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Day 12- Krakow
6 years ago
General
I didn't have the chance to do as much as I'd have liked yesterday, so I made up for it today. I saw two places of great historic interest. One was the Convent and Basilica of St. Faustina, and the other was Oscar Schindler's factory.
I went to the convent first. St. Faustina was a Polish Catholic Nun and seeress who lived during the 1930's. During that time, she had a series of visions from Jesus telling her to tell others about his Divine Mercy. And specifically, he gave her two commissions. One was a type of meditation called the Divine Mercy chaplet, which is done with a set of rosary beads. Except, on the Hail Mary beads, you say 'For the Sake of His Sorrowful Passion, Have Mercy on Us and on the Whole World.' THe other was to have a certain painting of him done as a holy image, and spread devotion to it. On this image, you have Jesus, and there are two rays of light emanating from his heart- one red, for his blood shed for all sinners, and the other blue, to represent his mercy and compassion.
(I plan to have something up for Faustina tonight, god Willing.)
I had the pleasure of seeing Faustina's convent and resting place. I also had the privilege of being able to confess there. Not having had the chance for Mass last Sunday, I was most grateful.
After that, I visited Schindler's factory. It is a museum and monument to the Jews and non-Jews of Krakow who suffered under Nazi occupation. It was thoroughly detailed as well as somber. Besides telling of Schindler's coming to Krakow and his activities to save the Jews there, it also told of daily life. To be certain, it was extremely dangerous to be a Jew. There was the constant chance of being killed, of course, but also having to watch others die, and being subjected to daily humiliation.
It was not that much better if you were a non-Jewish Pole. Things like school, business, and the like were strictly for Germans only. Poles were there only for slave labor, and in fact, one of the other goals of the Nazis was to murder the Poles after they had finished with the Jews. Kidnapping for forced labor was common; such a thing happened to Karol Wojtyla, who later became Pope John Paul II. In 1943, he was kidnapped by the Nazis and forced to do backbreaking labor in a quarry. Many of his fellow Poles had to suffer likewise.
So yes, that was a small fraction of my history lesson. I'll make sure you all get to see the photos, one by one.
Moving on, I travelled back to the airBNB, bought pirogi and wine for my dinner, and then ate. I now plan to spend the rest of the evening languishing. Tomorrow I leave for Osweicm by train. For those of you who do not know that town, it would be the Polish name for Auschwitz. I don't plan on visiting the place first thing after I arrive, but the day after. (I plan to tour the inside of Walwel Castle in the morning if I can, though.)
I went to the convent first. St. Faustina was a Polish Catholic Nun and seeress who lived during the 1930's. During that time, she had a series of visions from Jesus telling her to tell others about his Divine Mercy. And specifically, he gave her two commissions. One was a type of meditation called the Divine Mercy chaplet, which is done with a set of rosary beads. Except, on the Hail Mary beads, you say 'For the Sake of His Sorrowful Passion, Have Mercy on Us and on the Whole World.' THe other was to have a certain painting of him done as a holy image, and spread devotion to it. On this image, you have Jesus, and there are two rays of light emanating from his heart- one red, for his blood shed for all sinners, and the other blue, to represent his mercy and compassion.
(I plan to have something up for Faustina tonight, god Willing.)
I had the pleasure of seeing Faustina's convent and resting place. I also had the privilege of being able to confess there. Not having had the chance for Mass last Sunday, I was most grateful.
After that, I visited Schindler's factory. It is a museum and monument to the Jews and non-Jews of Krakow who suffered under Nazi occupation. It was thoroughly detailed as well as somber. Besides telling of Schindler's coming to Krakow and his activities to save the Jews there, it also told of daily life. To be certain, it was extremely dangerous to be a Jew. There was the constant chance of being killed, of course, but also having to watch others die, and being subjected to daily humiliation.
It was not that much better if you were a non-Jewish Pole. Things like school, business, and the like were strictly for Germans only. Poles were there only for slave labor, and in fact, one of the other goals of the Nazis was to murder the Poles after they had finished with the Jews. Kidnapping for forced labor was common; such a thing happened to Karol Wojtyla, who later became Pope John Paul II. In 1943, he was kidnapped by the Nazis and forced to do backbreaking labor in a quarry. Many of his fellow Poles had to suffer likewise.
So yes, that was a small fraction of my history lesson. I'll make sure you all get to see the photos, one by one.
Moving on, I travelled back to the airBNB, bought pirogi and wine for my dinner, and then ate. I now plan to spend the rest of the evening languishing. Tomorrow I leave for Osweicm by train. For those of you who do not know that town, it would be the Polish name for Auschwitz. I don't plan on visiting the place first thing after I arrive, but the day after. (I plan to tour the inside of Walwel Castle in the morning if I can, though.)
