Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Baltic Cruise Notes, Day 11: Gdansk, Poland

Today, we went on the only serious tour we scheduled. Throughout the trip, we (mostly I) chose day tours for their interest and fun value. This one was one we felt we should do. After a light breakfast, we alit in Gdynia, Poland. This is one of the "Three Cities" that include Gdansk, Gdynia, and Sopot. I might be able to pronounce the last one the way the locals do, but the others, forget it. We boarded a bus for Stutthof, which is about an hour away. Stutthof was one of the Nazi death camps, and the mood on the bus grew more and more somber as we approached the grounds of the camp. We entered through the gate that prisoners would enter, and went into the administration building to see a film that was shot by the Soviets when they arrived. By that time, the Nazis had evacuated most of the prisoners to other camps in the west, nearer to Germany. The evacuation occurred on foot, and the number of prisoners at the beginning of the journey was about 25,000. About 17,000 arrived at their new concentration camps. The gate to the prisoners' part of the camp was called the death gate by the prisoners. Here, they stood for up to an entire day in the cold, as they were processed in. They were told on entry that this was the end of their life, and there was one way to leave: through the chimney that was visible at the far end, maybe 200 yards away. Surprisingly, about half of those who died in this camp were Catholic or protestant. Jews, however, were sent more or less immediately to death, while the other prisoners would work until they became ill or did something the guards deemed worthy of death. The barracks were long, low wooden buildings with no heat. Prisoners were allotted one square foot, meaning that they could not lie down to sleep. Many of the barracks were no longer in existence, and some had been reconstructed, but a few were original. In one was a very large (about 25 feet by 10 feet by 4-5 feet high) pile of shoes. In the original camp, they found piles of shoes that were comprised of over 300,000 pairs. The prisoners had to wear wooden clogs. A few of the people on our tour had lost family members in the concentration camps, and our guide, although she was young, said she had lost much of her family as well. I won't detail the stories we were told. If I did, I doubt that you would read anything I write in the future. Just one more thing: near the chimney, we saw the gas chamber and the building with the chimney attached, containing three ovens. It was a sight I will never forget, and one I hope never to see again. On our return, our guide told us about the rise of Solidarity, with Lech Wolensa and the ship-builders who led the revolution. Some paid with their lives. But by that time, in the 1980s, even the communist rulers realized that the tide had turned against them. To me, it seems like yesterday that this all occurred, but it was in 1989. The election of Karol Wojtyla, who was a Polish cardinal, as Pope in 1978 was the beginning of the end, as he came to Poland in 1980 and delivered a speech to hundreds of thousands of people, that love would overcome adversity, and that they should remain faithful. The Poles gained tremendous strength in their opposition to the communist government, and over the next decade there were several nationwide stikes, enough that the Soviets threatened to invade at one point. But the dominoes had started to fall, and it was only a matter of time until communism would no longer rule eastern Europe. We entered Gdansk and were dropped off in the old town section. It is very charming. the city is about 800,000 (I think that is the entire Three Cities), and a river runs through center of old town. The buildings are of the type I expected to see in eastern Europe--narrow row houses several stories high, painted in various pastel shades. Denise and I split from the group and strolled the streets, as there was a festival and vast swarms of people. It reminded me of Tempe's Mill Avenue festival, but without the insipid art. At one point, we saw the entrance to the building that houses Lech Walensa's office. He still works every day, now well into his 70s. As you may know, he just endorsed Romney for POTUS, and whether you agree with him or not, he is obviously still an actor on the world stage. Our return to ship was at 3:00 in the afternoon, after seven hours of a five-hour tour. After naps and reading, we had dinner and repaired to the lounge where the string quartet plays every night. Then, we returned to the theatre, where we enjoyed a second round of Jimmy Travis, the comedian and singer I mentioned a few days ago. He provided some excellent humor, poking gentle fun at almost everyone--the audience, the band ("We're all from the South. I'm from Florida, and these guys are from southern Ukraine."), and the cruise line. It was a lovely way to end the day. Tomorrow, the island of Bornholm, if we can land there. Good night.

No comments:

Post a Comment