Saturday, May 28, 2011

Terezin and Lidice

Today was a tough day for everyone. We visited the concentration camp and ghetto of Terezin and the lost city of Lidice. Some of the stories and the sights were too horrible to even fully comprehend. The sheer number of people that lost their lives at these places or leaving these places is incomprehensible. I cannot understand what makes people treat each other in ways like this. I really can't.

We started the day at the small fortress of Terezin. The fortress and town were built in the 1700s by the Austrian queen as protection. It is shaped like a giant star with grassy hills surrounding it so no bullets could get through. During World War II, the small fortress was used as a prison and working camp mostly for political prisoners, but sometimes Jews and others.

The gate to the camp, "Work makes free"

The sleeping quarters. Our tour guide told us at the end of the war up to 60 people would have to share this room.

The main pathway when you walk in.

The showers which were allowed few and far between

One of the interesting things about Terezin is that it was used as a source of propaganda. During the war, the Red Cross announced they were going to visit the area to make sure that the people were being treated fairly. In order to pass inspection they fake beautified a lot of the areas in the town and the prison. Here is a room that was full of fake washing sinks. None of the pipes, however, were connected to anything it was just for show. They also had a fake hospital in the prison.

This is the spot where the only escapees left Terezin prison.

The fortress was covered with long tunnels like this one we walked through. These tunnels weren't used during World War II because they were closed to prevent escapes, but they were used during the Hapsburg times.

A picture of how a lot of the fortress looked

The Nazi's swimming pool they had right outside of the prison. They apparently made the prisoners make it with their bare hands.

A list of the other camps that prisoners and people from the ghetto were taken too. Many did not survive.

Hall of smaller prison rooms.

Memorial to those who died in the fortress

This is the town of Terezin. The actual town was evacuated and used as a Jewish ghetto. This was a way for the Germans to consolidate the Jews while the other camps were being finished. We learned the town originally held approximately 6,000 people I think we were told. However, towards the end of the war the population had swelled to nearly 60,000 (these are rough numbers). Over 150,000 people went through the ghetto total since there were constantly large groups being deported to Auschwitz and other camps. Many people also died in the ghetto because extreme crowding made the living conditions so poor.

The train tracks where they would take people from the ghetto to other camps.

Jewish cemetery where they first buried the dead from Terzin. However, it eventually became a health concern when so many people started dying so they began to cremate them.

Crematorium

Map of Terezin. On left is the walled in town and on the right is the small fortress that was used as a prison.

Sign for the ghetto museum. It was very well done and informative.

After Terezin, we went to a town called Lidice. After Czechoslovakia was taken over by the Germans in World War II, they put a man named Reinhard Heydrich in charge of this area which at that time was known as the German Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. Heydrich killed many Czech people and was a horribly tough leader, which is why he was assassinated by two men from London working for the Czech government in exile. Hitler was outraged that this high ranking officer had been killed and decided to make the Czech people pay for it. He killed anyone that he thought might have been involved in this plan which was over 1,000 people. He also decided that this small town of Lidice was connected, even though it was not. Lidice was a town of approximately 500 people. They ordered the town be completely eliminated. Gestapo officers went to the town, sent all the women and children to concentration camps, and murdered every single one of the men. Most of the children were also murdered by gas vans a short while later.

The town was then completely destroyed along with its inhabitants. They not only set fire to it, but they also used explosives to completely level everything that was left. They also uprooted trees and dug up and removed their grave yard. They basically completely eliminated every aspect of the town.

Lidice before June 10th, 1942

What Lidice looks like now..

Memorial to those who died

Replication of the wall the men were murdered against

Only remnants of a house.

Statue to represent all the children that had died.

Lidice was very difficult to stomach. It was especially disgusting that the Germans had documented every step of this process very closely to use to scare the Czech people from messing with them. They have actual video footage of blowing up the town. Its so hard to understand because Lidice was literally chosen at random there was no point to this.

Today was very difficult and I can't even imagine how hard it is going to be traveling to Auschwitz next week. It is very hard to put into words how terrible it is, but I think it is important for people to visit these sights and try to understand and work to prevent the same from happening again.

Thursday, May 26, 2011

First week of classes is done!!


We have successfully survived our first week of classes at Charles University! It's nice to have it be the weekend because even though all my classes are interesting having to sit through class for 4-7 hours a day is completely exhausting and reminiscent of high school. yuck. Yesterday after class we went to the Palladium which is a mall about a 10 minute walk from school that has over 200 stores. I liked seeing all the different styles Europeans wear. They had a much better H&M than KOP. Oh, to the left is a picture of the dorm that I keep forgetting to post. It looks incredibly depressing from the outside I know but the inside is fine.

For dinner we went to a pizza restaurant and then we decided to stop by a pub for a while. We went to this place near our school called "The Pub" run by the beer company Pilsner. Every table has their own tap and in the middle of the table there is a mini computer so whenever you want beer you select your number and then pour your beer. This way the computer tracks how much you personally have to pay for and how much the table has collectively consumed. Then on the wall they project the top 10 tables in the pub so people get kind of competitive over trying to get their table on the board.

Today we just had European Integration and the language class. We started going over facts about the Holocaust for our trip to Terezin and Lidice tomorrow. In Czech class, we watched a movie about the rise and fall of the Communist regime in the Czech Republic. It was fascinating and extremely powerful. It's crazy to see how much Prague and Czech Republic have grown since that time even though it was only twenty years ago. We all want to ask everyone we see so many questions about what it was like to live under a Communist regime and where they were during all these major events, but people don't like to talk about those days so its a difficult subject to broach.

After class we just relaxed and then took a tram down to Mala Strana by Petrin Hill for dinner. We found a cute little Italian restaurant where you could sit outside and watch people and cute dogs pass while we ate. I had fantastic penne with chicken and broccoli for a reasonable price. I would definitely go back there.

Laura and I went to see if we could find the Lennon wall after dinner. The Lennon Wall is this wall tucked behind this church that has been filled with graffiti ever since Lennons death. To the youth of Prague in the 1980s Lennon represented pacifism. This wall has been used to write odes to Lennon as well as grievances against the government. Even after being painted over multiple times the wall quickly fills up again with paint. The wall was covered with sayings in many different languages about love, hope, government and everything you could think of. It also included many Beetles lyrics as you would assume.

When walking to the river we also found a bridge covered with love padlocks where lovers lock their lock onto the bridge and then throw away the key to symbolize their love will last forever. It was completely packed people had started adding in bike lock chains just so they could add more locks to this bridge it was crazy.

Tomorrow we are going to a concentration camp, Terezin, and Lidice which was a town that was completely eliminated during the Holocaust. It is also supposed to rain all day. No one is especially looking forward to it, but we know that it is something everyone should experience.

Here are some more pictures from the Lennon Wall and the locks:










Tuesday, May 24, 2011

From Tourist to Student


We spent both Sunday and Monday on classic Prague tourist adventures! On Sunday we decided to go visit the castle (yes, the one that is conveniently on our way to school). We walked around the different areas for a while. The old gothic church is absolutely gorgeous. The inside has the highest ceilings you could imagine in a building and the most intricate stained glass windows.

We purchased tickets to see their current exhibit called "The Story of the Castle". It included some history about the castle and Czech land in general, but also many relics from the area including clothing, old crowns, etc. We could have spent hours in there, but we eventually left because we were all starving.

Lunch was found at a tiny restaurant off a side street in Mala Strana which is down the hill from the castle. I had my first taste of beef goulash which was quite scrumptious, but very filling!

After lunch we went for a walk on a search for ice cream. We ended up finding a cute park right by the river. We wandered it for a while and then hung out by the river before heading back and getting some ice cream (or zmrzlina as they call it here).

More pictures from the castle day:

Front view of the castle

Inside of the huge Gothic church

Beautiful view from outside the castle

Waterside. I really want to go on one of those paddleboats all those people are riding in the background.

Weird art in the park we found

A picture of a tram..the transportation we use to get most places if we don't want to walk. It is very clean and smooth and comes every 4-5 minutes during the day so we never have to wait long

I'm in Prague!

Monday morning we officially started our classes at Charles University. Mondays and Wednesdays I have Czech Politics class from 9-12 with a Czech Professor. The class seems really interesting covering things from the history of Czech Republic, to Communism, and the current government and politics. Our professor speaks very fluent English and seems to know everything. He lectured for three hours straight without looking at notes once, but it was all very organized and thought out. He prefers having class outside which was obviously fine with us. He took us down by the river and we just sat on benches and took notes it was gorgeous and wonderful.

After that we had our European Integration and Czech Language classes. European Integration is taught by a William and Mary Professor and seems fascinating as well. We are mostly focusing on the history of the European Union, but also on how all of the countries in Europe fit together and their current status in the World. I am not exactly thrilled about doing any sort of work while staying in this beautiful city, but its good impetus to study and learn when the subjects are so interesting.

Monday night we decided to check out Petrin Hill. It's a local park thats a huge hill that provides a great view of the city. However, on our way there we got a bit lost. We got on the normal tram (or so we thought), but realized a few minutes later that we were in the suburbs of the city instead of the center. After correcting our mistake and taking a different tram back into the city we arrived at Petrin Hill. The climb up was brutal and my legs are still sore today, but it was definitely worth it. At the top of the hill they have a miniature replica of the Eiffel tower that I think is about 60 meters high that gets you above the treeline so you can take fantastic pictures of the city (once you climb about a zillion stairs).

After the Eiffel tower we descended the hill (unfortunately on the wrong side) and ended up in the backyard of the Germany Embassy with a security guard glaring at us. Once we relievedly figured out that we were not in trouble and that there was an exit other than climbing back up the huge hill we were overjoyed and began our search for food. We ended up at a restaurant called Bar Bar that was one of my favorites we have eaten at so far. It was slightly touristy, but everyone loved their food.

Views from Petrin Hill:

Eileen and David on the long, torturous climb up the hill

A sneak view of the city through the trees

An example of the many beautiful gardens at the top of Petrin Hill that make it so worth climbing.

I just thought this was cute aha, but there are seriously so many dogs here and not very many of them have leashes which is really interesting. They don't seem to wonder off from their owners though. I think they have some secret training system we do not.

Shot from the bottom of the fake Eiffel tower.

Looking out the Window over the city

I found my dorm amidst all the houses! It's that grey sad looking building in the back next to the green roofed place

Prague..I can't stop looking at these pictures they are all so pretty

The castle

Charles Bridge: the most famous bridge in the city and the only pedestrian bridge. It is adorned with symbolic statues

Another shot of the castle..It's hard to pick what pictures to add out of the millions I have from this look out

Such a big city!

The United States Embassy that we passed on the way to dinner.

The restaurant we ate at. Amusing name and SUCH GOOD FOOD

Today, Tuesday, I only have my European Integration and Czech language classes so I spent the morning doing homework and going on a run through this beautiful part of town. It was gorgeous, but my legs are dying because of all the hills (not going to lie the run turned into more of a walk/jog). Laura and I got lunch at Bohemia Bagel by Old Town square. It was an American tourists dream! They had fountain soda, ice, free refills, and recognizable sandwiches. We happily ate a ridiculous amount of food. After class I just relaxed and did work because I was not feeling that great. But by dinner time I was feeling okay so Maegan and I went to Maly Buddha again. It is quickly turning into my favorite restaurant here.

Well I have to go to bed because I have almost seven hours of class tomorrow. I hope that we go outside again for Czech Politics.

-Sarah