Exploring My Roots in Poland

The Great Barbican of Krakow

 Earlier in the semester AIFS took us on another trip, this time to Krakow, Poland. Since I have roots that trace back to Poland, I was really excited about this trip. The town where my ancestors lived was about 5 hours away from Krakow, but I am so glad that I had the opportunity to go see such a unexpectedly beautiful city! Our first day there the weather was absolutely perfect, and Z led us on walking tours in the morning and afternoon through the city. I had watched Schindler's List in the week leading up to the trip, and when we were walking through the Jewish quarter, Z pointed out a few things that were in the movie which was crazy to see in person. I'm happy I watched Schindler's List when I did. I had never seen it before, and it really helped prepare me for the things I would see on Sunday in Auschwitz.

While in Krakow, I tried a bunch of different Polish food, and the most interesting was the pierogi, which are a type of Polish/Ukrainian dumpling.We went to an outdoor market in Krakow, and the pierogis can't get more authentic than that!

The Center of Krakow

On the way back from Krakow, we went to the concentration camp Auschwitz. It was very fitting that the weather that day was especially gloomy, contrasting with the beautiful weather we had seen the day before in Krakow. Seeing Auschwitz was an overwhelming experience, and it was definitely very different than I had imagined. I wasn't sure what I had expected to see, but I was amazed that Auschwitz was in the same condition that it had been during World War II. Some of the buildings had been turned in to museums, which showed things ranging from pictures of individual prisoners to piles and piles of personal belongings that had been confiscated when people arrived at the camp, like glasses, crutches and prosthetics, shaving supplies, and suitcases. Before being deported to Auschwitz, the people were told to pack suitcases with their most precious belongings and to label their suitcases clearly. Once arriving to Auschwitz they were never given their belongings back, and they were sorted in an area of the camp called Canada.

A memorial: an urn of human ashes

These cans held enough gas to kill over 800 people in gas chambers

Glasses left behind at Auschwitz

Piles of suitcases that were never retrieved 

Inside the gas chambers

Inside the crematorium

"Forever let this place be a cry of despair and a warning to humanity where the nazis murdered about one and a half million men, women, and children, mainly Jews from various countries of Europe. Auschwitz - Birkenau 1940 - 1945"

A memorial in the place that gas chambers once stood

Remains at Birkenau

The most overwhelming moment for me was seeing a room filled with human hair. When women arrived to Auschwitz, they were forced to cut off all of their hair which was then to be used to make textiles. I had only expected to see a small pile of hair, just enough to demonstrate that the women's hair had been cut. Instead I was overwhelmed* by a seemingly endless room piled high with the hair of women and girls who most likely never made it out of Auschwitz. Each time I took a step further into the room, the pile of hair seemed even greater. I thought about how large the pile was, and how a body and a life were behind each head of hair. It was only a small sample of all of the hair that had been cut at Auschwitz because most had been used to make textiles, but it helped me put things into perspective.

Other than our group, the visitors to Auschwitz that day were mostly Israelis wearing Israeli flags. This was pretty amazing to see. It was as if their flags were sending a message to Auschwitz, saying "you couldn't stop the Jewish people."

*I know I keep saying overwhelming, but I really can't think of any other words to describe my feelings and emotions while visiting Auschwitz.