I have some dear German friends, particularly those over the past ten years with my partnerships in Munich. I travel there once or twice a year and on occasion have brought friends along. One such time a couple years ago, a good friend of Slovakian decent accompanied me. We drove to Prague for an extraordinary time. Any Lonely Planet Guide will get you prepared for the city. I did not keep any notes on our journey so my recall is a bit limited. A must-see is the unique Black Theatre where the artistry of mimes is awesome. There was also the Old Jewish Cemetery and surrounds that captured my empathy for their long history.
After the Czech Republic, we drove into Poland then back through Slovakia to the birthplace of my friend’s father. As planned, we made contact with her uncle. He was a proud man living in the demise of the collapsed communist state. More so the economic hardship evoked from the separation of what was Czechoslovakia. He had retired from a communal factory with a subsistence that kept him above poverty. An enduring benefit was his union pub where we enjoyed a fine beer for twenty-five cents. He proudly exulted our presence to his comrades. He later led us to the former family homestead. Well kept and in new hands the owner courteously gave us a tour of his house and outbuildings. In the midst of saying our goodbyes, he raised a finger and signaled us to wait. After ten minutes he returned with an old frame. He explained that it was from a handmade mirror left by the original owner, probably her father’s. We carried this treasure back to her family.
Her uncle directed us to visit an ancient landmark on our return. Bojnice Castle stood majestically in the High Tetras. We arrived for the pageantry of a princess and her court. Later was an amazing performance of birds of prey with falcons, hawks, and owls. I was awed by such a spectacle. At a Christmas party last year I was introduced to a young Slovak girl, the fiancée of another friend’s son. For the sake of conversation, I mention my Slovakian experience at a castle with birds of prey show. She beamed to say that she played the princess there in the summer after high school days. How small is this world?
I did not expand on our side-trip into Poland nor did I mention it to my friend before we arrived at the gates of Auschwitz. It was just something I needed to see. My feeling is not connected to religion or the sanctity of beliefs. I have witnessed most all believers and respect their rights. To condone or condemn is not what happened there. I reach back to colonialism, rights of indigenous peoples, power of the sword, and just plain barbarianism. It is not something to explain or least of all attempts to justify. How can it be? There were mounds of human hair. Does it really matter whether they were Russian prisoners of war, German homosexuals, or Jews? The history of man and his inhumanity to man should not exist in like content but it does. I think of you and me at levels of our evolvement. Be there a Hitler and such followers in our midst? Yes. Are most of us at a higher level of coherence with our souls? Yes.
After the Czech Republic, we drove into Poland then back through Slovakia to the birthplace of my friend’s father. As planned, we made contact with her uncle. He was a proud man living in the demise of the collapsed communist state. More so the economic hardship evoked from the separation of what was Czechoslovakia. He had retired from a communal factory with a subsistence that kept him above poverty. An enduring benefit was his union pub where we enjoyed a fine beer for twenty-five cents. He proudly exulted our presence to his comrades. He later led us to the former family homestead. Well kept and in new hands the owner courteously gave us a tour of his house and outbuildings. In the midst of saying our goodbyes, he raised a finger and signaled us to wait. After ten minutes he returned with an old frame. He explained that it was from a handmade mirror left by the original owner, probably her father’s. We carried this treasure back to her family.
Her uncle directed us to visit an ancient landmark on our return. Bojnice Castle stood majestically in the High Tetras. We arrived for the pageantry of a princess and her court. Later was an amazing performance of birds of prey with falcons, hawks, and owls. I was awed by such a spectacle. At a Christmas party last year I was introduced to a young Slovak girl, the fiancée of another friend’s son. For the sake of conversation, I mention my Slovakian experience at a castle with birds of prey show. She beamed to say that she played the princess there in the summer after high school days. How small is this world?
I did not expand on our side-trip into Poland nor did I mention it to my friend before we arrived at the gates of Auschwitz. It was just something I needed to see. My feeling is not connected to religion or the sanctity of beliefs. I have witnessed most all believers and respect their rights. To condone or condemn is not what happened there. I reach back to colonialism, rights of indigenous peoples, power of the sword, and just plain barbarianism. It is not something to explain or least of all attempts to justify. How can it be? There were mounds of human hair. Does it really matter whether they were Russian prisoners of war, German homosexuals, or Jews? The history of man and his inhumanity to man should not exist in like content but it does. I think of you and me at levels of our evolvement. Be there a Hitler and such followers in our midst? Yes. Are most of us at a higher level of coherence with our souls? Yes.
No comments:
Post a Comment