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Published: December 23rd 2005
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to know I have seen too much."
Since my last blog I have traveled from Warsaw to Lublin and then to Krakow. It's odd because Poland really wasn't even in the cards when I started this trip. But here I am. One major reason for my stop here was to visit some of the WWII concentration camps. My interest in WWII stems from childhood. And I do believe the first real essay I ever wrote was about Hitler in Mrs. Maye's 6th grade class. A stop here was pretty much obligatory to see with my own eyes the horrors of war and the resulting mass human extermination. I somehow felt like it was my duty as a human to visit these places and pay respects to the people who died and to try and understand what happened.
My first stop was Lublin. Just a few hours south of Warsaw. Most people vist Lublin for the old town and big beautiful castle. My intentions there were more grim. Majdanek concentration camp is located a few stops on the trolley bus outside of town. The day I decided to go it was snowy and cold. Biting cold. Nothing could have prepared
me for the sight that greeted me as I got off the bus. From the road, the entire camp was laid out before my eyes. It's sprawling, snow-covered land is still divided by the same barbed wire fences that kept in the prisoners inside so long ago. I felt so alone and cold as I walked carefully along the ice-coated side-walks into the camp. With only the sound of my boots crunching on the snow and the wind howling through the old wooden buildings for company, I spent 4 hours exploring the deserted camp.
Majdanek can't really be considered a museum. It's more of a preserved historical site open to the public to visit. The doors were left open on many of the buildings and I walked from one to another trying to wrap my mind around the events that took place there. The first building I stumbled upon was the gas chambers. And I can say with certainly that I have never been more frightened to be somewhere alone as I was when I was walking through those dark rooms. Words cannot express how you feel when you see places like that with your own eyes.
Equally as disturbing
thousands upon tousands
every pair of shoes represents a life was the wooden barrack full of shoes. I popped in the door expecting another display of bunk beds or maps of the camp, only to be greeted by a dank, musty smell and a thousands upon thousands of shoes in wire containers. I couldn't figure out how to turn on the lights in the barracks - so I peered down into the dark as large flakes of snow drifted into the cold building. Alone with the shoes. It was almost too much.
By the time the sun started to set (at the early hour of 3pm), my hands were frozen and refused to operate the camera. I couldn't even get the tissue out of my pocket to stop my runny nose. Making matters worse, on my way to the bus I unexpectedly performed a comical slip-roll onto the ice and bruised up my knees. Nice.
Back in town I still had 2 hours before my hostel opened. The only place I could think of to go and warm-up was KFC. So there I sat with my pitiful chicken sandwich. I sat there and finally let the tears roll down my face.
Krakow was a nice change. A thumping city full
of young Western travelers. My first night in Mama's Hostel I roomed with 8 American girls in Europe on an exchange/drinking binge. As I entered no one acknowledged my presence and the following conversation continued:
"Like, OH, MY GOD, guys...what top should I wear to the club tonight?...we need to get some food before we go out...yeah..like, I LOVE FOOD!...Especially Polish food...Because, like, we are in Poland and Polish food is, like, so GOOD...Okay...Do these jeans make me look fat?...OMG guys! The club tonight is going to be so awesome. Yeah...like, totally we'll be out ALL NIGHT!!..."
And so begins my re-introduction to American culture...
The next day I made an early check out and went on a search for a basic, cheap, nearby hostel.Ha! Not is Krakow! I was toting the pack for a record 4 hours or so. This little mission of mine included talking to several abrupt information desk tellers and having my arm nearly broken in the door of the streetcar. Yes..There is nothing like wincing in pain as the door crunches your arm only to be met by a dozen or so blank stares. Not a single kind soul helped me remove my arm from
the clenches of the door arms or ask if I was okay. These are the dark moments in single travel.
When I finally dropped my bags at Nathan's Villa Hostel I easily slapped down my hard cash in exchange for a clean bed and an afternoon movie in the underground cellar-cinema.
There, I met Marjiana and Scott. Masters students in Norway, they provided me with hours of great conversation and were excellent roommates. We toured Aushwitch and Birkineau the following day. I was so happy to tag along with them on the tours. Having them with me made the trip much lighter and easier to mentally digest. Auschwitz was much smaller than I had imagined. The camp was filled with well preserved red-brick buildings. Birkineau was much more striking. The train tracks are still present - hauntingly leading into the center of the camp and stop at the doors of the gas chambers. Chilling. The sky was filled with strange colors and the three of us trudged though the slush and snow in reverent silence.
Tonight I bored the overnight train to Prague. I am meeting my sister there and surely entering another realm of travel. Western Europe, here we
I'm here!
The only occupant in the Lublin YH. Great!! come!
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Jeff Emanuel
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Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas Christy! Your travel stories are very interesting. Thanks for sharing them. Jeff..