Field Trip 3: Krakow, Auschwitz, and Birkenau

           This weekend's field trip to Poland was definitely one that will stick with me forever. We not only got to go explore Krakow, but we also went to Auschwitz and Birkenau, which was definitely an experience.

           We left Friday morning to go to Krakow and got our first glimpse of the city at the salt mines. The Wieliczka Salt Mine was first built in the 13th century, and has been in operation almost continiously since it was built. Currently though, tours are the only thing that happens in the mine. It was so interesting to not only see the mines, but learn about how the salt was mined, the dangers of mining, and other random facts about salt. One thing I found very interesting is that the salt actually does not look clear until it is ground up, and it does not go through a refining or cleaning process either. Of course I had to lick the wall and taste it, as so many tourist do, and it was definitely salty! We also saw a few of the chapels they have in the mine, one of which is more of a cathedral where services are held every Sunday and is even used for weddings. After the mine, we went to the hostel, checked in, and then were free for the day. I went to the town center to find supper with a few people, and we found some amazing fish and chips. Then we returned to the hostel after a little bit more walking around and played some card games in the kitchen until pretty late at night.

           On Saturday, we went to the Wawel Royal Castle. It was built in the 14th century, but has been remodeled and altered many times in its history. While there, we visited the armory, treasury, state rooms, and royal private apartments. It was a very large beautiful castle, and I really enjoyed visiting it. After the castle, we went to the Old Town Square and talked a little bit about it before dispersing for lunch. I went with a few people to a burger place called Moaburger, and it was amazing. We had burgers the size of our heads, and they were very filling and very delicious. Then some of us met again in the square at 2 and went to Schindler's Factory. It was the factory where Oscar Schindler employed many Jews and saved them from going to concentration camps, and it has now been turned into a museum. It was interesting to not only learn more about Oscar Schindler but to also learn more about WWII from the Polish perspective, since we have mainly been learning about it from the Czech side. After the museum, we were still not that hungry, so we wandered back into town and went for some cupcakes and ice cream. Other students who had studied abroad on this trip before said the cupcakes at Cupcake Corner Bakery were the best, so we had to go try them. And believe me, they were absolutely fantastic! Once we finished with the cupcakes, we did some souvenir shopping and then headed back to the hostel for about an hour. Then about half of us went to this pub and ate some pizza and tried some flavored beer, because apparently that is a thing that it popular in Krakow. After that, we returned to the hostel and played some more cards until pretty late.

           Today, we checked out of our hostel and headed to Auschwitz for our tour of the concentration camp. It had been really good weather all weekend except for today, and it sort of seemed to set the mood for what we were going to be seeing. We started in Auschwitz 1, which was the original camp. Although it was obviously not that nice of a place, it really did not seem that scary or saddening. However, hearing about the atrocities that happened there were very hard to hear and just made me sad. The barracks that were there were all set up as museums related to different parts of the camp. One that we went into was dedicated to the things that the Nazis had taken from the people that they killed there, There were shoes, suitcases, pots and pans, combs, shoe polish, and even human hair. Another barrack showed what some of the living conditions were like. There were hundreds of pictures on the wall of people who had been killed at the camp, and in the basement, there were cells that were used for various forms of torture, like starvation for example. Unfortunately, the Nazis did not think that this first camp was efficient enough for killing people because only 1000 could be killed at one time and only 343 bodies could be cremated every 24 hours. So they decided to build Auschwitz 2, a.k.a. Birkenau. Birkenau was the real death camp of Auschwitz, and was built because of Hitler's demand to eliminate all of the Jews. It was partially destroyed after the Nazis fled about a week before the camp was liberated, but it was still very interesting to see. Unlike Auschwitz, it seemed much more solemn and saddening to me, and it just seemed so obvious that terrible things had happened there. We went inside one of the barracks where people used to live; and although it no longer had the bunks in it, I still could not imagine living in there. Then we went to one of the latrines and learned that cleaning one of them was actually one of the best jobs you could have at the camp, even though it was rather disgusting. Then we went to the third gas chamber. One of the gas chambers was destroyed by prisoners during a rebellion, but the others were blown up by the Nazis when they fled the camp. It may have just been ruins, but it was painful to even imagine the 1.1 million people that were killed in a gas chamber similar to that one. We saw the memorial to the people who died there after that, and then we left the camp.

           We just made it back to Olomouc a little after 6 our time. It was a very interesting weekend, to say the least. Although I love learning more about history, it was so difficult to visit the camps and hear about the terrible things that went on there. However, it makes me think of the quote by George Santayana that says, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." What that means to me is just because the Holocaust was one of the worst human tragedies in history, it does not mean we should forget about it. Instead, we should learn as much about it as possible so we can insure that nothing like it happens again.