Our European Adventure, Day 9

Today went surprisingly smooth. Shortly before seven we boarded our train in Warsaw after Madeline noticed we were waiting on the wrong platform. We were able to get to the right one at the same time our train pulled in and joined our two Polish-speaking cabinmates. After sleeping most of the train ride, one of the girls was able to indicate the correct station in Krakow where we were supposed to get off.

A free cookie we received on the morning train

The Krakow station was under construction, but we easily navigated our way to the bus station and, after getting directions to the proper bay, we located a bus to take us to Oswiecim and at a rate cheaper than I had planned.

Following the eighty minute, 10 zloty bus ride, we ambled through Auschwitz's parking lot and were able to eat our prepacked lunches in the cafeteria. We then purchased an English-guided tour in the camp office and stored our luggage.

The Polish countryside from our bus window

The guide led us through Auschwitz I, explaining that Auschwitz is actually just the German name for the Polish town of Oswiecim. She informed us that the camp's first prisoners were the Polish individuals who lived in the wrong place at the wrong time. These people and the captured Jews were forced to build the second camp, Auschwitz-Birkenau II, nearby.

While being guided through the camp, we saw various bunkers that had been turned into exhibits showcasing things such as the human hair collected from prisoners to be used in German trade as well as bunkers in their original form. We were also able to tour the reconstructed gas chambers in the first camp.

Inside Auschwitz I

A collection of shoes from Auschwitz prisoners, held in Canada I (the collection point for belongings)

The gate to the camp

A gate to Auschwitz-Birkenau II

"The gate it like a mouth ready to swallow the prisoners, so menacing and eerie," Madeline Miguel.

 The visit was emotionally taxing and the 1.3km walk back to the train station was a welcome relief from the sights and smells of the camp.

As our last meal in Poland, we were able to dine at a nice Polish restaurant called the Scorpion. The menu had meals such as steak and salmon at rock bottom prices, so we made sure to order the fancy meal that we haven't been able to afford in previous destinations. We even went for the specialty desert -- The Scorpion.

Salmon at dinner

Our steak dinner

The flaming Scorpion deserts we ordered

After dinner, we killed time in the small, cold train station (all of South Poland seems really cold for that matter) before boarding our 11:31pm train to Prague.

Our European Adventure, Day 8

This morning we got up fairly early so that we could walk around Warsaw and find some of the remnants of its lively Jewish past. Before World War II, Warsaw was approximately 10% Jewish - one of the highest concentrations of Jews in Europe.

We started the day off at the Jewish Historical Institute where we were able to see a movie detailiing the Jewish sufferings within the Warsaw Ghetto. The ghetto was decimated following its liberation, but during its time, hundreds of Jews died each month, mainly from starvation or yellow fever. After viewing the video, we were able to walk around the museum and look at memoriabilia and artwork that has been donated to the organization.

The inside of a mock synagogue in the Jewish Historical Institute

After leaving, we walked to old Warsaw. This part of the city is technically not much older than the rest because nearly all of Warsaw was torn apart during the war, but it was rebuilt to pre-war standards and looks very much like a picturesque European city. We dined near the river at a small outdoor restaurant on the tourist strip that served a variety of pasta, soup, and breakfast foods. Following the meal, we stopped in the tourist information center to purchase souveneirs in the local currency, zloty.

Madeline inside a church near old Warsaw

Our Polish lunch - ham and cheese toast

We strolled around this part of the city and its small alleyways and courtyards for about an hour because we thought we were getting closer to our next destination, the Jewish Cemetary. However, it turned out we were on the other side of town. When we finally located the cemetary, we each paid the entrance fee and were able to wander around a cemetary overloaded with gravestones. Matt noticed that a large amount of the gravestones in one section would all be from the same family and they would all have the same, or about the same, death date - during World War II. It was an awful realization and a very sobering place to spend the afternoon.

Old Warsaw

Me at the Jewish Cemetary

All of the gravestones were packed close together

After the graveyard was thoroughly explored, we strolled down the street to visit the memorial of Umschlagplatz - the sight where Jews were gathered to be shuttled like cattle to Treblinka, a nearby extermination camp. Many prisoners inside the Warsaw ghetto met this fate because the Nazis offered food rewards to Jewish volunteers willing to be transferred to the site.

We attempted to find the site of Mila 18 afterward, but were unable to locate the monument commemorating those who died in the bunker under the house located at Mila 18 during the Warsaw Uprising of World War II. Since we couldn't ask for directions to the monument as most people we encountered today did not speak English, we headed back to the train station near our hotel to purchase groceries for tomorrow's lunch and then the hotel for a little rest before dinner.

We ate a restaurant inside the train station called Il Patio and followed the meal up with some ice cream from a stand outside the restaurant before heading back to the hotel. Tomorrow we have to get up early to catch our train, so we're calling it an early night.

Our European Adventure, Day 7

Today we spent the majority of our day on a five hour train ride across Poland to Warsaw. This morning we woke up in time to check out of the hotel and go on a Jewish Life Walking tour.

Our guide, Heather, took us around the Jewish Quarter and showed us remnants and monuments that have been built in an attempt to explain German life in East Berlin. First, we were shown the remaining foundation of the first synagogue built in Berlin. After being saved during Hitler's reign because the Jews had built a new synagogue across town and sold their old temple to the government for use as a post office, the building was decimated during a bombing. Also near the site was a monument commemorating the site of the Jewish community center and representing the women's protest.

The foundation of the first synagogue in Berlin

Monument for the women's protest

We walked across town and went to the museum of Otto Weidt's workshop for the blind. Weidt was a prominent figure in Berlin during World War II because he did his best to employ Jewish individuals who were either deaf or blind in his workshop. He also aided them when they needed to go into hiding and even managed to help some of his Jewish contacts escape from concentration camps after his workshop was raided. Outside the museum was a small courtyard that is famous for its graffiti and we were able to take a few pictures of the artwork.

A full view of the courtyard entrance

Next we visited a Jewish cemetery that had been destroyed during World War II and the headstones were used to build walls and other buildings during the war. In the cemetery, there is a gravestone (even though he isn't buried there) for MM who is considered the Socrates of Germany. He managed the reform the German practice of Judaism by aiding Jews to acclimate in Jewish society and be both Germans and Jews. He also encouraged synagogues to convert the torah to the local language so both versions would be available to those studying it. In front of the cemetery there used to be a Jewish retirement home that was also destroyed and now a plaque is the only thing left in its place.

The only gravestones remaining in the cemetery

To finish out the tour, we saw a part of the stepping stone project that is taking place across Europe. Each set of five stones cost 95 euros to sponsor for research, construction, and travel. The purpose of the stones is to provide a remnant of the Holocaust that can come about during daily life. Each piece of the project includes information on five individuals who were murdered during the Holocaust, typically their name, where they lived, and the birth and death dates are listed. We also saw the outside of a Catholic hospital where a doctor who helped the Jews by forging death certificates for them before they went into hiding worked. Unfortunately, we had to leave the tour at that point because it started to pour and we had to get to the train station.

The stepping stone project

We ate our packed lunches quickly when we got back to the hotel and took our bags to the train station where we were able to get our Poland passes validated. We did much better on time today and had time to both purchase a meal for the train ride and do a little shopping.

During the train ride we slept, ate, and played cards. At the beginning of the ride, we were also fortunate enough to have the opportunity to talk with a 24-year-old German who attempted to explain their education system to us. It was an interesting experience and sad to wave goodbye to him when his mother and him left the train shortly after we arrived in Poland.

Our cabin on the "wagon" (German for coach)

Once we arrived in Warsaw, we struggled to find anyone who spoke English and could direct us to the Holiday Inn that we’re staying in, but thankfully, after not too long we were able to find a map and realized the hotel was right outside the train station if we only went the opposite way that we had already tried. I checked us in and was able to pick up the package containing our now sole credit card. It’s a good thing too because otherwise they were going to charge us a 200zl deposit for any possible damages to the room and we definitely didn’t have that.

Our rooms and hotel is really nice, but it’s weird the further we get away from large groups of English speaking people. From what I’ve heard though, we should be able to find people who speak some English if we ask those we see who look to be in their twenties. Hopefully it’ll work out for us.

Updated Itinerary

Here's an updated itinerary for the Holocaust trip this August:

August 2: Depart United States
August 3-5: Amsterdam, Netherlands
August 6-8: Berlin, Germany
August 8-9: Warsaw, Poland
August 10: Oswiecim, Poland
August 11-12: Prague, Czech Republic
August 13-15: Munich, Germany
August 16: Amsterdam, Netherlands
August 17: Return to United States

In Wait

Just spent another thirty minutes of my life on hold with Rail Europe. I still haven't received my seat reservations. It's been more than two weeks! Apparently they're still waiting to make the reservation for Warsaw to Krakow. I don't understand how I can be so into planning ahead while still being Polish, the two things seem to contradict each other.