Krakow

May 8th through the 12th we had a 5-day weekend. So a couple friends of mine - Kendra and Alison - decided to go to Krakow, Poland.

We left Thursday, May 8 at 8 a.m. and planned to arrive around 5 p.m. in Krakow. Our journey began in Bratislava, then we took a train to Breclav, Czech Republic, then another train to Katowice, Poland, then another train to Krakow.

We had an hour and a half layover in Breclav, the highlight being the statue of a head.

In Katowice, we had another layover, so we walked around the city and the girls had a cup of coffee. The train station in Katowice is rather confusing as we found out on Sunday. We nearly missed our train going to Krakow because the platforms did not say which direction was which.

Finally around 5 p.m. we arrived in Krakow. We miraciously found our hostel without getting lost. This is a huge improvement for me. The hostel was called "Mama's Hostel" and, naturally, staying at this establishment called for some "Yo mama" jokes.

That evening, we walked around the Old Town, attempted to see the castle, and found ourselves in an dark, empty church with violins practicing in the backroom. The Old Town was an old town. They are hard to describe - open squares, lots of people, historical buildings. In the church, a radius was on display in a glass box. I could not figure out whose radius this was, but I had never seen a relic before, so this was rather exciting.

The next morning we took a bus outside Krakow to the famous salt mines. We saw many brochures for tours of the salt mines and rides to and from the site. These brochures made it seem as if it was difficult to find on your own. Nevertheless, we found a public bus that took us to the mines and paid for a tour in person and saved $25. So, a word of advice: brochures make trips seem difficult on your own, but they aren't.

Upon arriving at the 700-year-old salt mines, we had to walk down 378 steps. The most fascinating thing about the salt mine was the chapels and cathedral. Miners (the guide said on their free time, which I am skeptical about) carved out an extravagant cathedral with a replica of Da Vinci's Last Supper and a salt statue of Pope John Paul II. Though I am not sure how often this cathedral holds mass, weddings take place here frequently. Also, 100 meters below the Earth's surface was a bar and restaurant. Just before leaving the mine, I decided to taste the salt by licking the walls. Yup, it was salty.

The previous night, I did not sleep well because some girls that were staying in our room thought turning on the light and using their outside voices was acceptable. I hoped to sleep before this night; however, around 4 a.m., I realized this would not happen. We stayed in an eight-person dorm, and we occupied three of the beds. Five other people would go out just as we were going to bed and each would return on the hour starting at 1 a.m. Each person would take at least thirty minutes to stop walking around the room, turning on the light, and walking around the room.

The next morning, tired from a night of annoying college girls coming and going in the wee hours of the morning, we took a bus to Auschwitz.

We saw Auschwitz I first where we received an English tour. The guide took us into different buildings to show us artifacts and where people were shot, hanged, and imprisoned. Though I enjoyed hearing stories from the guide, I wished we had more time to look at displays. In one of the buildings, there are displays of suitcases, shoes, kitchen utensils, glasses, and the like that were left by prisoners. I wanted to stay at look at the suitcases and shoes for a few minutes, but the tour guide merely said, "And here's the suitcases. And in the next room you'll find the shoes." I understand that the tour guide had a schedule, but people want to stop for a few minutes to look at thousands of shoes. In Auschwitz I, we got to walk through a gas chamber. The gas chamber looked nothing more than an empty room with burners just outside the room.

After the tour of Auschwitz I, the tour guide took us to Auschwitz II - Birkenau. Birkenau is where most of the prisoners were sent and then selected for extermination or to work. Two train tracks go into Birkenau, and in between these two tracks is where the selection took place. Then those selected for extermination move directly to the gas chamber. The gas chambers were exploded by the Nazis before fleeing. So all that is left is ruins.

The sheer size of Birkenau makes your jaw drop. My roommate Larry likes to say that Auschwitz I looks like a small college campus, but Birkenau goes as far as the eye can see. If you can see in the picture, each chimney was part of a building. The camp is split in two. The side that I was on must have been at least 15-20 chimneys by 15-20 chimneys. Each of those chimneys could have been where prisoners lived, lavatories, or workplaces. The buildings were poorly built so any heat that came from the chimney soon left. The tour guide said that 400 people could live in one building alone. She said that 8-12 people would sleep on one row of a bunk. They would all have to lay the same way. If privacy wasn't taken in the living conditions, the lavatories surely took those away. The building with toilets had three rows of holes. Holes were on each side of something that might be called a bench. When using the restroom, which only happened twice a day, you would be back to back with another prisoner. I cannot even begin to imagine what living in Birkenau must have been like.

After the tour was over, we returned to Auschwitz I, which is 3 km away from Birkenau, and we went into one of the museums. There is an exhibit on each country, or group of people, that was sent to Auschwitz. We went to the Roma/Gypsy exhibit. Many people still have very strong prejudices against the Roma.

After walking around the exhibit, I saw a guestbook, which I couldn't help but to look at. I couldn't believe the things that were written in the guestbook. I flipped a few pages and the first thing I noticed was a "Good Night White Pride" sticker. I have seen these stickers around Slovakia and Czech Republic. The first thing it made me think of was "To Kill a Mockingbird" which we recently read in class. In the book, Atticus Finch says that it is wrong to hate anyone, even Hitler. I found the hatred and damnation of Hitler and the Nazis all over the guestbook. I flipped a few more pages and found a comment about something the Chinese did to the Japanese. Then I looked below that comment and saw someone ridiculing the person who wrote that comment because the Japanese did something else to the Chinese. A few more pages and I found another comment about how one would think the Jews in Israel wouldn't persecute the Palestinians after all that happened. In between, I kept seeing this phrase: "Never again." Sadly, millions of people were killed during WWII and it has happened again and again and again. When will the suffering and hatred end? Will it end?

Leaving Auschwitz, I wondered what I was supposed to take away from this experience. Was there anything to learn at Auschwitz except for the fact that hatred and suffering exists? I wanted to read a hopeful "Never again" but all I saw was a delusional "Never again." How do we make hatred never happen again?

I had been listening to this song by Michigan's own Sufjan Stevens called "John Wayne Gacy, Jr" about the notorious serial killer. After telling Gacy's story, Stevens notes, "And in my best behavior / I am really just like him / Look beneath the floor boards /For the secrets I have hid." Stevens, speaking metaphorically, has spoken truthfully. Though most of us have never done anything to get us put in jail for a lifetime, we have all committed acts that we would rather hide and have had thoughts we wish we had not.

So perhaps it's not about what happened over sixty year ago, but what we are doing now. Maybe what I am supposed to have learned from Auschwitz is that I must attempt not only say "Never again" but also impliment "Never again" in my life in my small and large actions. I guess it all goes back to the whole log in the eye thing.

The next day we began our adventure home at noon. Planning to take the same route home, we had a three minute layover in Katowice and missed our connection. We had to wait two hours for another train that could take us to Bratislava. This train, however, went through Bratislava. We arrived at our second destination a half hour late and boarded a train at around 8. After stopping a few times for thirty minutes at random towns, we realized we would not make it home before midnight. When we arrived back in Bratislava, we didn't care what time it was. We were just glad to be back. It was 12:40 when I arrived home. A trip that was supposed to take eight hours took over 12.

A big thanks to Kendra for the pictures.