blitzkrieg

Definition from Merram-Webster Dictionary Online: war conducted with great speed and force; specifically : a violent surprise offensive by massed air forces and mechanized ground forces in close coordination. Even though experts consider the method most uniquely used against France's superior forces later in WW II, the term was coined after the German invasion of Poland in 1939, which started WW II in Europe. For more info on the word and the history, go here.

Here's how my weekend began. Three of my roommates had been planning a quick trip to Poland, but originally, I planned to skip out. Then I'm hanging out Thursday evening, listening to their plans and preparations, and I think, "Maybe I'll go. It's only a $65 train ride, no hostel costs, take my own food, not a bad trip." That was at 7:30pm. We were on the train to Krakow at 8:55. How's that for quick decision-making?

With an 8 hour train ride, the game plan called for sleeping on the train, catching an early morning train from Krakow to Auschiwitz, returning to Krakow for the afternoon and evening, and returning to Praha on the 10:30 pm train from Krakow. Precisely how it happened.....or close anyway. The sleeping involved proved quite cumbersome. The four of us were in a 2nd class car together. We tried all sorts of positions trying to sleep, but to very little avail. About halfway into the trip, we notice several empty cars, so we're able to spread out, 2 ppl per car, and get slightly more comfortable for sleeping purposes. Oh, and the first ticket guy attempted to communicate with us, but we couldn't quite get the message. We figured he meant to tell us he's be going back and forth from different cars, or something. No big deal.

Nope. Come 3:30 am, we were aroused from our fake sleep. The message was then clear: our car was being cut off the train, so we had to move if we wanted to keep going to Krakow. We spent the next 10 groggy minutes asking various peeps around the platform: "Krakow? Krakow?" One guy pointed to one car and we went in. Then another guy on the car said, "No, this train is going to Warsaw." And so on. Finally, we got on the Krakow car, and to our dismay, we were forced to split up this time. Leah and I joined Mr. Stinky Foot Man in one car while Jenweb and Nicole shared with a quiet young Asian couple. Lucky for them, the couple got off the train about an hour and half shy of Krakow, so they had it to themselves for a little bit.

We arrived in Krakow somewhat grouchy, slightly disoriented, and a bit disheveled. Then we boarded a train to Auschwitz not long after that. We joined a cute young guy in his car. He was all suited up, and he had a certificate document that resembled a diploma. And he was quite obviously nervous. We speculated that he was on the way to his first post-graduation interview. And we liked him because he got off on the first stop. It was a short ride to Auschwitz, so we dozed a little, but mostly just chilled.

Auschwitz has yet to fully digest for me. We arrived there around 8 am, and our best choice for a return train to Krakow was 11:20. We booked it to the museum to get information. Auschwitz included three camps: Auschwitz I was the administration center; Auschwitz II-Birkenau was the extermination camp; and Auschwitz III was the work camp. There were also about 40 satellite camps around Auschwitz III. When prisoners arrived at Auschwitz, they were divided into groups: women, children, elderly, and the sick were sent straight to Auschwitz II-Birkenau; men who could work went to Auschwitz III or one of the satellites.

It was raining lightly, but we went ahead and walked the 1.5 miles to Birkenau-Auschwitz II. We all wanted to see the barracks and the gas chambers. In November 1944, right before the war ended, the Schutzstaffel, SS (German for Protective Squadron) bombed the gas chambers in an attempt to destroy the evidence of their crimes to save themselves from advancing Soviet troops. But rather than actually eliminating them, they actually became exposed. We saw the barracks and the ruins. I think there may have been more to see, but by this time, the rain was steady, the wind had picked up, and the temperature had dropped. We were all cold and wet. Maybe I'll go back another time when I can take a slower pace and explore more.

In the barracks, I was really touched by the roses people had placed on several bunks. You can see the picture I took. And initially, I thought the chimneys coming out of the ground were evidence of the gas chambers below ground. But they are actually barracks ruins. The gas chamber ruins that we saw was roped off because of the rubble. The fact that we were the only people in all of Birkenau made the experience majorly creepy and way more powerful than if it had been crowded and sunny. I get frustrated when I have it shoved in my face that depressing historical sites are also tourist attractions, so to speak.

When we walked back to the Birkenau museum, we asked the one guy there to call a taxi back to the train station for us. We weren't convinced that he understood, but he led us outside and kind of wrote with his finger on the door. I thought he was trying to explain how to walk back to the train station. Nope, he was writing how much he would charge to drive us himself. Felt like I was back in Tblisi, Georgia where the lady who owned our hostel would call her friend to drive us to the airport.

Krakow was fun. We spent two hours eating lunch, staying warm, and drying off as much as possible. We ate Polish peirogi, which reminded me of Georgian khinkali, and I had a cup of stone soup. My peirogi had cabbabe and mushrooms. Jenweb and Nicole also had white keilbasa, and Leah had a broth with meat dumplings and salad bar. The salad bar was fascinating: shredded carrots, red cabbage, white cabbage all marinated in a sugar-lemon juice. I've had a cucumber salad that resembled it. Obviously :), salads doesn't mean lettuce, or even an assortment of vegetables in a bowl. In Georgia, it mean sliced cucumbers and tomatoes on plate. In Czech cuisine it matches Leah's Polish salad bar: one vegetable or another shredded and marinated, served by itself in a bowl. We also shared a couple of delicious desserts. One was essentially crepes with raspberry jam and the other french toast with peaches. Yummy. Eating so much amazing food right after the Auschwitz experience was bizarre.

When the umbrellas came down, we ventured out on the old town square. Krakow reminded us of Prague, only smaller and less touristy. We spent the afternoon and evening exploring and taking pictures of the city.

Our train back to Prague left at 10:30pm Friday evening. We were careful to pick a car as close to the front of the train as possible, but we still had a scare halfway through the trip. The long stop en route made Nicole nervous, so we all roused, thinking we'd have pick a new car like before. But a lady assured us in English that we were fine. This was our first opportunity to split into two cars. And now we're home, and we've all had our long naps.....36 hours older.