October 26, 2021: Dzień dobry! We just came back from our 5-day excursion to Poland, which was filled with historical tours, museums, biking, soccer, salt mines, and meeting another former Carl. The fall colors were beautiful in Krakow and we even had the chance to try some traditional Polish food.
[Note: Out of respect for the victims of the Holocaust and our accompanying desire to respect and honor locations of historical trauma, the pictures from Auschwitz, Birkenau, and the Jewish cemetery in Krakow do not include members of the program.]
On Tuesday morning, we visited TH Klinika to attend a guest lecture by Professor Ondrej Trojan on the assessment of sexual paraphilias. He provided a brief overview of the classifications of paraphilic disorders and explained the use of PPG (penile plethysmography) in diagnosing sexual paraphilias and evaluating the efficacy of treatment. It was another great clinic visit that has further contributed to our understanding of the treatment of sex offenders in the Czech Republic.
In preparation for leaving for Poland, we had movie night at Ken’s apartment to watch Schindler’s List, since we are visiting Schindler’s factory, Auschwitz, and many other relevant locations while in Poland. The movie was very heavy and sad, but we all agreed that it was valuable to have watched it before leaving on our trip. Afterwards, we left on our sleeper train to Krakow to begin our journey!
On Wednesday, we arrived in Krakow bright and early! After checking into the hotel and eating breakfast, we went on a walking tour of Krakow to learn about the history of the city. One of the interesting facts we learned was that there was originally a moat around the medieval city of Krakow, but that it was replaced with a park that currently encircles the old castle grounds.
After the tour, we had some free time to explore the sights. Some of us went to Cloth Hall, a historical marketplace that currently consists of booths selling jewelry, trinkets, and other Krakow-themed souvenirs.
On Thursday, we went on a tour of the old Jewish Quarter in Krakow. We started off the tour with a look inside an orthodox synagogue that was used as a storage space during Nazi occupation. After that, we visited the Jewish cemetery. Since it was used as a place for dumping trash and corpses during WWII, most of the gravestones were removed to make roads and walls for the Jewish ghetto. Many of the gravestones were returned to the cemetery after the war but were often placed randomly since the placement and identity of the graves was no longer known.
We had a quick lunch in the Jewish Quarter, where we tried zapienkanka, an open-faced baguette topped with cheese, mushrooms, and tons of other topping options. Very tasty, but a ton of food!
After lunch, we explored the Museum of Wartime Krakow, located in the former Schindler’s factory. The museum was very immersive, with audio recordings, videos, replica rooms, and original pictures.
On Friday, we had class in the morning in one of the conference rooms in the hotel. We discussed the political abuse of psychiatry in the Soviet Union under communism and went over the difficulties with separating diagnosis from societal norms and expectations.
After lunch, some of us rented bikes and rode along the river. It was very windy on the way there, but the fall scenery was gorgeous. Ken, Joey, and I continued onwards and stopped at a restaurant for lemonade and mango chili smoothies.
For dinner, we met with Carleton alum Konrad Patterson, who graduated in 2005 and has lived off and on in Krakow since graduation. We had a great time talking to him about his experiences living and working in Poland and enjoyed a whole group dinner.
On Saturday, we had a somber visit to Auschwitz and Birkenau. We toured several of the barracks and saw the remains of the gas chambers and crematoriums, as well as the numerous memorials dedicated to the victims and survivors of the Holocaust. The sheer number of lives lost was brought into perspective through the piles of shoes, hair, and belongings of the victims, which filled multiple rooms within the camp.
In Birkenau, we learned about the horrible working and living conditions in the camp and were able to walk on our own around the perimeter of the massive, fenced area. The day was a powerful reminder of the horrific tragedies that occurred at the hands of the Nazis, and we left feeling emotionally drained and changed by the experience.
Some of the group braved the cold and wind on Saturday night to go see the Wisla Krakow soccer match. The team lost by a lot, but the antics of the superfans made up for the loss. At one point, fans in the crowd set off fireworks over the field, prompting intervention by firefighters.
On Sunday, we checked out of the hotel and left for a guided tour of the Wieliczka salt mines. After going down more than 300 steps, we toured the underground lakes, chapels, and manmade tunnels in the extensive salt mines. After three hours, we had only seen 1% of the total area of the mine!
We ate lunch underground in the mine, which was a unique experience. Ironically, a major complaint was that the fries weren’t salty enough!
After leaving the mine, we took the bus to Nowa Huta, one of only two pre-planned socialist realism cities ever built. In sharp contrast to the picturesque buildings in Old Town in Krakow, Nowa Huta is grey and concrete, with strong reminders of its communist history. We also visited the Lord’s Ark, a Catholic church built in direct opposition to the government and filled with anti-communism symbolism.
We were able to see and do so much in Poland in such a short period of time! On Friday, we leave for our last excursion of the term (!) to Karlovy Vary, a spa town in the Czech Republic. Thanks as always for all of the great pictures!