Today was almost too much: too much emotion, too much information. Our guide was so good that we were too mentally worn out to visit the museum of the Warsaw uprising after. We needed time to digest it and take it all in, not yo mention pack for our trip home early tomorrow morning.
Below are a few notes: Tour of Warsaw and the palace Westin is in the Warsaw ghetto Marriot tallest building in EU and where presidents stay Greenest city of Europe Engineering school. Hard 50 percent dropped after first semester. Huge campaign to join army since Ukraine war Huge park in town used to be the airport. Business school best in country —public university are better than private. Private schools are diploma mills if you can pay for it. 66 universities in Warsaw. Hard to choose. She wanted csi forensics but no crime in Poland so no jobs. Modern city since destroyed and rebuilt. The Soviet building have quite small apartments. Good for students and Ukranian s Communist construction, blocks, thin walls, small, cheap construction, all grey one small staircase. One small elevator if one. City trying to paint them. So safe kids after 7 can ride trains and busses on their own. Lunch is biggest meal. Don’t drive and don’t cook. 1990s boom Outside the city but didn’t like traffic so moved back to city until retire. Mafia in 90s. Eu killed bosses. No trafficking of drugs or humans or organs. Kids don’t want to be in us foreign exchange program shootings and drinking. Drank together with teachers in Prague. . Math teacher fell over and broke his nose. Teachers to hung over to go on tours. First 20 minutes free in city. Change bikes. Germans feel better in Warsaw speaking English with English guide. Grandmother jumped out of train to Auschwitz. Polish museums in Sweden Russian embassy is largest in Europe. Put the memorial to victims of Russian agressuon out front Sobieski Jan —most famous king, respected among Turkish officials. Sobieski vodka Belvedere Chopin are most famous vodka Russian vodka only good for cleaning ovens. 1,000 types of vodka—not much beer, drinking to pass out when no food. Now we have to learn how to drink without getting drunk. Learn to go clubbing. Now more beer. Drink as much as Germans but not as Czechs. 15 can drink Small but original with furniture. Kept animals and released them for hunting. Lighting festival. Sobieski respected scientists and helped publish their books. 1680s built. Compared to Roman empires since defeated Turks. By a lake and river —it’s a wild river so floods. The lake used to be channel of river. Survived because outside the city so not destroyed. Kings couldn’t buy land, so he gave money to a friend, who bought it and donated to king. Charles deGalle and Jimmy Carter’s stayed here in the annex. Had to sell palaces because the sons didn’t get elected. Woman bought it and invited kings Russia, Poland and Hungary. Left palace to Sophie daughter and her daughter Isabella. Isabella furnished. During French Revolution she bought the royal stolen furniture from the peasants. Then had her craftsmen replicate so the rest looked the same. Isabella had four daughters. 3 married three brothers. Left to Alexandra. Isabella orange tree symbols of fidelity but she had lots of lovers including cousin the king. She was called the blue marquess as she wore blue. August Rex rented it and built a ballroom from saxony—converted to Catholic but wife wouldn’t convert. He had 360 kids. Stanislaw poniatowski most important owner. Wrote a book. Catholic Church persecuted him and he committed suicide so they say he haunts the palace. King dressed as empire in stair. Horses feet up means died in battle but he didn’t. Only Poland made funeral portraits Sobieski only king who won due to military prowess His bedroom full of portraits and busy of wife. He loved her a lot Art collector Her bedroom bigger. Study of sex life. She bathed every day. Her second marriage. He wrote love letters with details. Queen was actually French. Secret wedding and a scandal since just month after husband died. 16 pregnancies and twins. First 3 still born. 4 kids to adult and she outlived all of them. She went back to France when sons lost election. Someone mummified her. Put it outside palace. Moved her to krakow with her husband. Marszalek jozef pilsudski died in Belvedere. Grandfather of our national independence. Dictator but poles loved him. He died of cancer but was getting ready to take on Hitler. Had a Cadillac custom Made. Wanted common man car. Buley proof but died 3 months later. He said they bought him a hearse Car runs. In parades with actor looks like him. Chopin monument. Died of TB or cystic fibrosis in his 30s. And lischt. Don’t play like lischt. Showman. Chopin biography by lischt. PlYing benches play his music, Polonaise is national dance. American flag based on city of Sandomierz Royal route filled with palaces. That are now embassy. German quarter so not destroyed. Did not survive the Americans as they destroyed one in the seventies and rebuilt. Afraid of spying. Biggest circus. Parliament. Full of 600 clowns, even to this day. Charles degaul loved Poland. Statue and roundabout named Fiat most popular car in 70s —soecial from Vatican too small to sun in. Arena built like Easter basket at day; at night looks like spaceship. George Washington roundabout. Cuban students after collapse of communism. Spanish second language. Do not want to learn German even though more jobs Eurocup in Warsaw but no fights as 1-1 score. Jerusalem avenue with fake palm. Huge tourist attraction in winter covered in snow. Stalin. He built 8 sister towers —huge. Building skyscrapers around it. Jew who created Esperanto language. Buried here. Warsaw ghetto uprising. Only 100,000 died 350,000 still alive. Staged uprising. 900 with 50 rifles. Dying with dignity instead of gas chambers. Suicide. Burned in attics where they were hiding as Germans went house to house setting on fire. Sent to treblinka with combustion gas not cyclone b —very painful. German general kneeled in front to ask for forgiveness. One church survived. All the rest rubble. The church was being used to house the Jewish goods. Original monument looked like sewer cover because some escaped that way. But thought to be too small so current one built.
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They built a hill on their farms, called a redo, since the area was marshy. We saw lots of windmills but never any wind to drive them. 60 castles built by crusaders between Maborg and Gdańsk, (120 in Poland) Now many are hotels or in ruins. Mennonite kitchens were called black kitchens—no windows and oven soot/covered walls. Many bedrooms big families. 5-7,000 square feet. Many dutch people settled here. Farm cows, make cheese and grow tulips. The tulips are a spring attraction. Onto Malbork Castle and Warsaw. Malbork castle, built by Teutonic knights (crusaders) in 13th century, sent to christianize the Baltic tribes; its an excellent example of a medieval fortress. The Order named it Marienburg in honour of Mary, mother of Jesus. In 1457, during the Thirteen Years’ War, it was sold by Bohemian mercenaries to King Casimir IV of Poland in lieu of indemnities and it then served as one of several Polish royalresidences and the seat of Polish offices and institutions, interrupted by several years of Swedishoccupation, fulfilling this function until the First Partition of Poland in 1772. From then on the castle was under German rule for over 170 years until 1945. Hitler used its blueprint for his own castles. The castle has several subdivisions and numerous layers of defensive walls. It consists of three separate castles – the High, Middle and Lower Castles, separated by multiple dry moats and towers.[7] The castle once housed approximately 3,000 "brothers in arms". The outermost castle walls enclose 21 ha (52 acres), four times the enclosed area of Windsor Castle. Restoration completed in 2016. Learned March of death 17,000 prisoners. Transported to Germany then trains to concentration camps. Some executed on beach. Transported to Studhoff is memorial. Used bricks from demolishment for houses. Opened as museum there. Camp without medical experiments but work camp. Built highway Kaliningrad to other places. And created plane parts. Bakeries too. Lots of farms—wind rows just like us, but hardwoods. No fertilizers here. No rocks and plenty of water. Canola, corn, wheat, beets. Lots of wild animals. McDonald’s gave money to renovate streets of Malbork Why did the knights come to Poland? We never invited them. 12th c from Jerusalem. Had to leave holy land. Hungarian king invited them. They had a deal to conquer land. Hungary said to leave. Celisean Silesian princess had a deal. Explore Vistula river. Found the Nogat river and built this castle. Who had the tower had the power. Communication and watching. Created first post office—grateful for that. Marburg was meeting place for all the palaces. 3 parts—armory, 400 horses, grandmaster palace with guest house. High castle with no eatery. Toilet tower. Now knights in Vienna. German name is Mariaborg. Church part reconstructed after the war. Italian tikes in statue of Mary. Some local tiles. Head original. Hikes for shooters and pour hot oil on them Biggest courtyard in Poland Pigeon mitigation spikes in front of windows Protected the well from prospective poisoners. Cost 1 million each month goid and wine todays dollars. Supported with Amber and other items ribbed from Poland, so polish people don’t like. The knights sided with Nazis. Then converted to Protestant but now Catholic again. Only 100 lived in this. 200 acres with guests 300-400. Life not so nice. Had to prepare for battle. Heating system under the building. Full of wood with heated stones. Dampers to regulate. Cook was treated well-own room and bathroom. Refuse into the moat. Pillar Looks like a palm tree from holy land Dumbwaiter 37 grandmaster. First group was 12 like 12 apostles Pelican on the well. Pelican symbol as Jesus. Cabbage leaves for tp Three pillars, chastity, poverty and obedience. Zigismund column. He moved capital from krakow to Warsaw. Mermaid legend Stadium can change colors. Walking tour of Gdańsk, Organ recital at Oliwa, and seeing the black Sea at resort city of Sopot9/14/2023 We loved Gdańsk. It’s by the mouth of the Baltic Sea but on the river, not on the sea. It’s famous for the shipyards, where the solidarity movement was launched by Lech Walessa and the workers. Actually, the movement was started by a woman named Anna Walentynowicz, who was fired for complaining about work conditions (6 months before she could retire on a pension!) and the friends who stood up for her. However, Walessa became the face of the movement, probably mostly because it needed a man for a face and because he was a good speaker, who moved people to action. Gdańsk is known as a red city, due to it being built in brick. Not much for rocks here. The Poles say they sent all the rocks to the south, so this area is great for farming but needs to make bricks for building. Some notes: The German’s called it Danzig. WWII was started here, Amber capital of the world, holds the largest brick church in the world, longest building in Europe—a mile long, beginning of the fall of communism. Sections of the town were built by the Teutonic knights. Crusaders not popular in Poland. Gdańsk has four sections or towns : main town, new, old, young Fish market dates to 1945, now it is 3 weeks only 22 watch towers in the town, but only two remain. The Galicians destroyed 90 percent of the town. Bakery 100 years old. Churches built by crusaders. Tale of St Bridget: her body was being transported by sea back to Sweden but stopped into Gdańsk due to bad weather. Miracles happened in Gdansk while her body was here. 1904 library with books from 1500-1600 Solidarity square dedicated to the shipyard workers who died in 1976 uprising. The statue has three anchors naked to a post in similar fashion to a crucifix. The port was used for time when under Russian control for what is called the ruble transfer— provide goods to Russia but no money was given for the goods. Anna—strike—6 months before her retirement pension. The movement is credited with being the beginning of the fall of communism. After the fall of communism, many people left to Canada, US, other European country’s, but now quite a few are returning in their retirement years. No more ship building; instead, they are turning the buildings into apartments/hotels and night life places along the water. Right now, the city has 63 cranes, and the bird crane is symbol of city to go along with the building cranes, which came from Finland. The city has almost 500,000 residents plus 200,000 Ukrainians. Was 300,000. Facebook opened offices here. Many different nations come to Gdańsk. Many like to live here as it’s close to Baltic Sea. Major industry is repairing yachts 24 hours a day 7,000 workers; outside the city is a yacht factory. Wind farm workers is another employer. Stadium for World Cup. Looks like a piece of amber, most beautiful in Poland. Concerts and conference hall too. Buildings for workers, one is almost a mile long and holds 10,000 people —colorful. There are 7 such large apartment buildings. Japanese cars most popular. Car shipping to other Baltic countries. Germany controlled harbor but poles controlled trains, which created a problem that built tensions leading to WWII when poles refused to give control to Germany. So built in vestaplotta (military post) which was shelled first shot of WWII. Used trains full of chemicals and explosives to burn everything, 2,000 German soldiers. Sept 1 4:48 am commemoration every year. Cruise ships not too much because not deep enough. Gdańsk means “marshland” because it is one meter below sea level —the Dutch showed how to create canals to prevent flooding. St Mary church Road under the river Many bricks used in the buildings were ballast on the ships from Holland Great crane on roof famous Largest museum. Fahrenheit —Inventor of the periscope and opened breweries. Wife first female astronomer. 3,000 Amber workshops. International show held here. Many buildings onky painted windows as there was a Window and door tax Astronomical Clock inside the st Mary church. Only one in Poland. 6,500 buried in the church, dignitaries, city government officials. No heating system 700 sitting, 10,000 standing. Longest aisle to altar in Poland so popular for brides International Organ music festival 450 breweries. Water was polluted Holland quarter Flying Dutchman dedicated to queen. Amber 40 million years old White amber is calcified. Rare kings treasured the white Amber Green is youngest. Higher in the ground. Grass and leaves. Poland has lots of certificates of authenticity, for Amber, for sheep cheese, for sweetest strawberry. Coal everywhere. And containers Then we traveled to the town of Oliwa, just outside Gdansk for an organ recital. Lots of greenery-/English romantic garden, Japanese and French garden Mushroom picking time. Get them for Christmas. September best month. Largest zoo Swedish stole everything so we say the Swedish national museum is really polish museum Cistercian order brought apples so grateful to them for this. 1800–took 25 years to build. 7,000 pipes. Rotating parts, trumpets. Pomeranian region but dog not from here. It was developed in Germany from the Spitz. No freedom without solidarity workers Pope John Paul. Gdansk has McDonald French fry factory that serves all of Europe Sports academy for Olympics located here too. Then we went 10-minute drive to Sopot—Sopot on the Sea (baltic); a fisherman’s village. 1900 century, many Europeans came for “sea water” therapy. This town wasn’t damaged much in liberation. 1832 oldest house. Upper and lower sopot. Known for music—opera house and international choir festival competition Luxury yachts built here. Lots of company factories on outskirts including salad, panatoni, gas. Lots of channels and canals built by Dutch, keep from flooding. Mennonites come to Pomeranian area, 6 families to start and can still find them here— 170 houses built by Mennonites. Came from Scandinavia, Holland, Belgium and some went to Canada. Dutch brought in willow trees, to make baskets and other uses, which the Poles enjoy to this day. Our day started with a one-hour drive to the first capital of Poland: Gniezno. We stopped to take a look at the old cathedral, which curves to left, due to several rebuilds. The church was demolished and burnt and rebuilt and columns don’t match. Some are stone and some brick. The Romanesque bronze doors are unique in Poland although common in other European countries. In 1175, the duke commissioned the doors in bronze. They contained a lot of copper, so they shined like golden gates. Scenes on the doors, left is different higher and darker and left by master and right by students possibly. There are two doors with 18 panel scenes from the life of Saint Adelbert. First patron Saint of Poland even though he was Czech. His body is inside within a solid silver casket under a canopy of gold. He set out to christianize the pagans; unfortunately, they killed him in 956. The Duke, later king, bartered gold for his body from pagans and ordered the silver coffin. The church is famous and important to Poland’s history because the first kings crowned here. 1025 first king was crowned. Then on to Toruń home of gingerbread and Copernicus. Toruń wealthy due to trade Vistula River. World heritage because not destroyed. Philadelphia sister city. There is a Toruń square in Philadelphia. We had a walking tour of the old town. Like Krakow, it wasn’t bombed during the Second World War so the buildings are mostly in tact. We saw the old town hall, 24-hour post office and Gingerbread Toruń like krakow not bombed during WWII, so most buildings are in tact. We visited til the old town hall, the 24-hour post office and St John’s church. Again, the church indicates with a plaque that Pope John Paul visited. Our guide pointed out the various statues on the street from a puppy to frogs in a fountain (young men are said to kiss them all to gain their loved one’s heart) to a burrow that had an instrument of torture on its back, where locals were pilloried. The slimmer criminals had extra weights tied to their legs so that the metal blade made sitting extremely uncomfortable. Apart from the hurt, the shame was terrible, since the whole city would laugh and point at the donkey-sitter on the square.. Various tales are told about touching these items for good luck or wishes coming true. She also pointed out a cat on a rooftop. When in 1629 the Swedes approached the city walls, Toruń’s army gained an ally in this obese tomcat. The cat scratched the faces of the soldiers and forced the Swedes to retreat. After this amazing feline success story, part of the northern fortifications of the city were renamed in its honour, and so there were three towers, named Cat’s Head, Cat’s Paws, and Cat’s Belly, the first of which still stands today. We also saw the outside of Copernicus’s home, his statue and church where he was baptized. And of course, sampled some of the famous gingerbread that came in many variations from Pokémon-shaped to hearts to CBD-laced. This was the weakest of our guides so far. Her accent was too heavy and her speech too fast. Our morning tour took us to the mostly empty, concrete Ronald Reagan square, so named since this president told Gorbachev to “ tear down this wall.” Then we continued on to see the technical and engineering university (30,000 student who start Oct. 1), government buildings (some repurposed from German and Russian occupation). Then we headed to the Cathedral Island, which is no longer an Island due to one side being filled in now. We visited St. John Baptist oldest church on isle and walked back along the Oder River to the lovers bridge (no longer allowed to put padlocks on as the weight is too much. They removed 17.5 tons last time). Instead, they put up a lovers’ bench and railing for locks. Of course, the bench has two gnomes, looking lovingly at each other from across the bench back. Then we headed to see the Racławice Panorama, which represents a battle when the peasants rose up along with Polish hero under Kościuszko against the Russians. (See more info at end of post). Then we walked to a park by the panorama building to the Katyn memorial (Tom and I had wandered over the day before as well). The statue shows a mother holding a dead man (hands bound, bullet hole in his head) in a pietá position with the Angel of Death standing over them. This commemorates when the Russians rounded up all the leaders and intelligentsia 22,000), took them to the forest and shot them. It wasn’t revealed what happened to these individuals until the Germans uncovered the mass graves, the people all shot in the back of the head (see more info at end of post) . Madame Marie Curie is mentioned throughout our tour as many streets are named after her. She named the first atomic element she discovered after her home country: Polonium. She is the only person to win two Nobel prizes in two different disciplines, chemistry and physics, so the Poles are rightfully proud. Then Tom Snd I headed for a quick tour of the National museum with Silesian art and other Polish art, as well as European art. The Polish medieval art had a different flavor from other European style of the time. A lot was carved wood with deep relief. We then grabbed a quick bite at an international market (reminded me of Eau Claire market in Calgary) along with a quart of strawberries and got on the bus for the ride to Poznan, claimed to be the birthplace of Polish people. We were told the legend of three brothers, Lech, Czech and Rus, firming the Pioes, Czechs and Russians. We learned the First polish ruler was Mieszko. He was not a king but he is credited with christianizing Poland. His son was the first king. Mieszko Is buried in the cathedral and his face is on the 10 słoti note. Also in Poznań, we sampled the St martin croissants. How they were made: St. Martin’s horse lost his shoe so he thought he could make a croissant in that shape. Very famous but very sweet and filling. Can’t eat much without skipping a meal, according to our guide. Inside is a white poppy seed filling, unlike the filling of povitiça/potiça with dark seeds. We found the croissant heavier than a French one, with very sweet icing. It reminded us more of a bear claw than a traditional croissant. Then we visited the Church of sts. peter and Paul, the oldest in the country. It too is on an island. The remains of the first structure’s foundation along with the original tombs, are in what is now the basement. PopeJohn Paul visited the cathedral island. His name crops up all over Poland and is commemorated on plaques in the places he visited or stayed. The 1st church was built in 10th century: Church destroyed and rebuilt in 11th c, then 17th and then destroyed again in 1945 by Russians. Then we had a two-hour bus ride through an agricultural area —apples main as well as corn and eggs and grain to feed chickens. Finally, we arrived at our hotel. We had an hour and a half of time, so Tom and I went to the Old Zoo, which was a few blocks away. It was pretty run down, and the Arctic foxes lying down panting in the heat. Turtles, a yak, lemur, monkeys, wild boars, birds and ducks, ponies were the extent of what was maintained. Most exhibits seemed abandoned. For dinner, we sampled the local hard cider, a specialty based on vodka From Wikipedia: “The Racławice Panorama (Polish: Panorama Racławicka) is a monumental (15 × 114 meter) cycloramic painting depicting the Battle of Racławice, during the Kościuszko Uprising.[1] It is located in Wrocław, Poland, but was originally in Lviv. The painting is one of only a few preserved relics of a genre of 19th-century mass culture, and the oldest in Poland. The panorama stands in a circular fashion and, with the viewer in the center, presents different scenes at various viewing angles. A special kind of perspective used in the painting and additional effects (lighting, artificial terrain) create a feeling of reality. The idea came from the painter Jan Styka in Lwów (currently known as Lviv) who invited battle-painter Wojciech Kossak to participate in the project. The project was conceived as a patriotic commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the victorious Battle of Racławice, a famous episode of the Kościuszko Insurrection, a heroic but ultimately failed attempt to defend Polish independence. The battle was fought on 4 April 1794 between the insurrectionist force of regulars and peasant volunteers (armed with scythes) under Kościuszko (1746–1817) himself and the Russian army commanded by General Alexander Tormasov.[4] For the nation which had lost its independence, the memory of this victory was important.[5] The General National Exhibition in Lviv, in 1894, offered an excellent opportunity to realize Styka's idea.[6] Canvas, woven to order, was bought in Brussels, the specially built rotunda's iron structure (designed by Ludwik Ramułt) in Vienna. The rotunda, located in Stryjski Park in Lwów, was ready in July 1893. The huge panoramic painting was executed within 9 months, between August 1893 and May 1894. The official opening was on 5 June 1894. Since the very beginning, the Panorama of the Battle of Racławice attracted enormous attention and brought crowds of tourists to Lwów. On average 75 000 viewers visited it every year.[7] Katyn massacre—from In your pocket: Anyone who has an unindoctrinated knowledge of World War II history or who has spent more than 15 minutes in Poland, is probably familiar with the subject of this memorial which remembers the 22,000 Polish military officers, policemen, intelligentsia and POWs murdered by the NKVD on Stalin's orders in 1940. Designed by Warsaw sculptor Tadeusz Tchórzewski, the striking monument depicts the sword-wielding Angel of Death on a high pedestal over the figure of Katyń Pieta - the Matron of the Homeland despairing over the body of a murdered prisoner of war. Symbolic granite walls/graves flank the scene, with the names of the POW camps and places of mass murder inscribed on them. Anguished, terrifying and gruesome in turn, with detail down to the bullethole in the back of the fallen officer's head, this evocative monument was unveiled in 2000 and can be found in the park next to the Racławice Panorama.” After Auschwitz, it was pretty quiet on the bus as everyone contemplated the horrors about which we just heard. Yes, we knew the graphic details before we visited. Yes, we learned before about evil Hitler and his dreaded SS and what they did to people, mainly Jews and Polish people. But seeing the artifacts and standing in a gas chamber took on a whole new horror. So we were glad to switch gears when we reached Wrocław (pronounced “ vro-quaff“ along the beautiful Oder River. We took a local tour of the city, which had been destroyed numerous times and changed hands as well, from the Mongols/Turks, to the Germans and Russians. Most of the city square’s old buildings are all reconstructions, just like Warsaw, and you can tell, but they are still pretty, dressed in pastel colors. The only part spared, was an island that contains two churches, supposedly because people sought refuge there and prayed along with the local priest. Along the way, we kept our eyes open for the gnomes who stand in many niches and corners along the way; they have become a symbol of the town. Our tour ended at a local brewery, where we were offered a flight of four local beers or a glass of wine. Tom tried the beer and I sipped some along with red wine. I’m not a beer drinker, but I appreciated the pretty colors of the bubbly brews. We didn’t linger long as I wanted to catch dinner and perhaps go to the island with the old churches. We found the Indian food restaurant that the local guide Matchi recommended. It was delicious. Then we had a magical walk along the Oder river with the churches and lights reflected in the water mixed with party boats and their music and couples spending a romantic moment gazing at the reflections. Of course, the gnomes were watching our every move. Auschwitz and Birkenau—the tough stuffAfter our drive out of the mountains and through the green valleys filled with quaint villages, we headed to the concentration camps of Auschwitz and Birkenau. Our guide explained that these camps were different from the work camps in Germany and elsewhere as their sole purpose was extermination. All such camps were located in Poland. Camps in Germany were sick people or workers. If the people weren’t “chosen” right away to die in the gas chambers, they were starved—and worked— to death. The average time a person lasted was three months. Auschwitz The camp housed 20,000 with 800-1000 in each barrack in single bunk beds, sleeping 3-4 in each bed. The camp was built on property stolen from the townspeople and built with the bricks from houses. 1.5 million people were exterminated, mostly Jews from mostly Hungary and Poland but also Italy, Holland, Germany and others such as gypsies (Roma). Our guide said there weren’t many uprisings because the Germans put on a good charade and a lot of lies, from the biggest one across the gate: Work will set you free. The camp happenings were carefully orchestrated from sending mothers with their children to the gas chambers together, even if the mother were fit and could work, so they would all remain calm to telling everyone they were receiving showers or delousing. They didn’t suspect until it was too late and too late to inform others. In addition, since the people were of different nationalities, they spoke different languages within the barracks. Communication wasn’t possible. However, over 800 tried to escape. Of those. 144 succeeded but none from within Auschwitz itself. Those who managed to escape were all workers outside the compound during the day. The bad thing about escaping or trying to do so is that the prisoners barrack was punished as well as the escapee. Ten people from the barrack would be put in a cell without food or water and starved to death. The escapee would be hung at the gallows for all to see. Political prisoners and those who tried to help the prisoners were shot at the firing wall. Seven hundred were killed this way. Six hundred eighty children were born in the camp, women too early on in pregnancy to be noted by the doctors and sent to extermination immediately as pregnant women were. Of these, only 46 survived as the mothers’ bodies did not produce milk to feed them. Some women who couldn’t conceive were selected for medical experiments but dr. Mengele didn’t work at Auschwitz. Most experiments were done in Birkenau and other camps. We also saw the house where first commandant of Auschwitz, SS-Obersturmbannführer Rudolf Höss (Hess) lived and where he was tried and sentenced to death after the war by the Polish Supreme National Tribunal. The gallows is right between his house and the front of the crematorium. One of the barracks has been left untouched. The others are filled with exhibits such as piles of human hair that was sold to create goods such as mattresses (the only room with no photography allowed). One had prisoner shoes. Another suitcases with names and addresses written on them. And yet another the pots and pans taken from the women, who thought they would be cooking for their families. The most famous prisoner was a priest who switched places with another prisoner. He was held in a starvation chamber. The man he replaced survived and is still alive at age 94. Birkenau Birkenau was much bigger than Auschwitz, housing 100,000, women on one side of the railroad tracks and men on the other separated by a wall. But most of it destroyed by the Nazi SS as the Allies moved in. To build the barracks, they used bricks from houses and made a wall to separate men from women. However, they ran out of brick, so the men’s side was done in wood—which was rebuilt since the wood was destroyed. There were 300 barracks, 100,000 people. There were three latrine houses with 200 holes—no privacy or toilet paper. Divided into 8 sections for easier managing Ashes thrown in rivers. Took 40 minutes for a few bodies Instead of a double fence, this camp had one fence and a moat, that the prisoners had to dig. Revolt because all Jewish and spoke same language and blew up gas chamber. Only one in six SS from Birkenau were ever brought to justice because they were able to hide because of Jewish stolen money and goods provided them with the means to leave the country and create new identities. Good book to read: The Volunteer or Hope is the Last to Die, written be a man who survived the camp. He is now 94. The number-one and fastest way to commit suicide was by throwing yourself on the electric fence. Work will set you free? The truth will set you free. Things I learned from the Guide about Highlanders lives: Reverse glass painting. Bar across from the churches. Highland dialect song. Thank god the church burnt but the bar survived. Priest pulled them out of bar and told about indiscretions in his homily. First priest of Zakopane completed the first known ascent of local mountain, very big guy Father of 8 children When I enter a church, the holy water starts boiling. 1847 Tatra mountain rescuers and famous people buried in the graveyard along with famous skiers. One artist buried here committed suicide when Russians invaded Climbers in cemetery with climbing gear and symbol of rescue teams Kornel—children’s author of little goat Architect who invented the zakapane style of housing Chinook winds—just like montana but the change in weather and pressure can take its toll on people. Some people go a little crazy when wind and pressure changes. Some have committed suicide during the shift; one man always walked back and forth on the streets, so he foretold the weather for others. Really long names in the highlands because all had one of two last names and to personalize, they added a nickname on the end Film Berbecka about Zakopane climber who died Sheep cheese salty smoked Houses black chamber and white chamber. Black because smoke, animals inside White side stored items and was used for special occasions Special way to chink the logs in homes with long wood shavings twisted. Feather in hat is bachelor Seashells were brought back from people who went to work in the balkans during the summer then they started decorating their hats with shells. Zakopane most religious —cured of addiction for some years on the card In mountain rescue, they use Six dogs— German shepherds —except in American movies they use st Bernard’s. Don’t recommend drinking alcohol in the cold. Mountain rescuers first in the world. Cave rescues too. Ski jumping very popular almost as soccer. Ski jumping winners, futbol, losers. Chicago restaurant showas? Highlanders settled there. Church built with the white sand black side Glacier lilies Highlander wedding 8 in a day, horse carriage 200 people Drink vodka from one shot glass. Then he finds the next “ victim” clockwise. Last shot pays for next bottle. |
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