Wow oh wow, have we got some catching up to do. A lot has happened since we last checked in so Squirt and I are going to post things in sections. Starting with Krakow….
On Monday, September 12th, (Jeez that was ages ago) we arrived in Krakow, a bit groggy from an uncomfortable over-night bus, but ready to explore.
First stop, we needed to drop our bags off at our hostel. This hostel was recommended to us by a travel companion we met in Budapest. They have 3 in the city, a Party Hostel, a Beer House, and a “normal” hostel. We went for the normal one. (Old farts that we are.)
What was so great about this hostel is what it offered. In the cost of the night, which was cheap by most hostel standards, you get a full breakfast spread, and dinner spread, tea and coffee all day, and post dinner drinks. What more could you ask for? So of course we decided to stay there. And not only that, the staff were super nice and helpful. After a rough over-night bus, they offered Squirt and I a place to store our belongings, food and the chance to shower and clean up. Well above and beyond what you would expect of most hostels.
At breakfast, we got chatting with the other guests. This is the most social hostel we had been in yet, and we were meeting some like minded people. This was a great change after our last 2 experiences. Next thing we knew a whole group of us were heading to the St. Florian’s Gate at the entrance to the main city center to start our free walking tour.
This tour took us through the city and all its history. As with all the cities we had been to so far, this one had been claimed by various nationalities, therefore, had many different cultural influences represented all throughout. In addition, there was a very large and deep rooted Jewish history, which was why we felt it important to do a Jewish walking tour as well as the general historical walking tour.
For so many years, Kraków was the capitol of Poland. It was only in 1596 that Warsaw was made the capitol due to its central location between the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. It was King Sigismund III who decided to move his court from Kraków to Warsaw. Over the next 300 years Poland was ruled or joint ruled by various other nations. It wasn’t until 1918 when Poland became the Republic of Poland. However, during WWII Kraków was made the capitol of Germany’s General Government.
Centrally located in the Main Market Square is the Gothic Cloth Hall which was built during the Renaissance era, along with the city hall. It was built as a center for international trade of goods. Now it’s lined with shops from local vendors selling, silks, leather, jewels, textiles, and of course your staple tourist items. The town hall located directly next to the cloth hall only has the tower remaining. The town hall was demolished in 1820 during the Austrian Partition. The only reason the tower remains is due to the protests the city received. And lastly in the main market square is St. Mary’s Basilica.
One name you’ll hear a lot when it comes to the history of Krakow, is King Casimir III the Great. And the great he was. He reigned from 1333-1370 as the kingdom had been weakened by war. But during his time as ruler, he rebuilt his kingdom’s prosperity and economy. He doubled the size of his kingdom, mostly by waging wars with modern day Ukraine. And built multiple building, castles and structures during his time. King Casimir was a huge fan and supporter of the Jews and set up laws to protect them as people of the king. He even designated a whole area just for them, now known as Kazmierz.
It was in Kazmierz where the majority of the Jewish community lived for centuries. It was only in 1939 when Germany made Kraków the capitol of the General Government and they moved all the Jewish to the Kraków Ghetto across the river. Before the war there were 68,000 Jews in Kraków alone. Following the war, there were only 2,000 remaining. Today, there are only a couple 100 practicing and/or known Jews. The reason for there being so few now is because during the Soviet era. There were various reasons for the Jews to leave, but long story short, the majority left, or were forced to turn their backs on their religion. It is only now that they are starting to return or re-surface or rediscover their heritage.
One of the more famous Jewish stories that come from Kraków is the Schindler Factor. Most everyone has probably heard of the The Schindler’s List, which was made into a film by Steven Spielberg.
Oskar Schindler was a German industrialist, spy, and part of the Nazi party, but is most famous for saving the lives of 1,200 Jews during the Holocaust. When Germany invaded Poland, Schindler acquired a central factory and used it as an enamelware and ammunitions factory. Over the 5 years of Schindler running the factory, more and more of his employees were Jewish. He started employing Jews because they were cheaper than Poles but later employed them as a protection, since he started to grow a fondness to them. Of the jobs the Jewish were allowed, Schindler’s factor was one of the best places they could work. They received proper meals, decent hours, and sometimes better living quarters.
In 1940 Nazis had all Jews removed from their homes and most were sent to concentration camps. Only a small amount were left in Krakow and all were moved to the Kraków Ghetto. All of Schindler’s employees were permitted to stay in Kraków. As the situation became more dangerous for his Jewish employees, he had them stay the night at the factory to help protect them from the streets where they could potentially be shot. This was when Schindler began his plan to leave Kraków and save as many Jews as he could.
Through many bribes and lots of Schindler’s own money he was able to save 1,000 of his own Jewish workers along with another 250 from another factory. It wasn’t an easy process and he was constantly under the Nazi Regime’s watchful eye. After the war, he was still in danger since he had been part of the Nazi Party. Thankfully, because of his deeds and connections many Jewish prepared a statement attesting to his role in saving Jewish lives. However, the next challenge was getting to American territory where he could be safe. Despite basically living the rest of his life in constant bankruptcy he always had funds sent to him from his many Jewish contacts.
Another major site to see in Kraków is the royal palace, Wawel Royal Castle and the Wawel Catherdral. Again, another product of King Casimir III. Really what Squirt and I enjoyed the most about this area was the Cathedral. We like to call it the Frankenstein cathedral but that’s not it’s real name. It’s full name is Royal Archcathedral Basilica of Saints Stanislaus and Wenceslaus on the Wawel Hill. The reason we like to call it Frankenstein is because it looks like 10 different people designed it and came together and they pieced it into one building. To be honest, we are not able to find out why it looks like this, only the fact that it was built over a 1000 year span. So likely it’s been added onto, destroyed and rebuilt, or just altered over the years.
Every city we have been in, we have wanted to try all the local foods, but have found it challenging, especially on our own. You don’t always know what is considered local and if you have to order a whole meal for each food item, you just can’t physically eat it all, and it can get quite expensive. Instead, in Kraków, we found a walking food tour. You pay a small fee and that gives you samples from various different eateries along with the history and how to prepare these items from a specialist.
On this tour we got to try 9 different items and variations of some of these. First was Zurek, which is a soup that is traditionally had on Easter. The soup base is a flour paste and in it is barely, egg, and sausage. Traditional Zurek should be a thick soup, and the one we had was thick and satisfying. Next stop was to a local market. In this market we first tried fresh made cheese. Best cheese we’ve ever had. Then we were taken around to different stalls and were given a fresh made pickle, a bag of sauerkraut, a sausage, and we ended at the bakery where we were given 2 different types of bread. We got to make ourselves little sandwiches with our collections and it was so satisfying.
Next stop was the one item Squirt had been looking forward to the most; pierogi. You can’t go to Poland and not try a proper pierogi. Pierogis in Poland are most traditional on Christmas Eve with their big dinner. And the most traditional pierogi is stuffed with cottage cheese and potato, generally with caramelized onions on top. These were the most amazing things we have eaten. So good that we returned to this place multiple times afterwards. As an added treat, we were handed a plate of cherry filled pierogi with sour cream on top. Despite the cherries, these were still quite savory. Our last official stop was to be show how to properly take a vodka shot, the Polish way. Following the shot, you are supposed to follow the shot either with herring on bread or some fat on bread. (We have since learned this is the same in Ukraine, but we’ll get to that.)
You can’t go to Kraków without at least being aware of both Auschwitz and the Salt Mines. For the most part, everyone who visits Kraków goes to one or both of these. Of course, Squirt and I went to both.
Our second day in Kraków we caught an early bus to the town Oświęcim which is originally the Polish name for the town. Once the Germans took over during WWII they Germanized the name by calling it Auschwitz. Recently, Poland has wanted to help encourage people to move back there, so they have returned to calling the city Oświęcim and only the camps are called Auschwitz (There were 3 camps in total).
When tourist go to Auschwitz, the first place they arrive to generally Auschwitz I, which was the smaller of the camps and more of the base for the administration. This is more like a museum now, with each of the buildings being dedicated to the different countries who have some history in Auschwitz. What was impressive with that, was that each country was allowed to make those buildings into a museum in memory of their victims and survivors. This was actually quite easy to navigate without a tour guide because there were descriptions every where and in different languages.
The other location most tourist visit is Auschwitz II – Birchenhaus. This is the camp that Squirt and I had in mind before we left to visit Auschwitz. Only, nothing could prepare us for the vastness of this place. Before the shuttle had stopped in front, we were already in tears thinking about how much pain and turmoil had to have happened there. Most of the buildings were destroyed, either from the Nazis destroying evidence or just from time. In an eerie kind of way, all the remains of most of the barracks are the chimneys since they were made of brick. If very haunting to walk the steps of 1,000’s who lost their lives for merely existing.
The things that truly moved Squirt and I:
Walking along the train tracks that pull directly into the camp. Knowing that each of the cars on that train were packed so tight with people they couldn’t even move. And once these people are removed from the train nearly 90% of them were directed straight to the gas chamber. So many of them had no chance of survival despite the little bits of hope they may have been given.
Going to the back of the camp and seeing the destroyed gas chambers and seeing
The furnaces left at Auschwitz I
the remains of the furnaces. Since Squirt and I chose not to have a guide, we would stand near other guides and listen to some of the stories. The guide that was talking about the furnaces was explaining how crowds of people were told to get into these showers. Since most didn’t understand German they were confused and afraid and just did as they were told. Of course, before they were told to shower, they were asked to remove their clothing since clothes were worth a lot during the war. It’s just awful to think about what these people were capable of doing.
The moment the full impact really hit Squirt and I, was when we entered one of the barracks. Seeing the beds stacked 3 high, knowing there had to be 4-7 people in each bed, walking amongst these beds, really hit us deep.
On a more uplifting note, on our last day in Kraków Squirt and I decided to go to the Salt Mines. We were told this was a must see and it’s certainly impressive. When they first discovered the salt mines, working in the mines was considered one of the most respected jobs especially since salt was worth as much as gold, since it was used as a preservative. Not only was it highly respected, but it was extremely safe. Not to mention being surrounded by the salt was really good for the lungs. They say, if you have asthma, staying a day in the salt mines will help your breathing drastically.
The polish salt mines are known for their carvings and chapels. The men who worked in the mines were quite artistic and loved to carve statues and memorials, along with some home traditions. But more famously, they were religious and liked to have places where they could say their prayers. Throughout the mines are many different chapels, but most famously is the St. Kinga’s Chapel. Everything in the chapel is made from salt, with the exception of the chandeliers, which are made of wood now covered in salt and salt crystals. This is actually still a working chapel at 130 meters deep.
Well… That’s all from Kraków and there is loads more to come from Ukraine.
Swimming with Turtles in Paris 