Road Trip to Southern Poland - PART IV

Auschwitz - Birkenau Part II
I mentioned earlier that most Jewish women and children were sent directly to gas chambers at Birkenau.  I forgot to mention the sick part of the selection process.  Women strong enough to work and who did not have children were selected to live as prisoners.  Pregnant women were killed in the beginning.  Eventually Dr. Mengele wanted to use the newborns for medical experiments.  Children over 13 were forced to work unless they were weak.  Children younger than 13 may have been kept for medical experiments, especially if they were twins.  Dr. Mengele was trying to figure out the genetics of twins, so then German women could have multiple children with blonde hair and blue eyes.


The living conditions were terrible.  Most prisoners suffered from diarrhea because of malnutrition.  Prisoners were only allowed to use the toilet at certain times, and were punished if they used it without permission.  In order to contain their excrement many prisoners used the bowls or dishes they had for their food.  Most bowls were shared by 10 people, they took turns eating.


Most "beds" held 8-10 people on a regular basis.  Sometimes 12 people would sleep in one "bed".  The prisoners tried to sleep with their heads on an incline, especially on the bottom bunks.  The diarrhea problem also affected prisoners during the night, and if your head was on an incline the dirty and soil would roll away from your head.  The other problems at night were the insects and the rats.  Prisoners tried to hurry up and fall asleep so they didn't have to feel the rats crawling across them. 


I think that covers about everything I learned.  It was incredible to walk around a place where such terrible things happened.  So many people died there.  Over 1,100,000 with about 90% being innocent Jewish people.  As the tour ends, the guides remind the visitors that this was an extreme case of bullying.  And that it is up to the witnesses to stop it.  

Road Trip to Southern Poland - PART III

Auschwitz - Birkenau (Part I)
Alright - I'm going to explain what I saw.  Some of it was really difficult to see and listen to but it is an important part of history.  The camps were liberated in 1944 and in 1947 it became a museum in order to remind the world what could happen if no one stands up to the bully.

Auschwitz

Auschwitz was the original camp and was used to house Polish prisoners just after Germany invaded southern Poland in 1939.  Most of the prisoners were well educated people like priests, teachers, engineers, architects, etc.  I think it was by 1942 when the Nazis started to move the Jews to Auschwitz.  They told them they had work there.  And they did have work - 12 hours of it.  And they were not allowed to walk any where.  They had to hustle.  If someone died at work because exhaustion or starvation, the prisoners had to carry them back, because for every 1 person missing 10 people were killed during roll call.  The same went for people who tried to escape.  If someone escaped, 10 innocent people died from the village.

Auschwitz - HALT!

There were three death/labor camps.  There was Auschwitz, Birkenau, and another smaller one where the prisoners worked to build a chemical plant.  As the Jews from all over Europe started to be shipped to Auschwitz, they ran out of room at Auschwitz and decided to build Birkenau.  It was about 1 km away.  Birkenau was built by the prisoners at Auschwitz, and most of the blocks were made of wood.  At Auschwitz they were brick.  Birkenau had over 300 buildings that housed prisoners, and most held 800-1000 people each.  In addition to prisoner blocks, they also added three bigger gas chambers and crematoriums.  The crematoriums at Auschwitz could only handle 350 bodies a day.  The crematoriums at Birkenau could burn 5000 bodies a day. 

Blocks at Birkenau

Blocks at Auschwitz

Most Jewish women and children were sent directly to the gas chamber from the unloading platform.  The elderly were also sent because they could not work.  In addition to the Jews, there were also Russian soldiers, gypsies, prostitutes, and anyone who did not fit the perfect Nazi mold.  There were prisoners that were forced to cremate the bodies in the gas chambers, and every few months those workers were executed because they knew too much about what the Nazis were doing.  The prisoners working in the crematoriums shaved the hair off of the women and children, extracted any gold teeth, and burned the bodies.  The hair was shipped to Germany to be used in textiles for Nazi uniforms.  At the museum - they have 2 tons of hair from the prisoners.  The suitcases of many, the shoes, the toothbrushes, etc.  It is overwhelming to see.


Block 11 is known as the Death Block in Auschwitz.  It was were prisoners were held in cells to await execution, or where they were starved to death.  To punish some prisoners, they put them in standing cells, about 1 square meter, with 4 or 5 others. The prisoners had to stand all night and then work the next day.  No one survived more than 20 nights with that punishment.

I'll write more later.  This has already turned into one long blog...  I learned so much about what the prisoners had to deal with and am very thankful I have not had to deal with such hardships.

Road Trip to Southern Poland - PART II

KRAKOW
Alright, here is what I have seen so far...


I walked down to the Market Square, which is only a few minutes away from the hotel.    There were lots of booths with various things for sale.  I'm thinking about going back tomorrow, if they are open, and getting a set of nesting dolls.  I got Charlie's birthday present - it's perfect for him.  There were also lots of restaurants with or without outdoor seating in the square (more about this later...).  And of course the street performers.  There was even a group of break dancers - I'm pretty sure they had all Chicago street performers beat.


One thing I really like about the city is that it is very diverse.  And I've heard so many people speaking English I don't really know what to do with myself.  I met some guys from the UK and from Australia.  I also met two girls from the US.  One guy from China... You get the idea.


I started walking down one of the streets because there seemed to be a lot of commotion coming from one side.  I wandered down there and found a wedding picture with the WHOLE family being taken.  It would be like me and the Kacmars on my wedding day.  Lots of people!  What I thought was kind of funny was that there was another wedding party waiting in line to get their pictures taken in the same place.  

Then I accidentally found Wawel.  It is an old castle with a cathedral attached, which happens to be where the former President of Poland and his wife are laid to rest.  I got in this line, I had no idea what it was for, I figured maybe it was to get into the cathedral.  I was wrong.  It was to get into the tomb to pay respects to the first couple.  People were crying and I just felt way out of place.  I did eventually find the line to get into the cathedral and the royal tombs.  The cathedral was so ornate it was absolutely ridiculous.  I wasn't allowed to take pictures, which stinks, because it was outrageous.  The tombs were interesting too.  I saw the tomb of one of the Polish queens and one of the first Polish kings.  His tomb was very medieval and well preserved.


After all of my walking around I was kind of hungry.  Now, I wandered all over creation trying to find Schindler's factory, but never did.  Then I wandered all over Market Square trying to decide what I wanted to eat.  It was way more expensive than the little town of Plock.  


So I found a place I thought I'd like and went to sit outside but a waiter/waitress never came to me.  So I went inside thinking they'd have the same menu.  I was WRONG.  It was one of the fanciest restaurants I had ever been in and I stroll in wearing jeans and a pseudo-dressy top.  I was out of place (again).  And I felt weird just turning around and walking out after I realized I didn't really want to eat there.  So I went with it, and spent a lot of money, but the food was good and the waiters spoke fluent English which was very refreshing. :-)  Hopefully I own't make the same mistake tomorrow morning at breakfast...


I had to add this little thing about my room - so in order to turn the lights on in the room you have to put your room key in the slot (see picture below) and when you take the key out it turns all of the power off to the room.  Talk about energy efficient!

Road Trip to Southern Poland - PART I

Alright, I know I'm not the greatest driver, but driving in southern Poland is a little too crazy for me.  First of all, if people want to pass you, it is courteous to move over toward the shoulder and let the person behind you pass.  And if there is a big truck or bus in front of you they normally signal to let you know it's all clear.  Some people must not have gotten the memo about the moving over... and that's all I'll say about that... 


Also - it is much hillier down here.  Definitely not flat like it is near Plock.  Some parts of my drive reminded me of a roller coaster.  And there are cows in field right next to the road with no fence.  BUT the cows are on leashes!  It's kinda funny looking.  On my drive back I plan on stopping a few times and taking some pictures.  I passed a lot of forests that would make for some really pretty pictures.


When I got to Krakow, I got a free upgrade for my room!  Sweet!!  I guess all of my nights at the Holiday Inn in Gonzales, LA paid off.  I even got a box of chocolate. :-)  Yum!  The hotel is right by the Square in downtown Krakow.  So I have been out walking around.  You'll have to check out my flickr account.  I have taken tons of pictures.  I have not posted them yet, but maybe later tonight after dinner.


I have already decided that if anyone wants to see Poland, they need to go to Krakow.  It's pretty awesome here and a lot more people speak English. :-)  So it's easier for us Americans who probably don't know Polish.

The problems with planning...

So I was talking to one of the guys I've met here, he's from Houston.  He told me he wanted to go to Auschwitz this weekend, and I really want to go so I said I'd go.  Then I asked my chief if he wanted to go, and he said yes.  Today I confirmed with my chief and he said he didn't want to go anymore.  I decided then that I'm going anyway.  I wanted to go to Auschwitz and Krakow.  Of course, a few hours later I get a call from the other guy from Houston, and he wants to know if I still want to go.  He said he thinks he has Saturday off but he's not sure about Sunday.  And I really wanted to spend the whole weekend down south.


Do I change my plans for this guy because he wants to go?  Or do I just go with my original plans?  I mean it isn't a huge deal if I only go to Auschwitz.  I can go to Krakow another weekend.  I just don't want to rearrange my plans and then the whole thing falls through.  Then I'm stuck in Plock - again.

A Very Polish Weekend

Alright - I don't really know if my weekend was very Polish as opposed to pseudo Polish.  But it seems like many people were doing what I was doing.  Maybe not all of the picture taking, but everyone was out walking around enjoying the sun.


On Saturday I was out taking pictures on the river walk and then came back into town through the square.  I saw one of the other engineers who used to work for UOP.  So I stopped and talked to him.  He convinced me to come look at apartments with him - he was on his way to a showing.  I decided that I am going to move into whichever one he doesn't take.  It is right down the street from my hotel AND (get ready for this... ) it has a washing machine!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  And it is bigger and cheaper than my hotel.  The best part is that there is this great little Italian restaurant on the bottom floor.  It has pretty good pizza!


After we looked at apartments we sat out in the sun drinking Polish beer and talking about families and UOP field assignments.  It was so great to have someone to talk to.  He told me I have some European in my face - so I had to explain that my dad's side is Slovakian.  And the guy I was talking to is from the Czech Republic.  :-)  We sat out in the square for a few hours.  Today I am electing to sit out on my own porch.  The hotel just put out tables and chairs for all of the rooms on the bottom floor.  I even have an umbrella!


I'll post more pictures sometime this afternoon.  Whenever I get tired of reading out in the sun... 

I have survived a few more days

As I have started to realize these last few days, Plock seems to be how most of the Polish live their lives.  It is a town rich with history, but beginning to bring in the modernized stores like Auchan Polska, which is a hipermarket.  It is Poland's version of Wal-Mart.  I went for the first time last night, and I was lost in the massive amount of stuff that is in that store.  Thankfully most of the products had an english description on them somewhere, even if it was only one line.  I found Nutella!  Too bad I couldn't buy a washing machine for my hotel room...


The laundry predicament I find myself in is somewhat frustrating.  The hotel doesn't have laundry service so I asked if there was a place to send it to have it done.  There is a place, and she told me where it was, but I couldn't find it.  So I resorted to doing my own laundry by hand in a bucket in my shower.  The jeans are impossible.  The only pair I washed yesterday is still not dry and it has been 24 hours since I washed them!  *sigh*  


One the more positive side - I learned today that the building across the street from my hotel is the oldest high school in Europe.  It was built and established centuries ago.  I find it mind-boggling how old some of the buildings around here are.  I realize that there are many other places with older buildings, and hopefully I'll make it to those places someday.  But for now I am content with the cathedral built in the 12th century down the street.  :-)  I have yet to go inside the church, but I have a feeling it is absolutely beautiful.  I'll post pictures if I can take them.  For now you'll have to deal with the outside...

My task for this weekend is to find a Polish birthday present for my brother.  I am going to Warsaw this weekend to see a few sites, maybe I'll find something.  If not he'll have to deal with the Catholic art.  There are at least three stores that sell religious art.  It makes sense, I was told today that about 80-90% of the population in Poland is probably Catholic.  I'm in a town with I don't know how many Catholic churches, but no masses in English!  I'd even take Latin at this point.  (I never ever thought I'd say that) 

Some Ramblings...

Hello All!!  I just have one thing to say about the people of Poland (well so far) - they are so nice.  I went to work today, it was my first day on site, and all of the staff were so nice.  They were so helpful and all of them who speak english well gave me their phone numbers.  One girl even said that if I'm having trouble buying something at a store because I can't get it across what I want, she would talk to the person for me over the phone.  :-)  She also said that because Plock is a smaller town, not as many people know english.  In Warsaw and maybe Krakow more of the people need to know english.


I saw the hotel parking attendant in the city center when I was walking back to the hotel after dinner tonight.  He and I met the first five seconds I drove into town.  We ended up communicating via sign language because I couldn't understand anything he was saying and he couldn't understand me.  But when I saw him tonight, he stopped and waved and smiled at me.  It meant a lot to me.  


I also realized today that I'm probably going to have to bite the bullet and wash my clothes in the sink/shower.  I'm not sure where else I can wash them.  The hotel doesn't do the laundry (that I can tell).  And I haven't seen any laundromats.  Mostly I see clothes lines in the courtyards of the apartment buildings filled with clothes drying in the breeze.  So I think that maybe since tomorrow is supposed to be nice that I'll open the door and dry my clothes.  I also have this crazy hair dryer??????  I'm not really sure what it is, but I can use that to clean some of my clothes.  I'm really glad that I just invested in a bunch of new dry fit shirts and a couple pairs of shorts if that is what I have to wash.  They should dry faster.


I'm debating on what to do this next weekend.  I think I'm going to ask one of the UOP guys in Belgium if he wants to meet and do something for the weekend.  Otherwise I'll probably go to Warsaw and go see the sites.  It's pretty cool that I have this decision to make.   :)

My first full day in Poland

I'll start with my first night here.  I turned the tv on and realized there are two or three English channels.  One is BBC news, the other is BBC sports and I think there's another one.  I do like that there's an equestrian program on BBC news.  And when I see the weather I get the weather for the whole world.  It's kinda crazy.

Tony, the other UOP guy, and I went to dinner at some random restaurant.  It turned out to be an Indian twist on meat.  I got some sort of chicken dish that had indian spices and was served a side of cabbage.  Mmmm mmm.  It was an interesting combination.

I downloaded one of the free podcasts on iTunes call One Minute Polish.  There are several one minute classes where they teach you how to say the basics in Polish.  So now I know how to say hello, yes, no, please (which is kind of tough to say), goodbye, and thank you.  I feel like I should try to speak the language.

I started my first full day off by sleeping until around noon.  So in reality is hasn't been a full day - but I was so tired!!  I woke up to find out that the Polish president died in an airplane crash over Russia.  Not only was it him, but lots of other important Polish government officials.  BBC news has all sorts of coverage regarding the mourning in Warsaw.  I decided to walk through the town to see if there was anything similar going on.  At the cathedral, which is like a one minute walk from my hotel, there were mourners laying flowers and candles at the base of a Pope John Paul II statue.


Plock is an interesting mix of old and new.  There are several new buildings going up, which are attached to buildings that seem to be fairly old.  It is a pedestrian town.  There is a river walk that many people use.   It actually goes right underneath my hotel window/door.  There are several streets that are for pedestrian traffic only. And no one here j-walks.  No one.  They all go to a crossing, and no one crosses the street until the light is green.  Even if the street is clear.  You wait for the signal.


I went into one of the grocery stores and got a half liter of powerade and some bananas.  The produce section was pretty much non existent - except for the potatoes and onions.  Go figure.  The meat counter took up the most area of the store.  It was huge.  They had all sorts of sausages.  I'm not sure what kind - I guess I need to learn more Polish.  I think I'm going to go to the hotel restaurant for dinner, or maybe to one of the Kebab shops I passed...  Decisions, decisions!

American girl meets international travel (for the first time)

I always like to have pictures in my stories - so here's my first picture.  It's the view from my hotel room.

I don't even know where to start with this story!  I guess the flight would be good huh?

This is my first time out of North America.  I've been out of the country (Canada, but really?) but never overseas.  So off the bat I'm going to say I'm proud of myself for making it here all by myself in a country where English is not the primary language.

I sat next to a priest on the 9+ hour flight.  I have never seen some eat so fast in my life!!  We got dinner, which was my first meal on a plane in I don't know how long, and about 5 minutes later the dude next to me was done!  It was crazy.  Did I mention that the priest didn't speak english but still insisted on talking to me?  I just nodded even after the flight attendant explained to him in polish that I only knew english!!  Oh well, I think he wanted a friend.

I tried to get comfortable to get some sleep but then they started to play The Blindside.  So of course I had to watch - I love that movie.  After about 10 minutes of a Polish version of the movie I gave up.  I fell asleep eventually only to be woken up when everyone cheered when Big Mike pushed the other football player over the wall.  Needless to say I didn't get much sleep...

So then I get to the airport - and the first step was passport verification.  After waiting in line for forever I finally got through - no problem.  I was a little nervous that they would stop me for some reason and then I wouldn't have anyone to call and I'd be stuck in a Polish jail!  Luckily none of that happened.

I even survived my 2.5 hour drive from Warsaw to Plock.  I did get lost a couple of times and I did depend on the GPS for the first part of the drive but I made it.  Warsaw traffic is a lot like Chicago.  I fit right in cutting people off. :-)  

My hotel is super cute!  And I walked through the city tonight with the other UOP guy here.  He showed me around to some of the places he had found in the two weeks he has been here.  I think I'm going to wander around town tomorrow with my camera.  There are some awesome churches.  On Sunday Tony is going to take me to the store that has it all.  :-)  So far I'm loving it here!!  

Sweet Home Chicago

And I'm back!!  I got back to Chicago last Thursday - April 1st.  I even got to spend Easter with my family!  It was really great to see them.

I realized when I was landing how much I love Chicago.  There are 4 seasons (compared to New Orleans where it's either hot or not).  There's baseball - today is White Sox opening day!!!  I wish I could go to the game, but instead I get to go to the dentist... :-/  Sometimes you have to sacrifice I guess.

For now I'm going to enjoy my time back in a familiar place - I even went and drove by my old apartment.  Looks like they planted new flowers.  :-)

My next stop is Plock, Poland.  I'm not sure when I leave - should be sometime this week.  Spring and summer in Europe isn't too bad.  I'll take it!