Last Day in Olomouc

I can't believe that the end is almost here.  I have learned so much over the past couple of months, not just about the Czech Republic, but the world as whole and even more importantly about myself.  These last eleven weeks have without a doubt been some of the most important weeks of my life.  I really wish that everyone could be as lucky/blessed as me and be able to experience something like this in their lifetime.  I can honestly say that I have learned more in the last eleven weeks than I have in years.
Traveling to new places so often and experiencing new things has without a doubt helped me to grow into a more educated, cultural, and all around person since I have arrived in Europe.  I wish that I could keep doing this forever; although I really am starting to miss family and friends from back home.  This trip has taught me a lot about myself and what I want to do with my future.  I really hope to come back over here soon, even if it’s just for a couple of weeks just to be able to relive some of my favorite memories and to be able to experience some of the places that I haven’t been able to travel to yet. 
It’s really weird that tomorrow morning I will have to be saying goodbye to the city that I have been calling home.  It feels like just yesterday I was getting off the bus here being checked into my room, and now tomorrow I already have to check out.  I will definitely miss this quiet, interesting, and fun little city that I have been fortunate enough to call home for the last couple of months.  I will still be in Europe for the next 13 days, but I will be traveling the Bohemia region of the Czech Republic for the next 5 days and then traveling to Croatia and soaking up some sun before heading back home to the States.  It is just so weird to me that I am already having to say goodbye to my city of Olomouc!

Auschwitz-Birkenau: A Hell on Earth

Auschwitz.  A name synonymous to hell. I recently had the experience of touring the concentration camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau and seeing a glimpse of the atrocities that the Jews and other targeted groups had to endure on a daily basis.  Mostly Jews were sent to this camp, but Poles, political prisoners, USSR prisoners of war, gypsies, homosexuals, Jehovah Witnesses, Slovaks, among others, were also sent to work and be murdered in the camp.  As much of 75% of the people getting off the train:  the women, the children, and those unfit for slave labor, were marched straight to the gas chambers upon arrival in the camp.  The remaining 25% who had survived the selection process then had to endure terrible living conditions.  They were fed food that amounted to roughly 300 calories a day, a number that the Nazis had calculated would result in living for about an additional three months after arriving in the camp.  They could only visit the bathrooms twice a day, and for only thirty seconds, and if they dared to use the bathroom more than that they could be shot on the spot.  These are just some examples as to of how terrible the conditions at the camp were.

The camp was the most (I can’t even think of words to describe it) place that I have ever been to, and I will never forget it in my life.  It is pure sickening to see what some “people” can do to others.  Between 1 and 1.5 million people were murdered at this one camp alone.  1.5 million.  To put that in perspective that is 83% of the population of the state of Nebraska being murdered at this one camp.  Visiting this place was unlike anything I ever have, or will experience again.  The feeling is simply indescribable; words cannot even begin to describe what this place is like.  I cannot even begin to imagine what this place must have been like 70 years ago when it was in operation.  It is amazing to me that humans can lose their identity and morals to a point where they can actually treat other people in this kind of way.

The tour led us inside one of the original gas chambers of the camp.  I stood directly under the hatch that was used to drop Zykon B pellets to kill everyone in the chamber.  The feeling knowing that you are standing in a spot where literally tens of thousands of people have perished is unlike anything I have ever felt in my life.  The tour led us to another gas chamber that was blown up to cover up the crimes that were committed, and next to it was a small swamp area.  The guide explained to us that this gas chamber was used to kill literally hundreds of thousands of people, and that after their death the bodies were burned in massive crematoriums.  The guide then pointed to the swamp area and explained how the swamp was being filled in with the ashes of the people that they had murdered.  It is so unbelievable that this could have ever happened.  It is so disgusting, how can people do this to another fellow human being?  The Holocaust, and the use of camps like Auschwitz-Birkenau is arguably one of the darkest periods of human existence; however, their memory must be forever remembered, no matter how much society might want to forget this terrible time. “Forever let this place be a cry of despair, and a warning to humanity…” This warning must never be forgotten, for he who remembers his history shall not be condemned to repeat it.

Locals (3)

The character of Olomouc is really unlike any other city that I have been to.  The people here for the most part are really nice, and the ones that speak English are even nicer. Most of the people are really helpful; however, at times the language barrier can be really frustrating to deal with.  However, it is usually possible to communicate main ideas to people who speak little to no English with a little bit of time and patience.  Most food establishments usually have at least one employee who is fluent in English, and many places have English menus.  Like I said, for the most part people seem really nice, but it can be difficult to really have a conversation with most Czech people as most only speak basic English.  It's also been kind of hard to meet Czech students and Czech people in general.  We live in the multicultural dorms, where none of the students are Czech. There are people from literally all over the world that stay in our dorms, but no Czech students live here.  It's also kind of challenging to meet new people because of how much we traveling that we do.  However, I have met a few really nice Czech people, and even got invited to a house warming party this month from a couple of students that I have met.
Like I said earlier, MOST of the people here in Olomouc that I have talked to are really nice; however, no place in the world is completely perfect, and Olomouc is no exception.  There have been a couple of instances in which I had to deal with some pretty rude people, which is to be expected anywhere you go.  Surprisingly enough though, nearly every time that I have had to deal with someone rude it is usually always an employee at Globus, the Czech version of Wal-Mart.  I posted in an earlier blog about one of the encounters that I had with a cashier who tried confiscating my credit card, which was by far the worst encounter that I have had here.  I had another bad encounter with the cashier while I was there today, and thankfully I had my card signed this time because she was really double checking the signature on my card versus the one on the receipt.  They mean business there when it comes to credit card theft/fraud I guess!  Overall the character of Olomouc is a friendly small city with very nice and helpful people, but like everything else in life, it does have its imperfections.  I really do hope that someday I will be able to return to this friendly city that I currently am calling home.