Krakow - July 24, 2010

Image of Star of David - Wieliczka Salt Mines

descending staircase - Wieliczka Salt Mines

banquet room made entirely of salt @ Wieliczka Salt Mines

religious imagery carved out of salt - Wieliczka Salt Mines

One of the highlights of my trip to Poland was having the opportunity to meet and speak with Marty Weiss, a Holocaust survivor and volunteer at the USHMM. Mr. Weiss is a delightful man with a wealth of personal experiences and information about the Holocaust. He is friendly, animated and eager to speak about his life. His attendance on our group tour gave everyone the opportunity to get a personal window into the tragedy of the Holocaust.
One of our last "field trips" with the museum group was our visit to the Wieliczka Salt Mines located on the southeast outskirts of Krakow. They have been worked for 900 years and used to be one of the world's biggest and most profitable industrial establishments when common salt was a rare commodity. Since the mid-18th century, these mines have become a huge tourist attraction, giving visitors the opportunity to walk underground for about 2,000 meters in the oldest part of the sale mine and see its subterranean museum. The mines have been placed on the original UNESCO list of World Heritage sites.
Nine centuries of mining in Wieliczka produced a total of 200 km of passages as well as 2,040 caverns of varied size. The tourist route starts 64m deep, includes twenty chambers, and ends 135m below the earth's surface.
It was quite an experience getting to the deeper levels of the mines. After descending several staircases and riding in a small, rickety elevator, I finally arrived at the deepest level of the mines.
The unique acoustics of the mines have made hearing music here an outstanding experience and our group was given the opportunity to attend a piano recital while enjoying dinner in the underground mines. This was certainly an opportunity of a lifetime.