew wet, and stomach turned. 

The hallway outside was lined with photos of prisoners, all of which perished at Auschwitz. Men, women, young men and women. The next room was the room I couldn't enter. Prisoners were tattooed with numbers and symbols. Each symbol displaying why they were there, political, Jew, political Jew... you get the idea? I kept my headset on... thinking I at least owe these people enough to listen to their story, even if I couldn't look at their faces. 

There were kids in the camp being punished because their parents were politically active. These kids were 16 or younger. My sister is 16... her friends are worried about getting their hair done, or their first car. Not about surviving the night, freezing, and wondering if and when their next meal would come. Kids shouldn't have to worry like that. They should be playing in the sun, laughing, and getting sick off too much candy... It was the stories of children that burn in my memory, and I honestly hope, will forever remain that way. We... I don't appreciate just having the freedom to... do anything! Move to Poland... see the world, drink a beer... you know? It was hearing the stories of these children never even given the opportunity to think of doing the things I have done, that really made Auschwitz a reality to me. 

We moved on to the next barrack, which specialized in torture. There was the dark cell, no light and no air, which led to suffocation. There was the hunger cell, starvation took hold quickly when malnourished prisoners were punished. Then the guide said the last one was the worst. There was a small, hallow column, with a small hole at ground level. People were forced to crawl through this hole, and were packed into this column, with no room to sit. They had to stand all night long, work the next day, and stand all night long again. Death by exhausted soon occurred.  

The night after Auschwitz we went out, again! The club was underground (like most seem to be here) and was… ok. But after the day we had I don’t know how many people really felt like going out, but we toughed it out for a little bit but then decided to turn home. Selin and I really didn’t have a ton to drink, but it was without a doubt one of the best walks home I have ever had. We were just running around Krakow, jumping off stuff, I was just… fun J.

Day Three

underground chapel 

The next day we visited the salt mine; Wieliczka. Wieliczka was amazing! There was an underground chapel (Chapel of St. Kinga) and the whole trip was through an 2,000 meter underground museum. Wieliczka  was originally one of Poland’s most productive salt mines dating back over 900 years. It used to be one of the world's biggest and most profitable industrial establishments when common salt was commercially a medieval equivalent of today's oil. Throughout the whole tour (which took roughly 3 hours) we were constantly going farther underground, the deepest point being 135 meters, but the mine’s depth exceeds 300 meters. It is actually a UNESCO World Heritage Site as well, I believe. (Or at least entered in the register?)

Rynek by night

Following our trip to Wieliczka we had some free time in the market, then caught the train home J

best soup EVER

skyline

Overall, the Krakow and Auschwitz trip was a fantastic, memorable experience. The city and the museums is something/somewhere that everyone should have the opportunity to visit. The experience allowed me to learn, and be inspired to learn more, about the history behind Poland and the people that inhabit the country I now live in. Although my stay in Poland is temporary, the things I have learned here, and the people I have met and those that have supported me in this experience, will always be influence my actions and thoughts.
xoxo From Poland