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Today, we visited the memorials to the victims of the Płaszów camp, a sobering reminder of the atrocities that have occurred in the same spots we have stood upon as a group. Mr. Barmore detailed the horrific and inhumane practices of the executions that had been done in the very spot we were discussing, creating the chilling though that these images around us were the last seen by thousands of prisoners and victims before us. In the surrounding areas there were a multitide of other memorials as well, commemorating more specific victim groups associated with the location, making it a very meaningful time.

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Today we visited the grounds where the former Płaszów labor camp was located. There was noting left of the camp but the wide expanse of the fields it was built on. Many horrors happened here and all that is left are the memorials that remember them. It was also interesting to see the house where the camp leader shot Jews from his balcony. The Jews of the Kraków Ghetto build this labor camp so because they thought they would have a better place to live. But, they soon found out that this would be where they would die.

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Today, in the city of Krakow we were able to see the old synagogue. Before it became a exhibition of artifacts it was used as a place where Jewish children learn to read and write. In the Jewish religion, every child that reaches the age of 3 has to be taught how to read and write. Jews were considered very literate as a religion. The exhibition we entered today showed us various paintings of Jews prayings and images of the Jewish religion. Although, it's a mistake because in the Jewish religion, image is not allowed. In addition, we saw the different holidays the Jews celebrate including The Pass over, which around this time period. Synagogue gave me a great insight of the Jewish culture.

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Here laid the Plasow labor camp where the clouds and darkness of the clouds that covered the sky and the cold winds seemed to match the tone of what occured there. Men and Women were shot and their children thrown like discs for target practice. These unimaginable horrors were once real life events and it's scary to think that it is very possible to happen again. It's important to recognize the warning signs of genocide so that we can prevent it or at least try to fight it before history repeats itself

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On day 11 we visited the Plaszow labor camp. We were told nothing is remained of the camp and now people walk there dogs around it like it's a park. It sad to see how people don't care or don't know about what went on there. What disturbed me the most was when Mr.Barmore said they used to throw babies up in the air and shoot at them. That impacted me the most. So many feelings went through. Anger, confused, and sadness. What type of cruel disturbing people do you have to be to kill innocent helpless victims. I can't get my mind across that fact but what I can do is remember those who have lost there lives. This memorial is for the victims  of Plaszow. -Luke Lynam

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Today we went to the area where Płaszów, a labor camp, once stood. Lately we've been focusing on continuity of history, but also change of history, and being there today really made change over time stand out. If you don't know the history of this concentration camp, you probably wouldn't even know where or what you were standing on. What once stood there is no longer there at all. Mr. Barmore told us about the history of the camp in the pit where mass executions took place. As I looked around, the site was totally changed from what it must have been 70 years ago: it was all grass area and aside from 3 memorials, nothing was left to suggest the atrocities that occurred there. It was also crazy to see a little boy riding his bike down the pit like it was a skateboard ramp. He took joy out of something that caused so much misery to others.

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Also known as Haunakah Menorah, this one with the bird of prey signifies the Polish society that these people were trying to become a prat of and assimilate to. These Jewish citizens were brought to that country for a specific reason, and are used to benefit the society of that country in some way or another.

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The quality of life in the Krakow Ghetto was far better than that of other ghettos during the time of the Holocaust. Here, the residents were allowed to leave during the day to make money because they were supposedly needed for work. An SS officer kept expanding the size of the ghetto, saving the lives of many, by claiming that he needed more for labor. Since these people were so important in the labor force at that point, it was decided that the nearby apothecary, after some convincing, could stay to fight diseases in the ghetto so its inhabitants could keep working without being affected by disease. The pharmacist, Tadeusz Pankoewicz, was a Catholic who worked righteously among the people in the ghetto, doing more for them than just providing them with medicine. He kept a journal of every thing that happened in the ghetto. Due to his relations with the Gestapo, he was able to deceive them and hide torahs and other religious materials as well as give children tranquilizers to keep them quiet when the gestapo came. Among everything else, he also sent letters from the Jews to people on the outside of the camp. Although it doesn't seem like much since they were still trapped in the ghetto and forced to work, he was able to help the Jews feel like they still had a connection with the outside world aside from just providing them with medicine. He kept the Jews alive physically and helped them feel alive mentally in their enclosed community. When remembering times of evil, it is important that we remember the ones who chose to do the right thing at any cost

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Our first on our tour today was the old Synagogue that was reformed into a museum. Before, this synagogue was considered the center of study and taught Jewish children at young ages about Jewish history and culture. Today, the synagogue contains several items and artifacts that capture the essence of Jewish history as well still paying respect to the synagogue. Paintings were hung up against one wall of the synagogue and depicted something that is against Jewish value: human images. In the paintings below are depictions are Jewish men, along with faces that express human emotion. In Jewish culture, paintings of human images is forbidden and therefore the reason that there are human images suggests that the painter is done by a more modernized Jewish painter -- a nonreligious painter. The painting expresses great darkness and sorrow in the faces of the people, which suggests that the time frame within the painting was a time of crisis. According to Mr. Barmore, Jewish painters aim to depict a sense of nostalgia; to look back at the past with sympathy or "with rose colored glasses." Aside from the emotions that are conveyed through the paintings, this also shows the modernization of Jewish culture and its effects. In comparison to the Jewish culture of the past, a lot of what is seen today with the modernization would break old Jewish traditions.

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Today we visited the site of the Płaszow labor camp, where the Jews who were previously located in the Kraków ghetto were forced to move when the Nazis began to implement the final solution and liquidated the ghetto. Though the prisoners of Płaszów had a relatively high survival rate compared to other camps, the conditions they experienced, especially under the sadistic Amon Goeth, were horrific and many died in unimaginably brutal ways. For the horror of what occurred there, I was surprised at how peaceful the area seems today, and how little commemoration is at the site. If not for a few memorials, it could seem to be a normal park, even though visitors walk over the site where thousands were killed in mass shootings or died on overwork from brutal slave labor. In fact, the first memorial (shown in the background of this photo) was built under communism, and talked about the brutality of Nazi murderers but made no mention specifically of the Jews. It was not until later that the memorial in the foreground was instated, which talks about the lost Jewish lives but also admits that it is impossible to know the names of all those who died. These few stones to commemorate a location of boundless tragedy seem insufficient, but on the other hand the extent of the violence of the Holocaust is such that nothing can ever be sufficient to fully remember it. Memorials and locations of the Holocaust bring into question how to commemorate what happened, what to remain focused on, and in what areas we must move on, maintaining our knowledge of the past, to allow for a better future.

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Today we focused on Kraków's Jewish heritage. During our tour we were able to visit the Jewish ghetto located within the city. This picture shows the ghetto's main square, from where thousands of Jews were transported to concentration camps between the years of 1941-1943. The Nazis were constantly reducing the size of the ghetto by either mass murder or displacement to concentration camps. By March 13, 1943 the entire ghetto was liquidated. The memorial in the picture was dedicated in 2005 to honor the Jewish lives lost in Kraków, with the empty chairs meant to symbolize their absence.