Krakow Understands Freedom

We arrived late in Krakow Saturday evening just in time to check into our hotel and make it to our dinner reservation at a traditional Polish restaurant called Morskie Oko. We were seated in the basement where two parties of large family gatherings were already seated. I ordered perogies and soup, and Paul ordered goulash and we drank some aperitifs while the string ensemble started playing some Polish folk music. The elderly matriarch of one family, complete with a peasant style skirt and colorful scarf on her head, made her way to dance floor to dance to the folk music with the children. We immersed ourselves in the music and good food and enjoyed the company of the Polish families nearby.

The next morning in the market square, we observed that the buildings
were mostly dark and gloomy in Krakow, many of them darkened with age and neglect, maybe even  some of them from the reflection of despair. It has only been since 1981 that Poland was free and not under communist rule. Previous to that, it was oppressed by Hitler's regime. The spirit of the people was far from oppressed. We intended to go to mass at St. Mary's Basilica and we arrived early. The mass from the previous hour was still going on. We would have waited in the church but there was not one empty seat or place to stand. We went back outside and walked around the block and found in just the central market area 22 Catholic churches and each of them had five or six masses on that Sunday morning. We went back to the Basilica as mass was letting out and it was almost impossible to get into the church for the number of people waiting outside to get in. The Polish people had an appreciation for the freedom to go to church. In all the cities I have visited in Europe, Krakow gets the prize for the most church attendance; the church was filled with all ages of devout worshippers. After mass, we visited the altar of Karol Wojtyła, the bishop of Krakow who became Pope John Paul II.

We left the church and walked across the square to Cloth Hall, a market of
handmade goods, Polish dolls and costumes, and pottery. After a few purchases, we stopped to have a Polish beer and lunch and then dropped off our purchases at the hotel before we walked up the hill to Wawel castle. Krakow was the seat of the Polish throne in 1025 and the first coronation of the king took place at Wawel castle. The walk to the castle was a treat, walking through a city park filled with colored leaves and many people strolling. We hiked up the castle and the grounds were amazing, as well as the view over the Vistula (Wisla) River. We considered visiting the inside of the castle and  Leonardo da Vinci's painting Lady with an Ermine, but the lines were long and it was a gorgeous day to be outside. We lingered to watch several newly-married couples walk the grounds to get wedding photos.

We found an Italian restaurant called Trattoria Mamma Mia back by our hotel and ordered Polish wine and an artisan pizza for dinner. This pizza was the best I have ever eaten. The ingredients were fresh, but the crust was exquisite. We didn't expect to find great pizza in Krakow and were pleasantly surprised. We did miss eating with the large families that evening, this night seemed to be older couples and tourists.

The following day was going to be a long one in many respects. We hired a guide to take us to Auschwitz and Birkenau, the concentration camps of World War II just outside of Krakow and then afterwards to the Wieliczka Salt Mines on the outskirts of the city. As a student of World War II having retraced my Dad's steps throughout Europe from his service during the war, I felt I had to go to fully understand the atrocities of the war. I had a patient in the early 1980s who had been a prisoner in Auschwitz and he was ever present on my mind that day. He was a very sweet widowed man who had no children and his sweet approach with those he met stayed with you, in spite of having a Auschwitz tattooed prisoner number on his arm.

The drive to Auschwitz was beyond beautiful. The red

roofs in the valley below blended with the fall foliage in the woods. On the way there, the driver started a movie in the car to give a history of the camp we were about to visit. The movie didn't make it nice. The actual footage of prisoners was shown as well as the remnants of possessions and bodies. What I was viewing inside the car was very different from what I was seeing through the window. It was extremely hard to watch and we approached Auschwitz with a heavy heart and immense sadness.

We walked through the gates recognizing that this place was hell for the prisoners there. We saw photos of the prisoners as they were registered (unless they were killed immediately after they got off the train). They had their possessions taken and their heads shaved and the look in their eyes was extremely fearful. Officially between 1.1 and 1.5 million people died at Auschwitz by the hand of the Nazis. Some people estimate that over 4 million people were killed here. We solemnly walked through the camp, past the gas chambers and furnaces, and the atrocity of what occurred here buried into our hearts. It was impossible to fathom what took place in this camp. We honored the lives that were taken and realized that we stood on Holy ground. Appropriately, this is the end of my travels to study the war.

We drove away and I kept thinking of the many books that I read and of my friend who was a prisoner here. There were some who made it out alive and somehow they managed to go on with their lives. As Elie Wiesel says, "to forget a holocaust is to kill twice". Below is the furnace, the pit where bodies were placed, and memorial for those that died.

We stopped for a snack of perogies and a beer,  and then entered the salt mine on the way home. Wieliczka was started in the 13th century and had continuous mining operations until 2007. Salt prices dropped then and there was flooding in the area, so the mine was shut down and reopened later as a museum. After descending a thousand feet deep, we entered the first of four rooms. The miners were predominantly Catholic and salt statues of religious figures were throughout the passage ways. There was one room containing an altar and masses are said here once a month, and wedding are conducted here as well. 

It was interesting to see the mines, but at the end of the long day, I was glad to leave. The salt mine was interesting but Auschwitz was still on my mind. I wanted to step outside and take in a breath of air. I exhaled and realized that I will never take freedom for granted. Freedom is the oxygen of the soul.