Krakow, Poland

At the recommendation of our friends Karen and Brad, we made a stop by the Sedlec Ossuary, known as the Church of Bones, on our way to Krakow. The King of Bohemia appointed this site as an ossuary (a place to store human skeletal remains after a period of burial) in the 1200s, then a gothic church was built there in the 1500s, then, in the late 1800s, with the bones of 40,000 people collected all throughout the space, a woodcarver was appointed to "do something" with them (I'm sure it was more specific than that), and this is the result. You are asked not to take pictures while inside, so these are taken from their website. It was really pretty beautiful and peaceful inside, and I imagine a little how I've heard people describe visiting the catacombs in Paris (which we hope to do). Oh, and, of course, there was a Lego museum just down the street with these awesome skeletons made of Legos outside. 

From there, it was only another four? six? (who can count anymore, really) hours to Krakow. Krakow was cool, with its own Easter Market (with lots of yummy perogies and sausages and such!) and other attractions, but we really had two items on the agenda that brought us to Krakow: visits to Oscar Schindler's factory and to Auschwitz. On our first full day, we visited Oscar Schindler's factory and museum. We had recently watched Schindler's List and had some conversations about the movie and the story it tells. The museum was well put together, and was much more of a mini-Holocaust museum of sorts than it was a museum of the factory or specifically about Oscar Schindler. We did get to see his actual office and his desk and map (pictured), which was really neat, and there were lots of other components of the tour through the place that were powerful- in particular was a replica of a cellar space where a family of 10 had lived in hiding for two years (we had also been listening to the Diary of Anne Frank while driving, and had plans to visit the Anne Frank House in the Netherlands the next week). Our tour guide had some amazing connections to the place and the history which made the whole experience all that much more meaningful. 

The next day was our trip to Auschwitz, Bergen-Belson, and the Wieliczka Salt Mines. We'll start with the Salt Mines, because that's how our day went, and because it's much easier to write about. We had heard really great things about the Salt Mines, and they are often tied into tours of Auschwitz, as ours was. It's a funny contrast, really, as the mines are an amazing testament to the ingenuity, engineering, creativity, and very sustenance of life. These mines were originally excavated in the 1200's and were in continual operation, producing table salt among other things, until the 1990s. There are over 178 miles of tunnels, though we only saw a fraction of them in our hour or so underground. Today, the mine serves as an event center and museum, with whimsical carvings and sculptures depicting the history of the mines and of the area, all made of salt. In one area, there is a concert hall/ event center, and down the next tunnel there is a huge, cavernous chapel where services are held every Sunday and where weddings are performed, and everything, including the elaborate chandeliers, is made of salt. While it was hot and sunny above, it was a cool 60 degrees underground, and the whole of the experience was light-hearted and inspiring. 

Visiting Auschwitz was none of those things. It was one of those experiences that we had been looking forward to having had done, if that makes sense. We knew it would be somber, and hard, and infuriating, and depressing, and bring up all kinds of emotions, but we also knew it was important; as ugly as it is, the history of the Holocaust reminds us of what we are capable of as humans, and hopefully helps us see more clearly our own humanity in others. All throughout our travels, there have been relics of empires that once thrived and then were conquered - castles and fortresses and palaces and temples; there have been distant echoes of great battles, and the loss and suffering that came with them. But this. This wasn't hundreds of years ago, and the relics aren't castles up on a hillside. This happened yesterday. And the relics are brick barracks that were crammed tight with hundreds of people, firing lines and gas chambers that were used to murder millions, and mass graves where bodies and ashes were buried. It was shoes of children and adults alike, hundreds of thousands of eyeglasses, and luggage that was packed in a hurry, and in vain. It wasn't long ago, and the echoes of these horrendous travesties are still heard in our present-day political discourse.