The Polish language uses many long words, but the reason was explained to us. We use a word and then add adjectives to it to make the meaning more precise. In Polish, the adjectives are included within the word itself. Polish has a word for 'outside your home' and another for 'outside in the meadow' and another for 'outside on the playing field'. Today children in Poland start learning English while in elementary school; widely understood by young Poles. As one young Pole stated to us, "English is the universal language." Learning English facilitates joining the world economy.
Our guide yesterday told us a story about his grandmother: During WWII, the Germans took most of the food for their army, leaving very little for the Poles. His grandmother went out in the forest looking for edible plants to feed her family. On the way home, she discovered some spilled wheat along the road. She gathered it and hurried home and used it to bake some bread for her family. Neighbors smelled the bread. Two days later, German SS soldiers came to their home, took her away, and she was never seen again. The guide said that 95% of Polish families have similar stories.
This was the only photo of the Auschwitz-Birkenau camps that I took.
There is much to be seen, but I couldn't bring myself to think of it as
"interesting pictures"; more a place of solemn reflection and respect
for the million-plus victims.
Few people know of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, a secret plan between Hitler and Stalin to divide up the Eastern European countries. When Hitler attacked Poland from the west in 1939, Stalin also attacked Poland but from the east (also attacking Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania). They were initially allies in aggression. Poor Poland had no chance. Rather than be destroyed, Kraków put up the white flag, and Polish military forces headed for France and England to escape. Some of the pilots defending England in the "Battle of Britain" were Poles. Polish troops fought alongside Americans when retaking Europe.
The King of Kraków (the castle is still there) invited Jews to settle in the prosperous city to aid its growth. Prior to WWII, there were 65,000 Jews in Kraków. Today, there are about 200. About 60,000 died in the Nazi gas chambers. Otto Schindler had his factory in Kraków and was able to save about a thousand. The release of "Schindler's List" coincided with increasing tourism to Kraków; today his factory is a museum.
I find history to be extremely interesting and explanatory of the world we live in.
Our guide yesterday told us a story about his grandmother: During WWII, the Germans took most of the food for their army, leaving very little for the Poles. His grandmother went out in the forest looking for edible plants to feed her family. On the way home, she discovered some spilled wheat along the road. She gathered it and hurried home and used it to bake some bread for her family. Neighbors smelled the bread. Two days later, German SS soldiers came to their home, took her away, and she was never seen again. The guide said that 95% of Polish families have similar stories.
Few people know of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, a secret plan between Hitler and Stalin to divide up the Eastern European countries. When Hitler attacked Poland from the west in 1939, Stalin also attacked Poland but from the east (also attacking Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania). They were initially allies in aggression. Poor Poland had no chance. Rather than be destroyed, Kraków put up the white flag, and Polish military forces headed for France and England to escape. Some of the pilots defending England in the "Battle of Britain" were Poles. Polish troops fought alongside Americans when retaking Europe.
The King of Kraków (the castle is still there) invited Jews to settle in the prosperous city to aid its growth. Prior to WWII, there were 65,000 Jews in Kraków. Today, there are about 200. About 60,000 died in the Nazi gas chambers. Otto Schindler had his factory in Kraków and was able to save about a thousand. The release of "Schindler's List" coincided with increasing tourism to Kraków; today his factory is a museum.
I find history to be extremely interesting and explanatory of the world we live in.
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