Last Day…

Today was “free Kraków” for the students until our final meeting this afternoon followed by a team meal in the evening. Since most of us have to catch a bus to the airport at 3 am tomorrow morning, tonight’s post will be exceptionally brief.

Our time of reflection and processing was, yet once again, so impressive. In addition to our experiences, I asked the students to watch the documentary, Weapons of the Spirit by Pierre Sauvage. It tells the story of the residents of Le Chambon during the war years, and how the simple people of this peasant village in the hills of south central France rather spontaneously worked to shelter and rescue about 5000 Jews over the course of the conflict. With this video, coupled with our two weeks of shared experiences as our fuel, we sat together and shared with one another our observations, developing convictions, newly-raised and still-lingering questions, as well as aspirations and hopes for more than 90 minutes. All the way to the end, these students bravely and honestly participated in our group processing times. It’s the only way to undertake an experience like this with integrity and a proper sense of respect for the victims – they knew that, and they rose to the challenge. I told them that they were brave, they were respectful and easy to lead, and they took their responsibility to the subject matter seriously.

After our sharing time together, we went to The Spaghetti for our last meal. A few of us then took our last chance to hear some beautiful music at Peter and Paul Cathedral. The performances of pieces by Vivaldi, Caccini, and Rodrigo stood out, we all agreed. As I sat in this beautiful building and took in these soaring works of auditory art, I was struck by the fearful awesomeness of the breadth of human potential. How can one go from Auschwitz to Vivaldi within hours and not become obsessed with this question.

Now its time to crash…3 am comes early, I hear.