Finnish Culture:
In Finland, one of the first examples of culture you will find is with the public transportation system. In Finland, there is a large emphasis on being on time and all the transportation in Finland runs on a very specific schedule. The people also follow this for the most part. When you are supposed to be somewhere at 10am for example, it is considered polite to be either somewhat early or right on time, and being even a couple minutes late can be considered rude.
Another thing that you notice on the public transportation is that is very quiet. For the most part when people board a bus or a train they will not speak much at all. Now if they are riding with a friend or two, then they will likely talk, but it is considered rude to speak too loud on the transportation.
One of the more noticeable things in Helsinki is how safe people feel with their kids. When you walk around Helsinki, you can't help but notice how many young kids (maybe between the ages of 8 and 10) walking with a couple friends or completely alone. Even on the buses and trains there are kids riding by themselves. Back in the U.S I don't think there are many places where it would be considered OK to do this, but here in Helsinki, it is completely normal.
In the US, we like to have a bit of personal space and for the most part this is true in Finland. When you are in lines, you give other people about one foot of space and at ATM's you stand about two to three feet away from the person using it. Speaking of lines, Finland loves using queues. When you go to a bank or the transportation office, you usually have to take a number and wait to be called.
Finland also has some of the most patient and courteous drivers I have seen. In Helsinki, if there is no stoplight, then the pedestrian has right of way and unlike the US, i have seen people slam on their brakes before anyone gets to the crosswalk and wait for you to cross. You do hear the occasional honking, but the majority of the drivers follow all the rules.
If you are American, then you may encounter some differences when you go to a store and checkout. The cashiers here do not make small talk. Most of the time they will only say "hello" or "would you like a bag for that" and that is it. Finnish people don't seem to like dragging things out, rather they focus on getting the job done with as few distractions as possible.
Probably my favorite part of the culture is sisu. Sisu is a Finnish word that doesn't translate very well to English. What it represents is being manly and never letting something get in your way. Once you start something, you are expected to do everything in your power to finish it. I've had to employ this a few times (mostly when I have gotten lost in Helsinki) and I love the determined attitude it makes.
Krakow, Poland: A Historical Perspective
Now that I have talked about a few things that I have noticed while I've been in Finland, it's time to talk about my recent trip to Poland, but before we get started, here is a little history about Krakow and Poland in general.
Supposedly the city of Krakow was founded by mythical king Krak, who is also rumored to have founded the Wawel Castle in the city. The city served as the capital of Poland for many years and was a major trade center in the Slavic areas and was even a Hanseatic League member. During the Renaissance period, Krakow saw an immense amount of growth, with many churches, synagogues and universities appearing in the city. During the 16th century, the Jagiellon family died out (you may remember the name from my Vilnius article) and the Polish throne bounced between different families before falling to the Vasa family of Sweden. Once Sigsmund III took over, he moved the capital to the city of Warsaw.
Poland itself was a relatively small kingdom in Central Europe, but when it joined with Lithuania, it quickly became one of the most powerful nations in the region. Despite enjoying many years of cultural growth and prosperous times, Poland disappeared from the map in the 18th century. In the 1790's, a combined attack from the Prussian, Russian and Habsburg (Austrian) empires. Krakow fell into the Habsburg area and has always maintained a fairly Western attitude while Warsaw fell to Russia, getting a more conservative attitude.
Poland remained split until the outbreak of World War One, when Polish rebels broke away from Russia and established the Second Republic. During this time, Krakow increased its academic resources and saw a huge increase in the Jewish population of the city. The republic spent most of its existence fighting both Czechoslovakia and Lithuania for territory, but once again, Poland was dashed from the map. Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin met in secret and agreed to divide Poland. When WW2 broke out in 1939, both Nazi's and Soviet forces quickly crushed the Polish military and Poland suffered greatly during the war.
Krakow was spared somewhat. The city was mostly under Nazi control for most of the war but unlike Warsaw, Krakow was spared the destruction of the retreating troops. This means that Krakow was able to keep many of its historical buildings.
At the end of the war, Poland became part of the Warsaw Pact and was forced to have a Soviet approved regime. During this time, the main way that Poles were able to defy their Soviet occupiers was through their religion. Poland is a very catholic nation and has been for centuries, but in the Soviet states, religion was completely banned. In a famous event, Pope John Paul II made a visit to Krakow and helped spur the Solidarity movement in Poland. When the Soviet Union collapsed, Poland like many of the Eastern Bloc countries gained independence. Today Poland is a member of the European Union and a member of the Schengen Zone.
The Trip:
I arrived in Krakow and was not sure what to expect. However, after walking about 20 minutes to the city walls, I was greeted with something that I had not seen for a long time. Trees. Not just any trees though, trees that had their leaves and looked alive. I shouldn't have been so excited to see that, but it made the city look that much more beautiful. I started my journey on the main street outside the market square. The city was packed with tourists from all over, but like I said in the last section, Krakow still has many of its original buildings and is one of the most charming places I have visited.
I also want to apologize for the lack of photos of the interiors of the places I visited, the employees were extremely strict about not taking photos inside any of the attractions.
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| A view of St. Mary's Cathedral and the famous Cloth Hall |
I spent most of my second day in Krakow exploring the Wawel (pronounced Vavel) Castle which served as the seat of power for the royal family until it the capital moved to Warsaw. This was an amazing experience. The castle is well preserved and has about seven or eight permanent exhibits and a few temporary ones as well. Since I was visiting on a Saturday, I didn't have enough time to visit everything, but I was able to visit the Wawel Cathedral, State Apartments, Tresury/Armory and the special da Vinci painting they had on display.
I started with the cathedral and it is one of the most colorful and decorated churches I have since since being in Russia. The church is also one of the oldest I have seen, being completed in the 11th century. Wawel is also the location of many of the kings of Poland, with their many tombs strewn about both the royal catacombs and the ground floor of the church. The center of the church has an altar of St. Stanislaw (pronounced Staniswav) and serves as a patron saint for the city.
After visiting the cathedral, I decided to pay a visit to the da Vinci piece. I had the opportunity to see two in St. Petersburg, but this one was special. It was the first painting that I ever critically examined and began my love of classical art. The name of the work is Lady with an Ermine. I never thought I would be able to see something like that in Poland, but I was glad I paid to see it.
My journey through the castle continued with a tour of the State Apartments and the Treasury. These two were pretty standard when compare to other European versions, but none the less, it demonstrates how wealthy and powerful the monarchs of Poland were. In the treasury, the main thing you have to see is the coronation sword used by the monarchy near the 15th century.
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| A view of the inner courtyard of Wawel Castle |
On my third and technically final day before I left, I decided to pay a visit to one of the remaining scars from WW2. In the small town of Oswiecim, there is a museum that stands as a reminder of the horrors of the war. If the town's name sounds familiar, it is because it had a German name during the war, Auschwitz.
Auschwitz was the most vile and widely known death camp of the Holocaust. There were three parts to the camp, Auschwitz I, Birkenau, and Monowitz. Monowitz no longer exists, but was used to create the infamous Zyklon B gas used to kill anywhere from 1.1 to 1.5 million people. I was able to visit both Auschwitz I and the Birkenau areas. If you find yourself in Krakow, you should pay a visit to the camp. It was not happy, nor will I say it was enjoyable, but I thought it was important to pay my respects to those who perished there.
What you see above is the infamous gate into Auschwitz I with the German phrase "Arbeit Macht Frei", meaning "Work will make you free". This was the first introduction to the camp that the victims had, believing that working hard would let them gain their freedom later. The camp was originally a barracks for Polish troops, but was requisitioned by the Nazis for use as a labor camp. Currently most of the buildings are open with each one holding a different exhibit. While the guides do encourage photos, there are two locations here that forbid it and i'll explain later.
The first exhibit we saw dealt with the original deportations and while many were Jews, there was a high number of criminals, disabled, gypsies and anyone not desired by the Nazis. The highest number of victims actually came from Hungary, with the number being around 400,000 sent to Auschwitz.
The next building was one where we weren't allowed to take photos. Inside one of the rooms, behind glass was a wall filled with human hair. Hair that the Nazis took from women who came and died in the camp. The hair would be collected and sold as a textile material. There were other walls filled with possessions that were lost by the victims. One room showed all the prosthetic limbs taken from dead inmates. Another room showed the luggage that people arrived with, complete with names, addresses, etc. The Nazis told people to put ID's on their luggage so they could get it again. This was a lie to keep the chance of panic low. The final room, which was the hardest to see, was a long room with glass on both sides. Contained within these walls are 80,000 single shoes. Its not something that is easy to consider, especially when you think that it is only about 7 percent of all the victims.
The third building was block 11. This was where many people who disobeyed were brought and likely died. The cells in the bottom were used to torture and murder innocent people. Most of the people taken there died of starvation, but it is also the place where Zyklon B was first tested. The Nazis were using it to kill rodents at first, but decided to test its capabilities to kill humans. The first subjects were unlucky enough to be given a small dose that took almost two hours to kill them. Outside the building is the wall where many victims were killed by firing squads or were put through excruciating tortures to render them unconscious
The final building was the worst of all for me. It dealt with the children and mothers that came to the camp. The inside is lined with photos of inmates, mostly the ones deemed "important" by the overseers. Now as for the children, any who were under the age of 14 were deemed "unfit for work" and were sent immediately to the gas chambers, along with women with babies, old women, pregnant women and others. Those that weren't immediately killed were subjected to Dr. Mengle. Mengle would perform horrible experiments on the subjects, and if they survived the experiments, they were killed with an injection to the heart.
We finished our tour in this area and by the end of Auschwitz I, I felt somewhat numb, trying to keep from processing what I had seen. I knew what was coming next, but I was hoping Birkenau wouldn't be as bad, I was wrong.
Birkenau was created to help the Nazis realize the "Final Solution" and reduce the camp's overpopulation. It was a fully fledged death camp. As soon as you stepped off the train, your life or death was decided with a hand gesture. There was a camp doctor that would inspect new arrivals; if he pointed one way, you lived, and if he pointed the other, you were lead to the gas chambers and murdered.
While much of the camp is gone, you can still see the remains of the crematoriums and gas chambers. Supposedly, when you are walking around these, it is likely that you are walking on top of the ashes of the victims. We also saw the living conditions of the female population. I could explain, but I'll let the photo explain for me.
The victims were liberated by the Soviet troops, with only a few thousand actually alive by that time.
Since I flew back to Helsinki the next day, this was the end of my trip basically, and even though it was important to see the camp, I don't want to go back.
On a more positive note, this weekend I leave to go on another trip, this time visiting a country not mentioned in the blog but is nearby to Poland.
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| Courtesy of Google Images |
