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Reflections on a Journey
Hello and welcome to my spot on the internet! My name is Alyssa and I was a recent participant on the University of Victoria’s 2024 I-witness Field School. On the Field School we travelled to Germany, Poland, and Austria to study and delve deeper into the ways that WWII is memorialized in these places and…
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Berlin- Brötchen
May 17 – May 25, 2024 The first part of our trip! When we arrived in Europe there were few things that we were sure of. I had been to Berlin a couple of years ago, so I had some familiarity with it, but the rest of the trip was largely unknown. I was travelling…
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Ravensbrück- Goulash
May 24th, 2024 Our trip to Ravensbrück, a former Nazi concentration camp created specifically for women located outside of Berlin, was notable to me in many ways. We had a tour guide, Matthias Heyl, who focused heavily on personalizing the site by centering his narrative on the stories of both the victims and perpetrators. He…
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Krakow- Cake!
May 29th and May 31st, 2024 As much as I will never forget what I saw and learnt in Poland, I will also never forget the cake that I ate from a bakery very close to the hotel we were staying at. I think this food memory has lingered for all the reasons that researchers…
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Krakow- Pierogies
May 28th – June 2nd, 2024 Our time in Poland pushed us out of our comfort zones and tested our cohesiveness as a group. The material we covered in this country was extremely difficult and we had some of our longest days while staying in Krakow. The good news was that there was a delicious…
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Mauthausen- Vegan Curry
Wednesday, June 5, 2024 The last former concentration camp site we visited during the Field School was Mauthausen. Located 165 kilometers outside of Vienna and near the town of Linz, we spent the early morning driving there by bus traveling through the Austrian countryside and marveling at how high the Danube had risen. We then…
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Vienna- Riesenschnecke
June 3rd, 2024 On days when we had class, our time was characterized by busy mornings and afternoons sandwiched around quick breaks for lunch at midday. By the time we got to Vienna, I think we had all perfected the ability to find a quick bite to eat no matter where we were left in…
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Vienna- Sacher Torte
June 8th, 2024 I think that most people have heard of Sacher Torte; however, I doubt many people have tasted the version that comes from the Hotel Sacher in Vienna. On the very last free day of the Field School my roommate and I made our way to the Hotel Sacher to try this famous…