Terezin/Hluboka (pictures included!)

Had quite the eventful weekend. On Friday, one of my three classes was canceled because of a little field trip most of the people in our program were going on. We took a 90 minute bus ride to Terezin. Terezin is known for the concentration camp and jewish ghetto. Most of the Czech Republic's heroes are buried in the cemetary right outside of the concentration camp. One important thing to make clear about Terezin is that it was not a death/extermination camp like Auschwitz. It was used more as a place to gather jews/gypsies/etc. before they were sent to Auschwitz. The prisoners at Terezin were still treated terribly and lived in horrible conditions, but there were no gash chambers or crematoriums.

I'll be honest, after Auschwitz, you really never need to see another concentration camp ever again. But it was part of our day trip and I felt like I should honor those that lost their lives during WWII in the Czech Republic. This camp was much smaller and had almost nobody visiting, so it had a much different feel that Auschwitz did. Also, we actually had a guide this time who told us many interesting things about the camp. We also got to see the Jewish ghetto and even a small hidden room which was used as a place for Jews to worship in secret. The room was never found and was kept hidden all throughout the war and through the communist era. Pretty cool stuff.

I've been thinking about how odd it is to walk through places where such profound events took place. Walking through concentration camps, Jewish ghetto's, enormous churches and castles really makes you think about what happened in the building or room you are standing in. It's amazing how much emotion a building can evoke. After all, it is just brick/stone/clay/rock/etc. I don't deny that big things happened in some of the places I visit, but sometimes its hard to imagine the things that really happened. All I have is a tour guide's word, a textbook's description or a film's portrayal. I absolutely love visiting historical places, but sometimes it's just hard to imagine that you are standing in a building that is five, six, nine-hundred years old. After visiting Auschwitz and Terezin its also horrifying to be in a place where thousands/millions of people died and/or suffered. Knowing that you are in a place where humans were at one of their lowest points in history is quite sobering.

Onto a cheerier note, we also got to visit a really cool glass factory. We got to watch some guys blow and shape glass into all kinds of different things. Cups, bowls, vases, you name it. It was fun to get to watch these random Czech guys, because they were sweating and working their butts off, and they were all clearly trying to impress us. Some people from our class even had the opportunity to shape, mold and blow their own glass figures. Most people's ended up looking like some demented orb, but that's okay! At the end of the little tour, we all got to purchase some fine, hand made glass artifacts. They were all extremely cheap, so I picked up a few things. I've never been so fascinated by glass in my whole life, I've got to say.


Here are the pictures from Terezin (with some random pictures from Prague thrown in)

and

Here are the pictures from Hluboka.

I'll update again soon...got a lot to write about!