The Holocaust Hitting Home

Saturday, August 10th: Today, the Holocaust became personal and was probably the most important day I have had since backpacking Europe as I visited the tows of Polaniec and Staszow, two towns about 80 miles northeast of Krakow.  My grandfather was born in the town of Staszow and had family in Polaniec.  Polaniec is also where my great grandmother is from and where my grandfather was nearly killed the Polish police near the end of the War after surviving 5 years in hiding.

I took the bus from Krakow to Polaniec and had no clue what to do when I first arrived. My hope was to find some sort of Jewish community center or town archives and find out where various family lived. I found neither but various people did go out of their way to help me, including driving me to the tourist information area in the center of town.

After about 2.5 hours in Polaniec, I took a 20 minute bus ride to Staszow to see where my grandfather was born and grew up before the Nazis invaded. His home was near the center of Staszow and was very easy to get to.  When I saw it, I broke down as I pictured my grandfather growing up there as a child, with all of the innocence of a seven-year old, and how all of that was lost at such a young age.  I just felt sick and saddened and I did try to go into his home, to no avail.  

A few other more personal and relevant connections to the Holocaust. Yesterday, I visited the overgrown rubble of the former Plasow Concentration Camp, the one featured in Schindlers List. It is mainly just rubble, minus a few memorials and skeletons of buildings that still remain. Today, before leaving Krakow, I saw the residence of a woman who was saved by Schindler, Rena Finder who lives near Natick and who selflessly and beautifully speaks to my students about her experiences. It was a privilege to have seen where she grew up as well and really placed the emphasis on the individual victims and the individuality of the Holocaust more so than numbers.

Ultimately, today was one of those days that I will never forget.  The building that has the number 3 on it is where my grandfather lived in Staszow and the building that has a number 10 on it is where Holocaust survivor Rena Finder lived in Krakow.  I have also added pictures of Polaniec and of the remains of the Plaszow Concentration Camp.

Okay. I just arrived in Warsaw and am actually flying to Latvia from here tomorrow morning. I will add another post about Krakow tomorrow and how beautiful it is. That is a separate topic in and of itself!

Auschwitz- Birkenau and Schindler's Factory

Thursday, August 15: Going into my EuroTrip this summer, I felt that I had to visit Auschwitz - Birkenau and I had dreaded going to it more than other musuem or historical site.  Simultaneously, I really wanted to go to learn and see for myself the sites and infrastructure of some of the worst crimes this world has ever seen/ witnessed.   For me, visiting Auschwitz was personal as my grandfather's cousins, who were at my Bar Mitzvah, had survived Auschwitz.  Being a Holocaust teacher and having studied the Holocaust, Auschwitz - Birkenau is THE PLACE that most symbolizes the attempt to have committed full scale genocide against Jews, Sinti-Roma, homosexuals, Jehovah's Witnesses. 

Like the two other concentration camps I had visited, Auschwitz - Birkenau was eerily established in a beautiful town that prior to World War II boasted a population that was nearly 50 % Jewish. Auschwitz I used to be, prior to World War II, the site of a Polish army garrison, meaning the infrastructure was already in place to build a prison, death camp, and industrial factory. It ultimately became the factory of death during the Holocaust.

At this point, I could elaborate on how disgusted, saddened, and angry I felt when I visited and continued to learn about the atrocities that took place there, but at this point, I am just going to let the pictures speak for themselves. Some of the photos show thr gas chambers at Auschwitz I (they were destroyed at Birkenau) and others show human remains (including hair) that was ultimately made into rugs and even socks for Germans fighting in the harsh winter conditions. Yes, I almost cried and I swore under my breath about how horrible things were there and I listened to stories of torture, starvation, abuse, and sacrifice by prisoners for other prisoners.  I have a wide range of emotions I am still dealing with as well.  HOWEVER, I never had to experience any of the gross human rights violations that took place. Also, I had the opportunity to do something no prisoner who went through the gates of Auschwitz or Birkenau could do, walk freely in and out on my own voilition. It just puts things in perspective.

Now, there were heroes during the Holocaust and yesterday, when I first arrived in Krakow, I paid homage to Oskar Schindler by visiting his first factory he created (the other, more familiar one that he had set up at the end of the war was in Brunnlitz, in the Czech Republic)..The highlight was seeing the video story of a Schindler survivor who I bring in to speak to my students, Ms. RENA FINDER :)

Bratis-WHAT!?

Wednesday, August 7th: Today officially marks one month since I first arrived in Europe, and each day continues to amaze me, with new experiences both positive and negative! I am on a train bound for Krakow right now with the realization that one week from today, I will be back in Berlin for one last day before flying home.

So, I arrived in Bratislava, capital of the Republic of Slovakia, on Monday August 5th, and like so many other of Europe's capitals, I fell in love with this city. It is very small, only slightly larger than Ljubljana, and sits in the shadows of two European bohemeths, Budapest two hours down the Danube to the east and Vienna, 45 minutes up the Danube to the west. Because of this, the city can be very easy to overlook and that would be a big mistake!

First off, Bratislava is really cute, very laid back, and people are incredibly friendly and self - deprecating. I told so many Slovakians how much I loved their city and they questioned why I would even visit. The old town city center has the feel of a small Prague, with people lining cafes at all hours of the day and night. Food and drink are FANTASTIC and CHEAP as well. Bratislava is known for a type of soda called Koffola which is basically a combo of coffee and Coca Cola and it is easy to find it on tap as frequently as you can find beers. Bratislava also has a beautiful castle overlooking both the Danube and old city center and the city is a mixture of old anx new.

When I was here, I just walked around and strolled though some cafes and restaurants. I managed to get a 7.5-mile run in as well before the thermostat hit 95. Finally, I did take a day trip back to Vienna just to walk around again, knowing it was only an hour away.  It was in Vienna where I had my worst experience with another individual as an Austrian openly trashed the United States, to the point it was insulting and offensive to me! I consider myself to be very progressive and not really patriotic, while also being open to a variety of opinions. However, this person accused me of being brainwashed and for brainwashing students I teach, ripped Secretary of State John Kerry, showed very little respect for American World War II vets, and was very dismissive to my opinions. Look, I know the US has its flaws, but it is still a fantastic country and I am grateful for the opportunities I have. Needless to say, between the conversation and the stifling 98-degree heat, I was ready to go.back to Bratislava.
Last night, I just stayed at the hostel, talked to people, did laundry and kept it low key. The reality is, today I start the part of my trip that is most important but one I have also dreaded.  By visiting Krakow, I am going to be doing a ton of Holocaust history, seeing Auschwitz and Schindler's factory, the old Jewish Quarter and then going to see where my grandfather, who is a survivor, grew up and then went into hiding and was ultimately almost killed near the end of the War. Krakow is also supposed to be one of Europe's best cities so this should be a real eye opener.

Bombed out Belgrade

MONDAY, August 4th: After spending two nights in Sarajevo and doing a tour of that city called "Times of Misfortune", I was really hesitant to come to Belgrade less than 24 hours later, thinking about the atrocities that this nation inflicted all throughout the Balkans in the 1990s as part of a greater war of expansion and ethnic cleansing. To be completely honest, the only reason I had chosen to come here was because the city makes for a much easier connection back toward Slovakia, Poland, and the Baltics.  With that being said, I AM glad I came here, if for no other reason than to try to learn from other people and experience another culture and country. Granted, I spent a mere 16 hours in Belgrade and I cannot fairly assess or form an objective opinion about a place in such a short time, but I did learn and see a few cool things.

First off, compared to Sarajevo, during the Balkan Wars, Belgrade got off easy.  I am using the term easy for comparative purposes only, because one civilian casualty is one too many.  I just spoke to a woman on the train I am on who lost family in US-led NATO bombings took place here in 1999 and my heart breaks for her and everyone else who lost loved ones and property as a result.

Now, in my short time spent here, I had an opportunity to tour a fort, have some great food, and meet up with an American friend who I had met on another study tour four years ago in Korea. He has friends who live in Belgrade and I was able to go out with them last night.  It was there that I really also tried to learn the perspectives from Belgrade natives on the Balkan Wars and the NATO attacks here. Some of what they said I do not agree with, one comment being "There is no such thing as a Bosnian".  To me, I saw that as an excuse to somehow justify the tensions between Bosnians and Serbs. The bottom line is, these are all just labels anyway. I mean, can someone, just by looking, really tell the difference between an American, Canadian, or Brit? I think such an analogy is important to trying to understand the Balkans.

What I did find myself agreeing with was the perspective on the NATO bombings, just for NATO to try to show the world that it was doing something when Serbia tried to ethnically cleanse Kosovo of Albanians. The bottom line is, similar to an intense number of casualties inflicted in Sarajevo, there were thousands of innocent Serbs killed here, and hundreds of thousands more whose lives were permanently destroyed. There can NEVER be a such thing as "collateral damage" in war because to me, that trivializes human life.

Okay. So, yeah. I was going to spend another full day in Belgrade and take an overnight train tonight but decided against for three reasons:
1) See my post from July 27th about my experience with night trains and see if I want to experience that again.

2) Not to trivialize the importance of the Balkans at all, but, I am feeling "Balkan fatigue" and am ready to explore Slovakia and Poland.

3) I am also just tired and don't mind spending the next 10 hours on a train to recover a bit before my final 10 days in Europe.

Last thoughts too on Belgrade and the countries in the former Yugoslavia.

• Like Croatia, Bosnia - Herzegovina, and Slovenia, Serbs still LOVE Tito! I wanted to go to his mausoleum but could not justify spending another full day here just to see it and the 6:45 train was the only one leaving for the North.

•Despite all of the fighting and perceived hatred that has existed in this region for over 2000 years, people here are incredibly friendly!

• Finally, traveling in this region has opened me to brand new cultures and perspectives in ways no other part of Europe had done for me thus far.