It has been an absolutely crazy week but we've all heard plenty about the election, so let's all take this opportunity to escape the politics for just a bit!
I had a significantly more busy week this week because we didn't have any days off from class...bummer.
So on Monday I had class and then later that night, the Mayor of Graz held a reception for the international students in Graz. It was great because free food and drinks and also because Hailey (who was previously featured in my blog) gave a speech and performed!
I tried to take a picture of the inside but it came out this blurry:
Maybe I should start looking at the pictures I take before I put them on my blog....
But anyway he's a better picture I stole from the internet of the exterior of the building it was held in
There were a few speeches and it was really nice to get a reminder of the extraordinary people that are around me in Graz and how different we all really are. There are so many students here from so many different countries, and the mayor said that this is something to be proud of because we can be an example to the world for how many different groups can live in peace. He said that people here come from over 155 different countries! It was great to hear how proud people are of Graz and the people within it. Of course I am happy and grateful to be living here as well, but sometimes getting that reminder is really good!
On Tuesday I woke up early to hand in my residence permit application, because I need it to live in Graz this year. I had to walk a bit far but it was a really nice walk (would've been nicer if it wasn't cold...but that's another story).
First, I passed through the Paulustor which I looked up because it seemed fancy for no reason, and it turns out that this is the only remaining structure where there used to be a wall for protection of the city that was built in the 1600s. And I just walked casually through it without realizing.
and I also looked around and thought to myself, when did it become fall? I must have been asleep for that
OH. That's why I was seasonally confused. BECAUSE IT WAS SNOWING THAT DAY. Look closely and you might be able to see it too.
I was very excited for the first snow, however it didn't stick to the ground, just melted immediately but it was so nice!
I don't think it was snowing anymore here, but it was still a great walk!
Later that day, I had dinner with people from the Overseas Neighbors, many of them being former Montclair-Graz Sister City Scholarship recipients (which is the scholarship I currently have), and some who work at international relations offices. We had goose!
It was as delicious as it looked, however I had a lot of trouble eating it because I am bad with knives. I was pretty much carving it off of the bones! But still, absolutely delicious!
The next day, I tried Glühwein which is a wine served warm that tastes like Christmas.
And I saw my first Christmas decorations in Graz this week. If you think America jumps the gun on Christmas, you'd be wrong! It is pretty much already Christmastime here! The streets are slowly becoming more and more decorated with pine trees and lights shaped like snowflakes!
On Saturday, I visited the Mauthausen Concentration Camp. At the time, it was the biggest concentration camp in Austria and between 80,000 and 100,000 victims lost their lives there.
Overall it was an interesting experience, especially because it was snowing a lot
But I would definitely like to go though my experience in Mauthausen.
This is the camp from the outside, and
one of the more interesting things I saw, a swimming pool for the SS Guards was found here
My tour guide had a very interesting point here and mentioned that tourists never think that this is a swimming pool, but usually a mass grave or something like that. He said that it's a good reminder that the people who committed these atrocities are actual people who play sports and have free time and things like that and that's harder for us to imagine. He said it makes you connect with it more when you realize it was people who did this to other people, and not the Loch Ness Monster..
They also had a football (soccer) field for the guards that was on top of a mass grave at the bottom of this hill. The bodies have since been moved.
As you can see in the first picture to the left, the hill is indented slightly. Those were bleachers of sorts for fans to watch the SS Football team. They played against local teams as well.
To its right was a camp for the sick and injured. There weren't any doctors here, people were just left to die. This is where most prisoners died
There was an entrance for the SS Guards that Jews were not allowed to use upon arrival, so they were forced to walk all the way around. This is that entrance and the courtyard of it which was used for SS guard role call
As we walked around, there were a lot of memorials and sculptures for the victims.
After that, we reached the entrance
Once a new group of people arrived here, they were forced to stand up against this wall (which is now covered in memorial plaques) to the right
They could stand there for hours but usually overnight and sometimes even days. Apparently this was a good way to tell who would be a good worker, based on who collapsed and who did not.
Next, the showering stations
After that, they were given their room assignments. Here is a room where usually hundreds would sleep. The bunks are no longer there
In the mornings, usually around 4:15 am, they would be woken up and had until 4:45 to eat, use the bathroom, make their beds and assemble into the courtyard. This process was incredibly difficult because there would only be one bathroom shared by about 600 people and the rooms were packed so tight that it would be hard to get out. This is the courtyard they would assemble in before work
Some prisoners stayed in prison cells, such as hostages and high profile political prisoners.
Underneath these cells was a crematorium, autopsy room and morgue. I only took a picture of the crematorium because the other two were pretty upsetting to look at.
In the building next to it was another crematorium and the gas chamber. Across from that is where the bodies that were discovered in the previously mentioned mass grave are located now
And then we went into the next building that I mentioned. The upstairs part is an art exhibit, and downstairs is another exhibit,
and then we kept walking, two more crematoriums
Next, the Room of Names, where all of the known victims named filled the room on panels like the second and third picture. The first one explained the room.
next were two impossibly tiny rooms. In the first, those unknowingly sentenced to death would have their hair cut off and the second room was a gas chamber where approximately 4,000 have died. This is the gas chamber. The pipe system that was used to deliver the gas was torn down before liberation
It was really a strange experience to be near these things after having learned about them in school. But I think it was also an important one.
After that, we got back on the bus and spent a few hours in Linz where we got a lot of pasta and walked around a bit
It was an incredibly interesting and tiring week.
Remember to leave comments and ask questions if you have them so I can start doing a Q&A section! Have a great week!
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