Praha Part 2

June 3: This morning was a tough on due to going on a tour at Tenazin Concentration Camp.

Unlike Dachau, everything that was there was really there during the Holocaust. The beds, toilets, shelves...the objects that the prisoners had used for work were all still in tact. The fortress was built in a star formation so whenever one wall was attacked or breached, there were always two more walls firing at the enemies. 

We started out in the area where everyone would line up after arrival and leave their belongings and go through the registration office prior to walking through the arch with the white banner over top.

The office below was for registration and where all the files were kept of the prisoners.

Just past the white bannered archway are the prison cells for the religious prisoners, political enemies, and any other resistors.

Albeit macht frei means "work sets you free", and was a common slogan at many of the concentration camps.

The prison cells were for up to 60-90 people per cell and people were separated by nationality. There would sometimes be people sleeping on the floor, as there were no mattresses or hay to sleep on anyway. In each cell there was one toilet (a hole in the ground) and one sink along with the shelves/lockers for the prisoners. 

We saw one of the cells that was used for the Jews when either they tried to escape or were misbehaved. It held 60ish people with no toilet, light, air, or place to sit. 

This is where the clothes would be "washed", aka steamed with no soap, once a week (on Saturdays) while the prisoners showered for their one time per week.

Next, we walked into the barber shop that was used more so for propaganda than for actual haircuts.

This location was where many prisoners tried to escape, and some succeeded. Three prisoners ended up scaling the wall on Saint Nicholas Day night as the guards were preoccupied with their party and alcohol. This was the only successful escape.

When the bodies started to pile up and weren't buried right away, the soldiers placed the bodies in this room to eliminate the stench until going to the crematorium.

This tunnel was a route for the guards to go from inside the fortress to their homes and the firing range. This was sealed off in the war though, as they thought prisoners would try to escape from it. The tunnel was a quarter mile long, though it seemed to never end as there was little light or space.

The firing range is where the soldiers would have target practice and then later on have executions.

The put clay behind the people so the bullets wouldn't ricochet off the wall. 

Right next to the firing range was the gallows. This was where many executions took place.

There were al sorts of amenities for the Nazi soldiers and their families such as the swimming pool seen below. 

At the entrance/exit of the prison, there are now graves for those who were killed in the camp and their bodies were present after liberation. There were many with names on them, but even more listed as just numbers due to the lack of ability to identify them. 

After leaving the small fortress, we went to the large fortress where the ghetto for the Jews was. We went to a museum as there isn't much to tour anymore since the fortress is inhabited by the people of the town. Our tour guide explained that as though this may seem unbearable to live there, many people did not have the option to not use the available locations when the war was over. The picture below is of some children drawing what they perceived the camp to look like. These particular ones though we're depictions specifically for propaganda. The children were told to paint beautiful things in bright colors for these purposes. Many times, you'll see princesses or fairy tales. 

Though hard to see, the next two photos show the names of all of those who died at the camp. 

There were some dishes that were used by the Jews.

The below image is of a wooden urn that was used for the ashes of victims.

There were many identification cards for the prisoners.

The picture below shows a large number of prisoners that arrived at the camp towards the end. 

It was a heartbreaking tour, but very interesting. On the drive back to Prague, we saw the site where the assassination attempt on Heydrich was. After getting back, I grabbed some food at a Czech restaurant.

I ended up meeting up with some friends from the day prior days and playing cards and having some beer at a bar. It was great fun! 

June 4:  My last day in Prague...bittersweet. When I first came to Prague I was ready to take the first flight home, but at the end I was struggling to say goodbye. I started off my morning with a muffin, smoothie, and banana and made my way to St. Charles bridge. The view was amazing. There were art vendors and musicians everywhere.

There was one jazz group playing that was phenomenal! Walking across the bridge, I wandered through the city and eventually found my way to the Senate Gardens.

I wandered through their beauty and eventually came across a wedding party!

After the gardens, I explored the Senate Building.

There was even some Delft pottery in the fireplace and above the mantel! :P

Everything on this trip has been tying together in some way. On my way to find the Strahov Monestary, I found a delightful little bakery! SO GOOD!!!!! I got the cookie that was similar to the ones my mom used to make!

After taking the tram the wrong direction (it's really hard to figure out the way when nothing is in English) I decided to grab some lunch. I went to Savoy Cafe and had some strawberries in a dough ball with butter, cheese, and powdered sugar. It was delicious, but even more so was the raspberry and rosemary lemonade I had!

After that I made my way over to the park. I was only going to walk up to the Orthodox wooden church, but after that I decided to keep trekking on.

I walked for over three hours in the beautiful park and definitely cleared my head.

At the top of the park, I found an observatory!

Arriving at the Monestary, I grabbed a dark lager and found myself some table area (it was very busy).

I ended up next to 3 guys from North Carolina! One of the guys had family in Green Bay was a a huge Wisconsin fan...small world! After enjoying some conversation (and seeing an awesome purple car!!), I grabbed an IPA to go and the next tram, in the right direction, down to the main part of Old Town.

Heading back to the hostel, I walked through the market and got some fresh berries.

I also grabbed some chimney cake!!!!!  

Arriving at the hostel, Tuang (my roommate) and I relaxed for a bit and then went out to dinner at a place I found on The New York Times Travel section. It was worth the long walk, by far!

On our walk home we tried to find an open souvenir store, but no luck. :( (Sorry mom) after chatting some more, we headed to bed as the next day both of us would head our separate ways.