Wednesday, June 01, 2005

Poland, Sad Poland

As we travel deeper into the country and learn more about the history, it appears that Poland's history is incredibly sad. They are a very patriotic people. They are full of pride and our tour guides continue to emphasize that they fought for their own freedom without the help of other countries. As it turns out, they have fought for their freedom more than once.

Today we visited and incredibly sad historic place -- Auschwitz. Unfortunately, it is something that I think everyone should see. It is such a sobering place. But, as the quotes say, unless you see it yourself, you are bound to repeat it. Obviously, I have learned about the Holocaust during elementary and high school, but it is just so different to be there. Standing inside the concentration camp, it is hard to believe that people can believe it never happened.

Also today, we visited a very uplifting religious Shrine. The Black Madonna, or Our Lady of Chestahova. It is a painting of the Virgin Mary done on wood. As scientists attempted to preserve the painting throughout the years, they applied a dark varnish. This is what actually turned the face of the Madonna the dark black color. We had a nice Father who gave us a tour. They do have quite a sense of humour.

Enjoy the photos!

Day 3
Day 4
Jasna Gora (Black Madonna)
Auschwitz

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for sharing the photos & writing the captions...I'm going to Poland May '07 to attend a wedding & will visit the Shrine ; uncertain if I can handle SAD Poland, having seen the museum in Washington DC - VERY SAD & VERY HEARTSICK.

glittergirl said...

While living in a rural villagein Western Ukraine in the mid 1990s, hopping over to Krakow, Poland by overnight bus was one of my favorite getaways. Poland was anything but sad for me. I met some wonderful friends there and still love Krakow, though I miss the city I knew in the mid '90s. Poland was the happenig fashion/fun place to be, coming from even sadder Ukraine.

Check out my flicker via my blog for Ukraine/Poland photos.

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