Saturday May 25th Day 12
Today we took a step into
Hollywood, well actually history. We went to the Oskar Schindler Museum. This
was my favorite museum thus far on the trip; first because of its chronological
flow, second because the museum was set up in such a way that we became part of
the story, and third because of the sassy British couple that wouldn’t leave us
alone adding some comic relief amongst our group later in the day. We began our
tour reminiscing the good times had in Poland in August 1939. Then, we saw Poland’s
culture, land, and freedom stripped from the Poles partially by Nazi Germany (to the west) and
by communistic USSR (to the east). The tour continued by displaying the
methodical progression the Nazi’s took in order to change the lifestyle of the
Jewish community and the thought of Jews among a nation. Nazi propaganda
parades were held, laws were passed, ghettos were formed, camps began to crowd,
and then generations were lost. Specifically, Poland lost 3,000,000 Jews and
6,000,000 people (Poland has had a very hard time since the war because they
believe they were the main victims of the World War II). However, there are
many stories of hope during this heinous period. The tour culminated with Oskar Schindler’s story. If you’ve seen
Schindler’s List prepare yourself! We walked the staircase from the movie,
walked around his office, listened to testimonials from some of the people
Schindler saved, read Schindler’s “list”, and touched the actual map of Europe
that hung behind his desk just to list a few. The tour ended in the Room of
Thought. The exhibition was laid out to make you question how you would have
acted during this period. Would you have saved a Jew, turned your neighbors
into the Nazis, join the Nazi Party, or would you have joined the Polish
Resistance? These questions are very hard to answer and hopefully we will never
actually find the answer.
After
some free time and a lot of shopping, the group gathered for a discussion of
what we saw in Krakow. Krakow did a number on us for sure. Our main focus of
this meeting was Auschwitz, The Schindler Museum, and Primo Levi’s poem.
Generally we all felt the same way about what we saw; however, as a group, what
really stuck with us was the public bathroom POLICY in Europe. I can easily say
we dislike with a passion, because hate is a strong word, paying to go to the
bathroom in Europe. Please, when you see your kids DON’T ASK ABOUT THE BATHROOM
SITUATION IN EUROPE.
To
end the emotional trip in Krakow, the group, Professor Paces, Professor Rosa,
and our lovely guide throughout Poland, Alicja, went to a bar for drinks, and
we went to what could be described as a cave for karaoke. I’ve actually said
too much about that night so I’m going to just end this blog right here with a
period.
Warren Jagger
P.S. TCNJ loves Krakow!
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