Warsaw

Arrived in Warsaw yesterday and brought rain with me. My CIEE Seminar Ruin & Revival has now begun and great group of people. Had Polish dinner first night and today was full. We went on tour of city in morning including rebuilt old town and areas of Warsaw Ghetto and Warsaw Uprising. Participated in a panel on Memory and Art then went to the new Polin Museum on the 1000 Year History of Jews in Poland. It specifically does not focus on Holocaust but shows other histories prior and after. Trying not make Jewish history just Holocaust history. Very nice place and adjacent to the memorial to the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.  Many people think there was only one uprising here but 2 separate. Also Warsaw was basically completely destroyed by war's end and deliberately. So much rubble that built on top of it. From 1 million inhabitants,before war to only 1000 at end. Then Soviet occupation ad much Soviet control over what and how rebuilt. Interesting day.

Going back to roots!

Today was a great day!
I started early by going back to the cathedral one block over and they were having mass and all doors open. It is very pretty inside but again a poured concrete structure that lacks charisma but the history is what is key. They had many panels inside on the history of church and diocese and was my grandpa 's diocese. They had pics if original cathedral from 1860s and was beautiful but heavily damaged in war and the Soviets and communist regime would not ket rebuild just boarded and bricked over doors and windows! Not until 1989 could they practice freely and so worked to raise $ money and build new one. They are very proud of new  cathedral. They also had stories on priests and nuns who fought for faith by resisting oppression including priest sent to concentration camp in war and nuns who continued help parishioners without a church.

I also stopped by the local city museum . They were kind but did not know about areas outside of city. They did say this,area was traditionally very diverse with many Germans who often affluent,  Poles and Russians. Did also say much destruction during the war and heavy fighting in area.

Next I went to the small town/village of Ostravice south of Ostrava this is very close to where my paternal grandfather grew up before he came to the states as a young man. There is an even smaller little village farther into mountains called Bila but I couldnt get there. Ostravice is the nearest real town and where there is a train station. 

The area is now home to golf courses and ski resorts so I had decided to play some golf in this beautiful area. I thought I could take the train tho I would have change trains in Frydek- Mistek. However there is no transportation between station/town center  and golf course. The hotel had made my tee time and they suggested taking a taxi. The hotel has a taxi company they wirk with and csn charge it to room (which is good as taxis in CZ can be unreliable and often corrupt). They clarified that the train takes 1 1/2 hours sometimes 2 each way , no a/c but taxi only 35 minutes with a/c.  And with prices cheap it was well worth cab ride..AND...I had my cab driver take me to center of town for pics and stopped at town church! Oh my the church is right next to the road and was built in mid-1700s! It has simple exterior but oh my the alter area is magnificent (and locked behind gate)...it was a dramatic surprise but apparently well known in area. I like to think my grandpa might have gone to this church sometime. And right out ftont is,a monument to those who were killed/tortured during WWII  so perfect for me.

Then we headed to golf course which is gorgeous. It starts at foot of mountains and goes up part of one! There is s small hotel and chalets that can be rented as also ski resort. Since i was a little early I sat on porch and had a homemade lemonade which was yummy. There is a heat wave here right now and was above 90 degrees with lots humidity. Now they couldnt find their ladies rental clubs so i had to play with all mens,clubs and took a little bit of work for me but I managed lol. Course and whole area is so beautiful! I wondered what might grandfather would think and I thought about him living there in such beauty but choosing to leave. He left as industry was really developing in Ostrava. He csme to US to own his own land and farm but I must say I cant imagine why chose flat arid area west of Vernon!! It just doesn't compare lol! So I played with a smile and good thoughts in my heart and took lots of pics. It is a very hard course with high ratings but lots of fun. I zoomed around...a group of Asian businessmen even allowed me to play thru. I managed an 83 which I was happy with since didnt know course, had strange clubs and was guessi g many distances. Lol I did have download a length converter app so i could convert meters to yards as listed on scorecard.  It was a fun adventure and people at club were very nice and helpful. One young lady told me Bila is pretty but very small. No one had heard of any "Matysek"s lol. (And there are no phonebooks)

I really enjoyed my day of exploration and so fun to see area I had heard about all my life! 

Tmr morning I catch the train to Warsaw to begin my seminar.

Day of travel to Ostrava

Today was day of travel and meeting people! Long trip on train from Nuremberg to Munich to Vienna to Ostrava. And trains were late. Also there is heat wave here with temps in 90s and most places dont have a/c! The last train of day from Vienna to Ostrava was an old train with  little a/c but had fun folks to ride with. Two younger ladies had seats around me and they spoke English. They were friends travelling to a wedding in Warsaw. They were also both diplomats which is how they met when working in Vienna. One is from South Africa and currently on a sabbatical to work with the Intntl Atomic Energy Agency. The other is from Malaysia and has just returned to work there but came back for wedding. They were great and true global citizens!  

Arrived in Oatrava which is main city in area from which grandpa came.  City is mainly industrial and has real Soviet era architecture. The city once had some grand structures including a great hotel on the site of one I am in now (was financed in part by Baron Rothschild ), but suffered much damage in WWII and clearly much not rebuilt. But my grandfather would have seen the old hotel in its heyday! They do have a oretty Masaryk Square right behind my hotel but looks nice from distance then can see it is built out of concrete and not that pretty.  Two large churches nearby are the same. Not many people out and about but there are many small casinos  scattered around; they are just storefronts nothing fancy and probably run by Russian mafia.

I had dinner at very nice hotel restaurant and I chose regional cuisine. Dinner was braised beef in cream sauce with bread dumplings. Yummy! And local strawberry season so lots of them.  Now as I was eating a man and woman came in and by there voices I could tell they were Americans! So when I finished I had to go say hello and find out what other Americans doing here lol. They work for IBM, and do contract work for big industries here. There are apparently many big manufacturers across parts of rural Europe as get cheaper but good labor. Their project is an Israeli company. The lady is from New Jersey and the man from Houston and they have been here several times. They were really fascinated by my being here kn my way to Warsaw! So fun to talk.

Also lots of farming here and funny but growing wheat and ...cotton! I was very surprised. Those are both things my grandfather and dad grew in US!!

Tmr is another adventure...

Nuremberg and Regensburg

On my second day in Nuremberg I headed straight to the castle which was a good choice as few people there yet...actually not many people here really in general. Really friendly worker gave me some good advice on some sites as well as a free little guide book when he learned I was a prof...oh the perks lol. Great views from the castle and especially in the tower and yes I went up all 120 steps to get it.  From the castle I headed to the city museum which was interesting. Also saw St. Sebold church which was mainly destroyed by Allied bombing in WWII as was a good part of the  city (just like Munich).  Now the city and church look old but really they are rebuilt.  The  chunch has a whole focus on the rebuilding as part of rebuilding German society...so creating way to deal with past.  This is all part of what I study!

I then headed to 2 of the beautiful bridges in the city that span the river and help like know the north a day south parts of the old city or altstadt. I also enjoyed the market square which very sadly was where the Jewish sector  of the city was located in the early Middle Ages before it was destroyed in a pogrom by merchants and the market replaced it.  Nuremberg was a very large and prosperous independent  city in the Middle Ages.

Next I hopped the subway to the site of the Nuremberg Trials after WWII. Fascinating with lots of reading. Unfortunately the court to  was unavailable for viewing as it was in use that day...it is a working German court.  The display also clearly distinguished the US and Europe Cort system traditions as in Europe they use independent investigators that share all info with the court. In the US we have an adversarial system and defense and prosecution work against each other.  Germans showed how it was definitely decided to use US system and what that meant. While overall presentation of info was full and complete the German thoughts were included but responsibility was not doubted.

I then headed to the German railroad museum -1 I love railroads! Very good and section on WWII fascinating. The Germans had had strong RR unions which the Nazis destroyed and then the RR was so important in war transporting troops, suffering massive destruction and playing a key role in Holocaust!  But today considered one of the best and largest.I love it!

After brief stop at German national museum which wasn't very good as mostly Middle Ages I headed for dinner at a nice biergarten...I wanted Wiener schnitzel!  I met 3 young Canadiens from Vancouver who were not together but are now. The 2 young men are travelling on a whim wherever they decided to stop and one is history major in college and young lady is originally from South Africa via Zimbabwe who on Europe to see family and travel. Talked and laughed for several hours...funny to sit with students overseas but we had lots of laughs and stories.

Today I traveled to beautiful medieval city of Regensburg which was not bombed in war so still original and on Danube!  It has site of Holy Roman Empire Reichstag! Building hundreds years old. Also a gorgeous palace still occupied by Princess oof Thursn and Taxis which goes back to Middle  Ages. They were related to other German and Austrian royalty as well as British.  I was only person on tour who understood what HRE was all about...lol and that these Princes were not sons of kings! Interesting that palace still occupied and was untouched by the war and has huge collection of furnishings etc. Unfortunate that both of the young male heirs at time were drafted and died on eastern front...one at Stalingrad...I  learned as saw memorials to them in the family chapel.  I'm always on lookout lol.  I did take a boat tour on Danube which isn't blue lol but saw the great river cruise ships and they are nice unique and filled mainly with seniors. Cool way to see many great places and very intimate.

The town also has a great cathedral the largest in southern Germany and it is Catholic...so has decorations as opposed to the Lutheran churches of Nuremberg.  The old chapel is magnificent as well in terms of its interior.  Oscar Schindler lived here briefly at end of WWII... the man from Schindler's List.  Saw few more churches and a dungeon and steps outside medieval Reichstag where Hitler stood and declared he would build a new Reich to the
Rival the Holy Roman Empire that had met there. Out tour guide was great young man who asked me and another person about his English as he is practicing because wants too move to America!  Lol

So 2 great busy days and according to my iFit I walked 9 miles today and about 12 yesterday. I finished with dinner in Regensburg which is really lovely and original!

Tar long day on trains headed to Ostrava!

Nuremberg and Regensburg! The ol' Holy Roman Empire!

HELLO

Nuremberg arrival

Arrived in Nuremberg by early afternoon as flight arrived early and again flew thru customs and baggage....but I was tired because I do not sleep on planes. But that did not stop me as I went out to see sites immediately. Of course with my history focus I headed to the Documentation Center in the old Nazi Congress Hall and parade ground area. The place is enormous and pics just do not do it justice. This was area made so famous in all the videos of the Nuremberg rallies and speeches. Only parts are still visible and all have been repurposed as outdoor spaces. The Documentation Center is really very good and quite thorough about rise and power of Hitler and his party. Interesting most of folks there visiting were Germans including several large tour groups and they seemed riveted and focused on everything. A few American teenage girls with their family quickly grew tired. I was interested in how it was presented in German and whst included and they had it all...specially the creation of "cult of Hitler" and how that happened....it was a good warning!

Btw Germsan presentations on the history of WWII are all valked Dokumentation Centers now...to document what really happened.

A New Adventure...2016

For those of you who have followed me in the past, I wanted to give you a heads up that I am about to head out again on another War Memorial & Commemoration adventure!  If you receive an email notifying you of this post and do not want to continue to receive notifications please let me know and I will take you off the email list (you will still be able to see the blog). 

It has been 2 years since my last trip to Europe when I went across southern France and then to Angiers to teach at a summer class for St Edwards University and my friend Mity Myhr.  That was a wonderful trip.  The last two summers I have co-lead along with Dr. Jason Clark-Miller a travel study class Landmarks of Social Memory with students that focuses on these same themes; this year's trip to Washington DC was fantastic and we are already working on returning to DC next summer! The plan is to try to head to Europe in 2018 and so I am doing some scouting as part of this trip.

This summer I will leave in a few days for an extended trip in which I will also participate in the CIEE Professional Development Seminar; Ruin and Revival: History, Modern Memory and Revival.  The seminar is for 11 days in Poland and Germany and focuses on places of memory especially from WWII to the present and the ways memory plays into national and personal identification.  We will be in Warsaw, Krakow, Auschwitz and Berlin and the topics fit my focus on history and commemoration perfectly!  I am very excited about this unique program and look forward to meeting the 12 other members.  I have already completed almost all of my readings...lol 

Now prior to the seminar I will be traveling again on my own to a few places I have not yet visited. First to Germany where I will stay in Nuremberg with a day trip to Regensburg.  I am then off to Ostrava, Czech Republic which is the region from whence my grandfather Matysek originally came. I am hoping to play golf in a golf and ski resort in the mountains near the village of Ostravice which is the closest to where the Matysek's once lived and I will be checking out the area.  Then the seminar will begin in Warsaw.  After the seminar I am heading to Amsterdam for a few days to enjoy the canals.  I then head to Cologne where I will have a day trip to Aachen to see Charlemagne's Cathedral and also in Cologne to have day cruise on the Rhine.  Hopefully I will conclude my trip in Frankfurt by meeting a Matysek cousin of my generation who is part of the Germanized side of the family. 

I hope you will follow me on my journey as I again investigate war memorials and sites of memory!