Traveling Seminar to Poland
One big happy family: the JS and CES crew in Krakow's Old Town Square at night.
Bright and early Thursday morning, Jewish Studies and Central European studies met on a coach bus and took an eight hour drive to Krakow. Most of us enjoyed some sleep, reading, movies and music in anticipation of our exciting nine day trip throughout Poland. Upon arrival, we checked into our hotel, got ourselves settled, and then reconvened for what our program director Jarka likes to call our “funny city tour”. A great tour guide took us around Krakow’s old town and pointed out some interesting sites and funny anecdotes. I keep realizing how much my time with CET is teaching me, and one great example was on our tour. The ground in Old Town Square and throughout the side streets of Krakow is uneven, and it turns out this is because, as businesses began to grow and streets needed to be more functional, they would repave. However, they would just pave over parts that needed work, making some areas higher than others. I found this so interesting, especially because we found ourselves having to step or stoop down to enter shops and restaurants throughout the city. I will always think of this reason when I see uneven roads now!
Our Jewish tour of Krakow was fascinating. We saw the remaining part of the ghetto wall, many places where Schindler’s List filmed, and many other interesting sites. The Krakow Ghetto memorial installation was interesting- it is a lot of weathered-looking chairs lined up around what was the deportation square, to symbolize waiting to be sent to concentration and death camps. Some of the chairs are in the tram stop and everyday people use them while waiting for their trams. This integration into everyday life events makes the memorial that much more meaningful in my eyes, forgetting is not an option when it is a part of your everyday life.
Dora and crew: The survivor who shared her story with us after our meeting with her.
We went to Shabbat on Friday and met two very cool people. One was the director of the Krakow JCC, who gave us a great overview of how much Krakow’s Jewish community is growing and how it is thriving in culture, education, and practice. The center was beautiful, and the joy of Jewish life exhibited there is so different from what I had heard about Poland’s Jewish population, especially because I was under the impression that the community was so small. It is in fact larger than I thought, but a number cannot really be named- the face of the Jewish population is rapidly changing and more and more people are embracing their previously suppressed Jewish identity. The other great encounter was Dora, a survivor of Auschwitz-Birkenau, who simply plopped down behind us in synagogue and asked us if we had a survivor, if we wanted to hear her story, and when she could tell us. Just like that, the day before our Auschwitz trip, we were able to hear a survivor’s story! She is 90 years old, which her demeanor and vitality would never have led us to believe. We did a little rearranging of our schedule and got to hear her story.
We loved all of the different tours and activities in Krakow and spent our free time really bonding as a group. We were glad to have a few more days together and to experience Auschwitz as a group before CES broke off to see some more of the Czech Republic on their way to Vienna as we headed to Warsaw.
Central European Students Take on Central Europe
The most exhausting and exhilarating week of our program came and went faster than I could’ve imagined. I had my doubts. All of my friends were planning their own Spring Breaks, mixing and matching cities from all over (Paris to Barcelona to Rome), and seeing friends from high school or college. But this trip was well worth it. We went from Prague to Krakow to Auschwitz to Brno to Mikulov toVienna, and then finally back home to our apartments.
We began boarding the buses at 6:00am for an eight hour-long bus ride to Krakow, still reeling from midterms stealing our sleep. And when we arrived, we jumped straight into a tour. The weather was fantastic—warmer than it had been in a long time—so we enjoyed the tour, starting in a city square with a huge floral market in the middle and a man picking Spanish guitar songs next to us. We passed a street with about ten churches on it. Our tour guide informed us of the old rivalries between rich families that led them to constantly build newer and “better” churches than others around them. Krakowwas crawling with churches. We also had the privilege of hearing a lecture about the Righteous Among Nations and seeing the Schindler Factory, which had an oddly small amount of information on Schindler himself.
We continued on to Auschwitz-Birkenau, walking through both concentration camps on a guided tour. Our tour guide was incredibly well informed, speaking to us quietly through headsets so not to disturb the solemn atmosphere or to interrupt others’ time there. We walked around, hearing all different languages and a couple of groups that held Israeli flags. It was a very odd experience for me, making for something I am still somewhat processing. But truly, whatever I say about the scenery or my thoughts on Auschwitz, it will not do it justice. It is something that you really have to experience for yourself.
Brno and Mikulov were quicker stops along the way. Brno was a bustling city. We visited the castle at the perfect time, hearing the bells play a rendition of Ode to Joy. We went to a bar near the hotel for dinner that night, and had great beer and a good dinner. The next day we bussed over to Mikulov. My next blog entry will describe our short trip there. Somehow in less than a day Mikulov managed to wow our entire group. It’s easily one of my favorite cities in all of Europe.
And finally,Vienna, the powerhouse of our trip. Our final three days were spent touring and taking inVienna. We listened to several lectures outlining the art history and contemporary history of the region, ate our way through Naschmarkt (which had fantastic gyros), and had free time to explore on our own. We passed grassy areas flanked by bright white columned-buildings. During free time, I went with several others up to the top of St. Stephen’s Cathedral, which honestly did not do the city justice but was fun, and later ate waffles at the Easter Market in front of Schonbrunn Palace, enjoying the verdant palace grounds as long as possible before the rain broke through the sunny day.
Traveling Seminar to Oswiecim
Concentration Camp Auschwitz II - Birkenau
Our time in Polandwas dominated by our trip to the town of Oswiecim, or in German, Auschwitz. We spent and entire day touring both Auschwitz and Birkenau. Even though they were connected, these two parts of the camps had much different impacts on me. We began by walking through barracks of the camp which have been converted into exhibits to inform visiters about the deportation process and the camp lives of the victims. Some blocks only had informative plaques and others had possessions of the victims such as shoes or the enormous pile of hair which was shaved off the heads of prisoners upon arrival. The most moving section to me was a long hallway with pictures of prisoners including their names, professions, and dates of death and birth. The end of this hallway held a room dedicated to the medical experiments preformed on the prisoners, especially children. This is a section of the camp’s history that I didn’t know much about, probably because schools shy away from its graphic nature. In any case, looking at the gruesome photos was almost unbearable. It was very difficult to try to comprehend and come to terms with what has happened in those rooms. Walking around the grounds on a sunny day as the leaves were changing colors seemed so strange and far away from the events of the past yet in other ways there was an impossibility of forgetting.
Birkenau was comparatively enormous and desolate. Where as Auschwitz had red brick buildings and trees, Birkenau was colorless and even a bit foggy. Even the sparse patches of grass were grey. The blocks which are still standing at the camp are more or less preserved and so they were incredibly chilling. In Auschwitz I felt more like I was learning the history of a horrible event but in Birkenau there was no information to absorb but a lot of emotions to attempt to come to terms with.
Trip to Poland
Krakow:
Krakow at night
I arrived in Krakow on Thursday afternoon just as the sun was beginning to set over the city. It was cold- the first truly frigid afternoon since I have been in Europe. I could feel winter in the air. There was something so charming about Krakow at dusk. We went on a walking tour at the perfect hour- the castles looked even more beautiful with a dark blue sky and a bright moon as the backdrop.
Some people refer to Krakow as a “mini Prague,” and I can see why. Krakow is smaller than Prague, but there are similar forms of public transportation and familiar small, narrow, windy streets. I learned the stereotype that Prague is known for caring more about repairing the exterior of buildings than the outer appearance of people, in terms of fashion, while Krakow has opposite priorities. The stereotype seems to be true! Poles (the ones in Krakow, anyway) have very stylish clothing- and many of the buildings do look run down and in need of repair.
I am amazed how many Polish words I can understand from my limited knowledge of Czech. Polish is a much harder language (or so it seems)- there are extra letters and sounds. Czech seems to be a more modern version of Polish. Many of the extra Polish letters have been condensed in Czech into accent marks. It has been exciting being able to pick out pieces of a sentence in Polish just from knowing some basic Czech!
The "Rema" synagogue in Krakow
On Friday we went on an extensive tour of the Jewish Quarter called Kazimierz, named after the Polish king Casimir III the Great (or in Polish, Kazimierz). Beginning in the 12th century, King Kazimierz was afraid that the Christians would begin to persecute the Jews, so he gave them a gift: their own district. Why was this Catholic king so kind to the Jews, you might ask? Well, King Kazimierz had a Jewish mistress whom he loved very much and they had two sons together. It is said that the king would do anything for her, so he decided to do everything in his power to make sure the Jews lived comfortably. There are seven synagogues in Kazimierz, but only one is in use today simply because there are not enough Jews to fill the synagogues. Many of the members of the Jewish community are Holocaust survivors or second generation survivors and many of the younger members are in the process of conversion. It is unknown how many Jews live in Krakow today because many of them live hidden lives. With the fear of history repeating itself, many do not acknowledge their Judaism, and many do not know they are Jewish. There are many priests and nuns who are, in fact, Jewish. As of recent months, one kosher bakery has opened and one shochet (kosher slaughterer) has moved to Krakow. The goods produced from these sources are sporadic, catering to the tiny population who actually request kosher food. Kosher food is quite expensive, but the Jewish community is working hard to accommodate all of its members.
Ghetto and deportation monument in Krakow
Although there is little anti-Semitic physical violence in Krakow, Poles still have the tendency to care about what others think and still speak cruelly about one another in private. This hatred stems from ignorance, lack of knowledge, and even jealousy.
We met with a survivor of Mauthausen named Josef Rasolowski who was put in the camp for his participation in the Warsaw uprising in 1941. Rasolowski is not Jewish- he is an example of a Pole who was also oppressed by the Nazi regime. His main message to us as students of our generation is to work towards combatting evil with love and kindness. We have the responsibility to make sure we take seriously our roles as witnesses to ensure that history does not repeat itself. After his liberation, he took an oath with the other political prisoners that they would dedicate their lives to spreading the truth about what happened to them during the war. His meeting with us is part of his effort to keep his oath alive.
Oswiecim:
Main Gate to Auschwitz "Work Will Make You Free"
We spent Sunday night in the town of Oswiecim (also known in German as Auschwitz) at the International Youth Meeting Center that promotes Polish-German reconciliation and Jewish-Christian dialogue. Before WWII, Jews actually made up 50% of the town of Oswiecim. With the rise of communism in the early 1950′s the remaining Jews fled from the town- today, there are no Jews left. We visited the Museum of Jewish life and listened to testimonies from Jews who grew up in Oswiecim. They spoke fondly about their childhood memories and recalled living a rich Jewish life. There were 20 synagogues, several yeshivot, a kosher butcher- a true community living among their Catholic neighbors. The Jews of Oswiecim called the town “Ushpizin” (guests) to thank the Poles who opened their doors and allowed them to live in peace. We met with Polish students who are either from Oswiecim or who go to school there. We spoke about the importance of remembering the Holocaust and how they feel living in a town that was once occupied by such horror. But we also spoke about our lives, our personal histories, our goals for the future. Before the decline of communism in Poland in 1989, the Holocaust was merely taught as a “peripheral phenomenon” in Polish schools. Oftentimes, if it were mentioned, it would be described as an exclusive attack on the Poles- focus would only be placed on Polish heroes. Poles would blame the Jews for their own suffering for not asking for help, for being passive in the face of evil. After the secularization of education in the early 90′s, the Holocaust-with emphasis on the Jews- became mandatory in the Polish education system. Our dialogue with the Polish students was proof that life- productive, meaningful life for that matter- continues on after destruction and misunderstanding. I am proud that the future lies in our hands- my faith has been reaffirmed that we will be the ones to change the world.
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