POLAND - Part 2
The next part of our Poland trip was a place I had wanted to visit since I first started reading about the Holocaust in 9th grade. What a moving and sad place - impossible to express the feelings of sadness standing in Auschwitz.
Auschwitz/Birkenau is a little drive from Krakow - we had timed tickets, needed to provide a photo ID to enter, and had our Viking Guide as well as a museum guide.
Everyone was quiet and respectful - large crowds but since we had timed tickets we were able to enter as soon as we arrived.
So much hate...
and our guide explained how prisoners arrived at the camp.
People marked their suitcases believing they would be at a work camp...not a death camp.
Memorial at the wall where people were executed by firing squad.
One of the reasons it was so important for me to visit this sad place is because of a unit of study I participated in with two reading teachers at the school where I was a librarian. The unit was called
Children of the Holocaust. Each 6th grade student first came to the library and after a lesson talking about Holocaust fiction, students selected a book to read.
The next step in the project was to give each student a card with a photo of a child from the Holocaust - just their photo and name. This is where the research project started. It was the perfect way to help students learn about the Holocaust, but also to learn to use reliable resources. We used books and many data bases from the Holocaust Museum, Yad Vashem in Israel, and other reliable sources.
Students had to research their child, write a journal as if they were that child, create a PowerPoint presentation of the life of that child, tell what happened to the child - did they survive. Then we hosted a Hall of Memories in the school one evening. This was open to the parents and public. The students stood near displays of "their child" and told their story. It was very moving.
We were also blessed to have a Holocaust survivor in our community. He was not Jewish - but a blond, blue eyed, Catholic Pole...and the Poles were also considered a race to serve the Nazi regime - so he ended up in Auschwitz. In his 90's, he visited our school library and talked about his experience and made sure to show the students his tattoo number - saying "someday someone may tell you the Holocaust did not happen...touch my number so you can tell them it did."
I wanted to honor him in some way...so I found a white stone and used a marker to put his initials on it - thinking I would place it somewhere in Auschwitz in his memory.
When we got to this building our guide told us this was where prisoners were registered and given a tattoo number.
I saw a place where the mortar was loose and stuck the stone in there. He has since passed away, but I wanted to honor his sacrifice and how he shared his experience with our students.
If you want to read more about this project you can read about it here
The American Library Association honored us with the Miss Honey Social Justice Award for this project...and I have to say it was the best moment of my career.
We then moved onto Birkenau - and no matter how many books you read or movies you see - nothing prepares you for the horror of seeing this up close. So many people not even recorded as they went right from the trains to their death.
It was a somber ride back to Krakow as everyone processed what we saw and learned.
That evening we went to the Jewish Quarter of Krakow for a Klezmer Dinner - Klezmer is traditional Jewish music...
and it was an amazing experience.
The next morning we headed to Warsaw...
with a stop at the Jasna Góra Monastery in Częstochowa to see
the Black Madonna.
The church was packed and everyone was singing in Polish - very moving!
The icon is adorned and the "dress" is changed each year after Palm Sunday.
Beautiful church and you could feel the faith of the people there.
We stopped for lunch along the way...more pierogi and beer!
Arrived in Warsaw in the late afternoon and the Viking guide took us on an orientation walk around the city so we could see how to get to our hotel. This is a street name...can you imagine? Our last name is Yawornitsky and I thought it's a good thing we don't live on this street because our mail would need a BIG envelope!
Our Viking guide recommended a restaurant close to our hotel and we had the BEST mushroom soup!
The next day we had a great tour of Warsaw.
First stop was a beautiful park with a statue of Chopin...and you could press a button on one of the park benches and it played his music.
Our guide was so interesting.
Warsaw is a combo of old and new buildings.
We went to where the Warsaw Ghetto used to be...saw this monument to the Ghetto Uprising.
We happened to be there for a ceremony to honor the victims.
Then headed over the the memorial to the Polish Resistance and the Warsaw Uprising...
For WWII history buffs like us, this was an amazing tour.
We headed to the Old City and the walls that surrounded the city...you can see that it was a cold and chilly day...
After all the pierogi we had I was happy to meet this pierogi !
It was so damp and cold we headed back to the restaurant with the good mushroom soup. The owner recognized us and was happy we liked the soup...and the beer!
Our last evening in Warsaw was magical. Viking arranged for a Chopin concert. The room was gorgeous and lit with many candles. We could not take photos of the performer, but the music was magical.
It was the perfect way to end our trip and pack up to fly home the next day. We both agree this was one of the BEST trips we ever took. Was it relaxing ? No! There was too much to see, do, and learn - and we are so glad we got to do so much. We brought home many wonderful memories.
Have you traveled to Poland ? What has been your favorite trip?
Please leave a comment - I really love hearing from you and enjoy when I hear from new friends all over the world. Thanks for stopping by Our New Vista! Enjoy the rest of April!
