Salzburg and Mauthausen Concentration Camp

---

Salzburg was the low part of my journey. After over a week of long days and being sleep deprived, I was starting to feel sick. On the way to Salzburg, I was trying hard to not throw up. Originally, I was going to do the optional driving Sound of Music tour (Salzburg was the setting for the movie) but I had to cancel since the bus on the way over was adding to my nausea due to motion sickness and continuing on a bus for the rest of the day didn't sound appealing. In the end, it was a good thing I canceled because the ones who went on the tour had a horrible time because the guide was awful so I ended up saving money and time by not going.

I felt okay enough to do the walking tour and Dan pointed out some filming locations anyway, like the gardens where they danced during the "Do Re Mi" scene and where the "Sixteen going on Seventeen" gazebo used to be, as well as certain buildings and squares. He told us that the filming crew had put up Nazi flags in one of the squares and since the movie was filmed in the 60s, it was still "a little too soon" so they were told they would have to take them down after two days for fear of offending people. Dan also pointed out the castle up above where the real Maria's convent still is. We also saw Mozart's house, where he was born, and Mozart's square, which has a lot of tributes to Mozart, such as a statue from the play "Don Giovanni." Afterwards, we went to a Monk's brewery, though I had to pass on the beer given my stomach. On the way back, a few of us found a playground with the world's most AWESOME slide. I exaggerate not. This thing was EPIC. It was one of the slides you see at water parks only there was no water. It took a lot of effort to climb up the ladder (and yes, we were climbing up it with a bunch of little kids) and I was actually a little afraid when I was going down. We were only in Salzburg for that afternoon which was okay with me since there really wasn't much to do. I went to bed early that night. I guess if anything, the day gave me a way to recuperate in time for Prague which I absolutely loved!

But first, a more solemn note. On the way to Prague, we stopped at the Mauthausen Concentration Camp in Austria. After years of being banged over the head with Holocaust knowledge, I was finally seeing a concentration camp firsthand. As expected, it was pretty eerie. We saw the barracks, the watch tower, the gas chambers, and the crematory. There were also memorials all around. We walked down the steep Stairs of Death which the prisoners were forced to climb up (186 steps) with granite on their back, sometimes being crushed to death. Those that survived were then forced to jump from the top of the rock quarry to their deaths. As sad as the visit was, it is definitely something that I felt was necessary at some point in my life. I did notice a difference between my own reactions as someone who grew up learning about the Holocaust in-depth and the reactions of the majority of the tour. There was a bit more shock on their behalf while for me, it was exactly as I expected it to be. Nothing surprised me and even though it was my first time at a concentration camp, it kind of felt like I had already been there before after all the pictures, movies, stories etc. I'm not sure if that is a good thing or bad thing.

Anyway, you're going to be reading a lot more about all things Jewish/Holocaust in the next few entries as well. It's to be expected of a Jew's visit to Central Europe.

---