By Michael Lawrence Today we arrived in Berlin, Germany. We went to our hostel, which was a lot nicer than I imagined it would be despite the internet being down. We ate dinner at a Turkish Imbiss, a type of German walk in walk out restaurant, and had a dish called Döner, which I highly…
Back to Auschwitz
By Michael Lawrence Today we went back to Oswiecim (Auschwitz). We went to a Franciscan Monastery. There was an exhibit there from a Christian Holocaust survivor who never talked about his experiences, until fifteen years before his death. He had a stroke and realized he needed to share what he had experienced during his five-year…
Reflection on Birkenau and a visit to Oswiecim
By Caitlin Peabody Entering the gates of Birkenau was surreal. We first climbed up the guard tower on top of the entrance to the camp. The view from the tower blew my mind. I had no idea the massive size of the camp and to imagine the camp filled with prisoners was an even more…
Congratulations to UTC SoCon Champs
UTC Women’s Basketball and the UTC wrestling team have done it again—congratulations to these student athletes for winning their Southern Conference Tournament Championships!
Blog by UTC students: Holocaust study tour
UTC students in Dr. John Swanson’s history course, The Holocaust: Perpetrators, Victims, and Bystanders, are taking a different kind of spring break—a Holocaust study tour in Poland and Germany. Read the first blog posts by two students on the trip, Michael Lawrence and Caitlin Peabody. [tboot_button color=”primary” size=”large” url=”https://blog.utc.edu/news/category/guest-blogs/holocaust-study-tour/” title=”Read the blog”] Read the Holocaust study…
Eerie and humbling experience at Auschwitz-Birkenau
By Michael Lawrence Today was a huge change of pace. We focused solely on Auschwitz-Birkenau. We woke up and drove about 60 km away to the town of Oswiecim (Auschwitz). We started our tour at Auschwitz I, which has been converted to a museum. I didn’t feel anything too weird when we arrived walking under…
Nerves, emotions and disbelief at Auschwitz-Birkenau
By Caitlin Peabody We left the hotel around 9:30 this morning and boarded a bus for the hour long ride to Auschwitz. Tomasz joined us in the morning and spent the day with us, sharing his knowledge and his insights of the camp. Upon arrival, I was nervous. As I was growing up and I…
Kazimierz, the Jewish District, Plaszow camp and the Schindler factory
By Caitlin Peabody Sunday was a very, very long day with a lot of walking, but I enjoyed every bit of it. We started on a tour of Kazimierz, named after one of the great Polish kings, which used to be a completely separate town in medieval Poland. After Kazimierz we made our way to…
Modern museum depicts medieval life
By Caitlin Peabody On Saturday we went on our first tour of Krakow with our wonderful tour guide Tomasz. The rich history of this place is astounding and I absorbed every bit of information that Tomasz was telling us. We made our way to the main market square and went to the Rynek Underground museum.…
Cracow’s Jewish district, Ghetto, concentration camp and Schindler’s factory
By Michael Lawrence Today we toured Kazimierz (the Jewish district) and saw a lot of spots where the Jewish community were initially rounded up to be sent to the Cracow Ghetto during the invasion of Poland. We saw many spots where the filming of Schindler’s List took place. This really was an eye opening thing…