A visit to Auschwitz, Oświęcim.

70 kilometers west of Kraków lies the town of Oświęcim. Although a quiet, countryside town with a population of just over 40,000, this place is recognized widely as, and is still indissolubly linked with the name the Nazis gave it when they occupied Poland: Auschwitz.

I had the opportunity to visit this notorious camp in February, right after I had my license examination. I actually hopped over to Europe the very next day. My trip to Poland, and the first one to a country in eastern Europe, was made possible by Krzysztof Sanetra, a Polish friend I got to know well through a program at the University of Edinburgh, and his family. Although it was not his best time, as he was busy writing reports and preparing for exams, we were finally able to meet up once again, and he and his family were kind enough to plan out a sightseeing trip for me. I truly don't know how to thank them for driving me around the southern half of the country, sometimes on five-hour legs, arranging English-speaking guides for me everywhere, letting me stay at theirs, and taking care of me.

Following the Nazi invasion of Poland in September 1939, Oświęcim and its surrounding region were incorporated into the domains of the Third Reich, and the town's name was changed to Auschwitz. Establishing new concentration camps in this newly conquered territory was a German priority from the beginning, as camps in their homeland were already getting overcrowded, and the occupation of Poland dramatically increased the number of potential 'undesirables' who would need to be interned. The site of Oświęcim was perfect for many reasons. It already had a Polish-built camp for migrant workers (which could easily be converted to prisons), it was remotely located between the Soła and Vistula rivers, and it was strategically situated at the 'center of Europe'.

Designed by Rudolf Höss, the camp was opened on June 14, 1940, initially with 728 Polish prisoners. The camp originally comprised 20 buildings, of which six had a second floor. However as the number of inmates grew, an extra story was added to all one-floor buildings and another eight buildings were built by 1942, using the prisoners as workforce. As time passed, the Nazis started to deport to the camp people from all over Europe, including Soviet prisoners-of-war (POWs), Gypsies, Czechs, Yugoslavs, French, Austrians, and Germans as well, though many of them were Jews. The number of prisoners kept on increasing, and a second camp, which is much larger than the original, was opened in 1941 three kilometers away in Brzezinka. It became known as Auschwitz II - Birkenau. A third site was constructed in Monowice near Oświęcim and became Auschwitz III. At peak, the camps accommodated no less than 20,000 people

When you enter the Auschwitz Museum, which is located at the original Auschwitz I site, you will see above what the prisoners passed under each day: a gate with the cynical inscription 'ARBEIT MACHT FREI', which translates to 'work brings freedom'. It was a bitter cold day when I visited, with temperatures only reaching a high of five degrees below zero Celsius and snow still frozen, but back when the monstrous facility was still in operation, prisoners being forced to hard labor (sometimes exceeding 12 hours) in this harsh environment was the norm. Prison cellars now display various objects, including numerous photos, empty cans of Zyklon B (the substance thrown into the 'shower room' and could kill 2,000 in 30 minutes), the actual belongings of the people such as shoes and suitcases with the name of the deportees, and cloth and carpets made from human hair.

We also walked to the 'Death Block', which was a prison within a prison, completely isolated from the rest of the camp. The ground floor and the basement 'torture' cellars are still preserved in their original form. The courtyard between Blocks 10 and 11 is enclosed on two sides by a high wall. The wooden blinds on the windows of Block 10 were installed to prevent the inmates from observing the executions taking place here, though they could still hear the bullets being fired. At this 'wall of death', the Nazis shot thousands of prisoners, mostly Poles. In the yard in front of Block 11, the Nazis carried out punishments in the form of hanging prisoners to a special stake by their arms, which were bent behind their backs. An endless number of visitors leave behind flowers and candles at this place.

The more I walked though the Auschwitz facilities, the more it gave me an eerie feel. It is so-to-speak a 'factory of death'. When prisoners arrived, children, the elderly, the handicapped, the pregnant, were immediately sent to the 'shower rooms' and mass-executed in a mere 30 minutes with Zyklon B (Cyclon B). Their belongings would be collected and reused or sold, their hair would be 'reused' to weave cloth, and there were experiments to collect fat from the corpses and produce soap. And, not surprisingly, all of this was carried out by the prisoners as well. Those who were young and of the working generation were kept alive longer, though forced to hard labor in temperatures of sometimes -20 degrees Celsius, given only one meal per day, allowed to visit the toilet only twice, and lived in bunks with poor hygiene. Cleaning the toilets was said to be the 'best tasks' among the prisoners, as they were always working inside, and could visit the toilet anytime they wanted to. There were tortures all the time, however, the harsh environment was often enough to take the toll. Whenever someone died, it was the norm for the inmates to keep it a secret, so that they can receive one more meal.

I found myself at a loss of words. With the even more massive Auschwitz II facility, the complex gives you the impression that it is truly a 'human-processing' factory, and one that is carefully planned and cleverly laid out. Yes, it was politics. But, how can humans become so inhumane? Was it not possible to direct all that intelligence and effort towards something else? We learn history so that we do not make the same mistakes and we can build on top of the past. However, though in different situations, genocides have been repeated, and more than once. Oświęcim will remain a place everyone should visit at least once in their lives...

Taking a break in Cairns.

In December, I traveled to Cairns, in the northeastern corner of Australia, with my family. It was certainly a nice and long-needed break from the daily rigorous studying. My October was full of exams, and the beginning of December saw the last, yet the biggest exam of the six years: the graduation exam. Not until we pass that do we become eligible to take the national license board. In Japan, graduation from a faculty of medicine requires you to pass this graduation exam, instead of submitting a thesis. So, we do go through a period of 'torturous studying', however, we are never required to learn how to write a paper.

Named after William Wellington Cairns, then Governor of Queensland, this city was originally founded in 1876 to serve miners heading for the Hodgkinson River goldfield. However, the region has been inhabited by the aboriginal Walubarra Yidinji people, who called and still calls the area Gimuy, since long before the Europeans came. Later on, the city developed into a railroad hub and a major port for exporting sugar cane, which still remains the biggest local industry after tourism, and metals, minerals, and other agricultural products from the surrounding coastal areas.

Cairns gives you the impression of a peaceful countryside city. It doesn't have skyscrapers, nor does it have multi-story shopping complexes. It's not about the hustling and bustling one has to endure in Sydney or Melbourne. The seaside boardwalk gives you a pleasant view of the port and the peninsula across the cove, which is sacred aboriginal territory, and especially picturesque at sunset. However, the nearby beaches are not a place for swimming, as it is infested with crocodiles and some stinging jellyfish, a reminder that the seashore is predominantly mangrove swamp, and that the port was built after clearing part of it.

The best and most beautiful waters for swimming nearby is certainly out at the Great Barrier Reef, which is a UNESCO-registered world heritage site, and stretches over a distance of 2,600 kilometers. It is composed of over 900 islands and 2,900 individual reefs. Cairns is naturally the hub for those who come to see what is the largest single structure made by living organisms. However, we must keep in mind that the booming tourism (generates AU$1 billion every year) together with climate change are the biggest 'enemies' for this great natural wonder.

Strolling in Luang Prabang.

Between the mountains covered with jungles in north-central Laos lies the city of Luang Prabang. It is situated where the Nam Khan River flows into the Mekong River, well over 400 kilometers north of Vientiane. Every dawn, lines of monks dressed in orange robes walk through the streets to collect alms, and along with the Buddhist temples and the simple concrete buildings, the atmosphere seems to resemble that of its neighbor Thailand at one glance. Even the language is very similar to that spoken in 'Isan', the northeastern part of Thailand. The cuisine is similar too; Tam Mak-Hung (papaya salad) is basically the same as Som Tam, and they eat that with Khao Niaw (sticky rice), and it even goes along with Kai Yang (roasted chicken).

However, if you look carefully, the decorations of the temples are different, architecture reflecting the days of French colonization still remains in many houses, and most of all, its social systems, including education, health care, and welfare is like those of its neighbor decades ago. Education is essentially free for public primary school (five years), junior high (three), and senior high (three), but the percentages of children enrolled are 84.2%, 54.4%, and 34.2%, respectively. And, since the country does not keep track of personal identification records, the actual age a child gets enrolled varies. The number of years for university education varies from two to seven depending on the majoring subject, however, none are free. Free health care is not available, but government aid may be issued if you travel all the way down to Vientiane and ask for it.

I paid a visit to this landlocked country in the Indochina Peninsula in August. Registered a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO in 1995, the compact city of Luang Prabang is a nice and calm place to spend a couple of days. Besides the symbolic temple of Wat Xiengthong and the hill of Phousi, where you can get a picturesque view of the entire city, there are many so-called 'speed boats' that take you up and down the Mekong to various nearby villages and the buddha-adorned caves of Pak Ou, while 'songthaews' or 'tuk-tuks' (same nomenclature as Thailand!) can take you to the beautiful waterfalls of Tat Kuangsi. At night, nearby villagers, including the Hmong, come out to sell various goods, creating a bustling street market scene.

The recent influx of tourists to this economically underdeveloped nation has given birth to a plethora of bed-and-breakfast's and restaurants that satisfy a westerner's taste buds, however, this happened after restaurants catering for the locals came in, ironically. Families were and are still not too used to eating outside the home. So, it wasn't easy for me to find local food with a local taste at a local cost. Even the packaged foods, most, if not all of them, are imported from Thailand. People say that the more north you go, the more products from China and Vietnam you will find. But basically, there are only a few mass-produced goods (not to miss the famous Beer Lao!) packaged on Lao soil. What I personally liked the most was the Khao Soi (different from the Thai cuisine with the same name) I found being served at a 'street picnic table' right beside the Mekong. I even went for a second on the following day.