Europe Trip - Day 7

June 21, 2010

We stopped and went through a salt mine and had lunch there. It was fascinating. We walked down 54 flights of stairs (378 stairs) to start the tour and then walked down further on our tour. An underground chapel carved from salt along with many other creations. Brittany and sat with the group from Minnesota at lunch and had good conversation with them. The elevator up from the salt mine was about 2 ft by 4 ft and we had at least 10 people in it. That was the absolutely worst part.

Lunch was weiner schnitzel; excellent.

We learned of two games from the Minnesota group - Slam Scrabble and Alibi.

The afternoon was all Auschwitz and Birkenau. Just overwhelming. We walked through both camps and then stopped at the memorial to the victims. We had a short service and a Freshman in the Minnesota group read the following, which he wrote:

"Auschwits, for me, was the most anticipated part of this trip. Countless school days were spent studying and and reading about it. However, it was not until I arrived in Europe that I realized we didn't come for Auschwitz. We came for those who suffered there. Here they are the lost, but not the least. Auschwitz is the blank page, and those who suffered are the ink that portrays the awful story that is the Holocaust. And for that reason all who came here shall remember those who perished where we stand. For who could pass up the chance to remember those who should never be forgotten."

Kelsey was crying hard as we left Auschwitz. She stayed behind as we moved towards the bus so I went back in after her. We stood under the main entrance way and cried hard. I told her that it was up to each individual and the goodness in each heart to prevent this type of evil from ever occurring again. No sooner than I had said that, a lady from the many people entering Auschwitz reached out to Kelsey and comforted her in her own language. Poignant.

Every person should walk through and experience the history of these horrors.

Elena mentioned a book, The Lucifer Effect, that she suggested all read. It helps to understand how a righteous person can be put in a position to do evil.

We went back to the Old Town for dinner. Even though dinners at the hotels were included in our tour costs, they were just too bland or awful.

Hannah told us about her pet rooster Pablo over a wonderful pierogie dinner at Old Town in Krakow.