This trip brought out two extremes of emotions - the somber mood in Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp and the joyful experience of Polish wedding celebration.
Friday, 28th June 2013
I was with two Couchsurfers, Magda from Poland and Adam from Australia, on this visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camps. It was a very somber trip, with the drizzle adding to the ambiance. What hit me most is how human beings could be so cruel towards another race, just because they were taught of the superiority of their own race. Basic morality was nullified in the concentration camps. Indeed, where was the love? I was completely in awe when I passed by the starvation cell where St. Maximillian Kolbe was kept for two weeks without water and food, yet remained alive and then killed by lethal injection. Never had I thought I'd be visiting the place where a martyr of the Church was murdered. His life story was one of the few autobiographies of the saints of the Church which I read, without knowing that one day I'd stand outside the cell where he once lived and died. The tour brought us not only to Auschwitz but also to Birkenau, where there were remnants of larger and more "sophisticated" gas chambers as well as the camp itself. Some parts were destroyed, some remained standing as a history lesson to all who know about the Holocaust during World War II against the Jews. My heart breaks for all the souls who were lost in this period of time, and their surviving family members.
This was placed at the entrance of the gas chamber in Auschwitz concentration camp.
The road in Birkenau camp.
Saturday, 29th June 2013
On the other hand, my main objective of visiting Poland for the second time was to attend the wedding of Gosia and Tomek in Tarnow. I met up with her friends (after falling at the pavement and scrapped my knees) and went to Tarnow on 29th June to attend their wedding mass in church at 2 pm. After the wedding, we were all gathered in Hotel Marion for the traditional Polish wedding reception. I was seated with her hometown friends, Ulka and gang. The truth is I was actually in pain almost the whole time due to the scrapped knees and slightly twisted ankle. Yet, I thoroughly enjoyed the 12-hour celebration (4 pm to 4 am) which consisted of eating, drinking and dancing. I had the opportunity to practically try all the traditional Polish cuisines for wedding, drank few shots of vodka and danced a lot with everybody. These three things were beyond the boundaries of language. By the time I got home with Ulka and rested, it was 5.30 am. The birds were chirping and the sun was up.
Gosia and Tomek in the church walking down the aisle as husband and wife.
Gosia looking at Tomek cleaning the broken glass. One of the traditions in Polish wedding is the wedded couple would drink champagne from glasses tied together with a ribbon and then throw the glasses behind them. I'm not sure if the "cleaning up" part is part of it. But it was really adorable.
Gosia and Tomek picked me up from Ulka's place after midday on Sunday and I spent the afternoon in Gosia's family home, attended Sunday mass with them and Gosia's bro-in-law, and had supper of zurek (traditional Polish soup) with bread, and finally they sent me to Krakow on their way back to Katowice. I was honoured to be a part of their lives and be invited to witness this sacred moment of their lives.
May God be their Guide in their lives as married couple from now until the end. Amen!
