Thursday, we went to Poland. The drive was long. We stopped in Banska Bystrica, Slovakia for a short tour and lunch. It took so long for me and a few other students to find lunch, that we were supposed to be leaving about the time we got our food. I got some delicious pork for lunch. I wish I had been able to savor it, but I had to wolf it down. We did watch Schindler's List on the bus. The bus seems to take forever to get anywhere, so by the time we got to Krakow, it was dark. Krakow was cold. Much colder than Hungary ever gets. It was even snowing at times. I miss snow.
From the bus:
We went to dinner near the hostel, and then went in for the night.
The next day, we went to Birkenau and Auschwitz.
Auschwitz is technically not one camp, but a complex of camps, Birkenau being the largest one. The "Auschwitz" we went to is actually the best preserved camp, which is not Birkenau. It was very museum-like, with exhibitions inside the barracks. There was even an entire Hungarian exhibit, documenting Hungary's role in the Holocaust. Hungary likes to think itself innocent in WWII, in part likely due to the Soviet narrative of "liberation" from the Germans. However, they allied with the Axis during WWII at first, before wanting to pull out, and then when threatened, peacefully surrendered to Germany to avoid being invaded. Germany then put the Nazi sympathetic party in power, so the country was still run by Hungarians. So while not actively advocating for the Holocaust, the Hungarians didn't exactly fight it, either.
Birkenau was mostly destroyed, there were some barracks still up; we got to see stable that was "converted" into a barracks for women; the Nazis barely changed it. The conditions were so terrible, it is difficult to comprehend.
It's hard to call it awesome or good, but it was a very important experience, and I am glad I went.
We went back, to dinner, and then I went to bed.
Saturday morning, we went on a tour of Krakow. The medieval market was actually at a lower level than the ground is now, so there's a series of catacombs underground, and the few old buildings left have entrances with stairs up to ground level.
We toured around the city, even got to see some of the places where the shot Schindler's list; the Jewish quarter in Krakow was emptied during WWII, and never really recovered. So Steven Spielberg chose this location to shoot because it was still dilapidated and falling apart; most of the other Jewish quarters around Europe had been fixed up. This is a staircase that shows up in some scenes.
We went a couple tours in total, and ate at a place we had already eaten, right next to the hostel, I believe.
The next morning, we got up early, drove south to Slovakia, and stopped to tour a castle. It was an excellent tour. The castle was gorgeous; no pictures were allowed inside, however. We ate lunch nearby. Finally, we completed the trip back to Budapest, Sunday evening. I was pretty tired, so I don't think I did much (the Lions had a bye), and finally went to sleep.
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