Today was quite an interesting day. We were able to have a whole free afternoon, which was nice to step away from the Holocaust sites for a little bit. I will tell you about my afternoon experience at the end of this blog! First, I would like to tell you about our morning experience.
On our schedule, we were told that we would be having a walking tour of Jewish Krakow. Now, don't be mistaken - the Jewish Krakow that we toured today is not the same as the ghetto of the Holocaust time period. One must remember that anti-semitism has existed for thousands of years. During the Plague and the Crusades, Jews were blamed and Jews were targeted. Many Jews moved to Poland because 1) they fled the anti-semitism and 2) Polish kings welcomed Jews to their country because they wanted bankers and tradesmen to help the economy. Long before Hitler, there were Jewish districts and quarters where Jews gathered or were expelled to. In Krakow, the Jewish Quarter was called Kazimierz. Today, we were able to go to Kazimierz and visit many synagogues and Jewish markets. We visited one synagogue that is considered the oldest synagogue in Poland! We also saw another synagogue that held the Jewish cemetery. I would like to talk about the Jewish cemetery in a little bit...keep it in mind!
We were told last night that we would not be getting on the bus; however, the first thing we did this morning was board the bus. Next thing I know, we are headed to Plaszow camp! (I asked Elaine about this later - she mentioned she added it on last minute! I'm glad she did!) For those of you that are wondering, Plaszow is the camp in Schindler's List, the movie by Stephen Spielberg. Plaszow is where the Krakow Jews will be forced to work. Their main source of labor was the quarry. The third commandant of this camp was a notorious and vicious man by the name of Amon Goeth. He is such a vile and disgusting man - in Spielberg's film, he is depicted as a cruel man who would shoot Jews from the balcony of his villa as they worked in the camp. That's not the worst - as if the camp is not dehumanizing enough, the Nazis built Plaszow on the site of two Jewish cemeteries. They dug up the dead and placed them all in one pile and placed dirt over it - then, as if that is not enough, he takes it even further and places the camp's latrines on the pile of dead. Amon Goeth is evil - plain and simple. What did the Nazis do with all of the gravestones of the dead? Forced the Jews to create a walking path like they are stepping stones and a road for the Nazis to drive in on. It is complete dehumanization.
Anyways, Plaszow is much like Bergen-Belsen. Much of it was destroyed, and there aren't any mass grave sites because the Nazis tried to exhume and burn the bodies as they learned that the Soviets were getting closer. We actually parked in a gas station and had to walk up to the actual camp site. When we got to the top of the hill, the first thing we saw was the front of the villa where Amon Goeth lived! Get this...it had a for sale sign! No one wants to buy the house - there was a man that owned it after the war, but now it is up for sale. No one wants to place a museum in it because of its symbol to the Holocaust - so it's sitting there...for sale...
We walked down further on the road that would have had the tombstones as a road. The tombstones are now located in a museum. At Plaszow, it was obviously overgrown. A lot of tall grass and trees were in the area - why? Because you have to remember it is on the site of two previous cemeteries and Jewish law says not to move or exhume bodies. Also, the ashes of those killed at Plaszow are spread all over the site. In essence, Plaszow is a massive cemetery that cannot be disturbed.
Very powerful memorial at the end of our walk in Plaszow. I will upload that particular picture to this blog. Notice it is people marching in columns of 5, which was how victims were marched to their death. Notice their hands - powerful statements being made. What do you think?
Now, let me return to the Jewish quarter in Kazimierz, and let's talk about Holocaust times. Remember that Polish kings invited Jews to Poland. Because of this, Jews have found a home in Poland for hundreds of years - this is why when Hitler invaded Poland on September 1st, 1939 and started World War II, he had over 3.2 million Jews he'd had to "deal" with. (That is more Jews than Germany, Austria, and Czechoslovakia combined.) Anyways, when the Nazis invaded Krakow, they forced the Jews to March over the Vistula River and move into Podgorze, which will become the Krakow ghetto. Then, from there, they will be moved to Plaszow, which is not too far from the ghetto, but still a good walking distance.
Now, remember the Jewish cemetery? Once the Jews moved out of the Kazimierz, the Nazis used the area. In fact, they went into the Jewish cemetery and destroyed a lot of the tombstones, moved them around, and used it as a dumping site. Well, remember, you cannot disturb or exhume bodies of the dead in Jewish law. When the Holocaust was over, the Jewish community came together and placed the tombstones in order and in lines - unfortunately, the tombstones are not marking the actual body because the Jewish community could not be exact. In fact, this cemetery is made the same way the one in Prague was created - bodies on top of bodies due to space.
This morning was extremely unique to see the area I teach about and show in Schindler's List. This afternoon, we had free time to walk around Krakow. I really enjoyed going to the markets and walking to the Wawel Castle. I will say...the cathedral market was quite interesting and unique! There were skits being played by adults in diapers...and some type of dance routine by a woman trying to capture a watermelon...and then there were mimes - one looked like Lady Gaga! I loved the market, and it was fun to shop. America just does not offer any type of place like that. Also, I loved Wawel Castle and seeing where the Polish kings lived. It was neat how the people of a Krakow just laid out in front of Wawel Castle and watched the boats on the river. In Union County, we don't have anything like that - clearly, we don't have a castle, but we also don't have a place where one can just watch the scenery pass by. It was so beautiful!
It was good to have a free afternoon - I think it was perfect planning as tomorrow we will go to our first killing center: Auschwitz-Birkenau. Definitely mixed feelings about this - I think the group is in shock that we will actually be on the grounds. We are all trying to prepare ourselves for this - and I did make a comment today that I don't want to make it out that Auschwitz will be the toughest because EVERY camp involved killing and death even if the camp was not built solely for killing; however, it is the knowledge of the sheer numbers and it is the artifacts that we will see tomorrow that will be hard. We will be walking on the grounds of a location that was built solely for killing. While we try to prepare, I'm unsure if there is even a way to prepare...
For those of you that have followed me on this journey so far, thank you. I hope that you are learning aspects about the Holocaust - and I hope that you find some interest in reading a memoir or reading a book of fiction on this topic; there is a lot out there! For my students reading, I will be wearing our neon shirt from this year with Elie Wiesel's quote on the back. I felt that it would be quite fitting - especially since I wore the pink neon shirt from the year before to Sachsenhausen because of the poem from Pastor Niemoller on the back - he was placed in Sachsenhausen.
Until tomorrow!
On our schedule, we were told that we would be having a walking tour of Jewish Krakow. Now, don't be mistaken - the Jewish Krakow that we toured today is not the same as the ghetto of the Holocaust time period. One must remember that anti-semitism has existed for thousands of years. During the Plague and the Crusades, Jews were blamed and Jews were targeted. Many Jews moved to Poland because 1) they fled the anti-semitism and 2) Polish kings welcomed Jews to their country because they wanted bankers and tradesmen to help the economy. Long before Hitler, there were Jewish districts and quarters where Jews gathered or were expelled to. In Krakow, the Jewish Quarter was called Kazimierz. Today, we were able to go to Kazimierz and visit many synagogues and Jewish markets. We visited one synagogue that is considered the oldest synagogue in Poland! We also saw another synagogue that held the Jewish cemetery. I would like to talk about the Jewish cemetery in a little bit...keep it in mind!
We were told last night that we would not be getting on the bus; however, the first thing we did this morning was board the bus. Next thing I know, we are headed to Plaszow camp! (I asked Elaine about this later - she mentioned she added it on last minute! I'm glad she did!) For those of you that are wondering, Plaszow is the camp in Schindler's List, the movie by Stephen Spielberg. Plaszow is where the Krakow Jews will be forced to work. Their main source of labor was the quarry. The third commandant of this camp was a notorious and vicious man by the name of Amon Goeth. He is such a vile and disgusting man - in Spielberg's film, he is depicted as a cruel man who would shoot Jews from the balcony of his villa as they worked in the camp. That's not the worst - as if the camp is not dehumanizing enough, the Nazis built Plaszow on the site of two Jewish cemeteries. They dug up the dead and placed them all in one pile and placed dirt over it - then, as if that is not enough, he takes it even further and places the camp's latrines on the pile of dead. Amon Goeth is evil - plain and simple. What did the Nazis do with all of the gravestones of the dead? Forced the Jews to create a walking path like they are stepping stones and a road for the Nazis to drive in on. It is complete dehumanization.
Anyways, Plaszow is much like Bergen-Belsen. Much of it was destroyed, and there aren't any mass grave sites because the Nazis tried to exhume and burn the bodies as they learned that the Soviets were getting closer. We actually parked in a gas station and had to walk up to the actual camp site. When we got to the top of the hill, the first thing we saw was the front of the villa where Amon Goeth lived! Get this...it had a for sale sign! No one wants to buy the house - there was a man that owned it after the war, but now it is up for sale. No one wants to place a museum in it because of its symbol to the Holocaust - so it's sitting there...for sale...
We walked down further on the road that would have had the tombstones as a road. The tombstones are now located in a museum. At Plaszow, it was obviously overgrown. A lot of tall grass and trees were in the area - why? Because you have to remember it is on the site of two previous cemeteries and Jewish law says not to move or exhume bodies. Also, the ashes of those killed at Plaszow are spread all over the site. In essence, Plaszow is a massive cemetery that cannot be disturbed.
Very powerful memorial at the end of our walk in Plaszow. I will upload that particular picture to this blog. Notice it is people marching in columns of 5, which was how victims were marched to their death. Notice their hands - powerful statements being made. What do you think?
Now, let me return to the Jewish quarter in Kazimierz, and let's talk about Holocaust times. Remember that Polish kings invited Jews to Poland. Because of this, Jews have found a home in Poland for hundreds of years - this is why when Hitler invaded Poland on September 1st, 1939 and started World War II, he had over 3.2 million Jews he'd had to "deal" with. (That is more Jews than Germany, Austria, and Czechoslovakia combined.) Anyways, when the Nazis invaded Krakow, they forced the Jews to March over the Vistula River and move into Podgorze, which will become the Krakow ghetto. Then, from there, they will be moved to Plaszow, which is not too far from the ghetto, but still a good walking distance.
Now, remember the Jewish cemetery? Once the Jews moved out of the Kazimierz, the Nazis used the area. In fact, they went into the Jewish cemetery and destroyed a lot of the tombstones, moved them around, and used it as a dumping site. Well, remember, you cannot disturb or exhume bodies of the dead in Jewish law. When the Holocaust was over, the Jewish community came together and placed the tombstones in order and in lines - unfortunately, the tombstones are not marking the actual body because the Jewish community could not be exact. In fact, this cemetery is made the same way the one in Prague was created - bodies on top of bodies due to space.
This morning was extremely unique to see the area I teach about and show in Schindler's List. This afternoon, we had free time to walk around Krakow. I really enjoyed going to the markets and walking to the Wawel Castle. I will say...the cathedral market was quite interesting and unique! There were skits being played by adults in diapers...and some type of dance routine by a woman trying to capture a watermelon...and then there were mimes - one looked like Lady Gaga! I loved the market, and it was fun to shop. America just does not offer any type of place like that. Also, I loved Wawel Castle and seeing where the Polish kings lived. It was neat how the people of a Krakow just laid out in front of Wawel Castle and watched the boats on the river. In Union County, we don't have anything like that - clearly, we don't have a castle, but we also don't have a place where one can just watch the scenery pass by. It was so beautiful!
It was good to have a free afternoon - I think it was perfect planning as tomorrow we will go to our first killing center: Auschwitz-Birkenau. Definitely mixed feelings about this - I think the group is in shock that we will actually be on the grounds. We are all trying to prepare ourselves for this - and I did make a comment today that I don't want to make it out that Auschwitz will be the toughest because EVERY camp involved killing and death even if the camp was not built solely for killing; however, it is the knowledge of the sheer numbers and it is the artifacts that we will see tomorrow that will be hard. We will be walking on the grounds of a location that was built solely for killing. While we try to prepare, I'm unsure if there is even a way to prepare...
For those of you that have followed me on this journey so far, thank you. I hope that you are learning aspects about the Holocaust - and I hope that you find some interest in reading a memoir or reading a book of fiction on this topic; there is a lot out there! For my students reading, I will be wearing our neon shirt from this year with Elie Wiesel's quote on the back. I felt that it would be quite fitting - especially since I wore the pink neon shirt from the year before to Sachsenhausen because of the poem from Pastor Niemoller on the back - he was placed in Sachsenhausen.
Until tomorrow!