June 27, 2016

Up early to do a little bike maintenance before heading out on the first of three days riding through Southwest Poland with a bunch of great guys from the local area. I needed to change front and rear brake pads, lube my chain, add some oil, and update my gps maps.

All done, and the first of the riders shows up to meet us at Michau’s house. Grzegorz is riding a heavily modified BMW 1200GS. I hesitate to call it a GS, as not even the frame is from a GS, but from an R model. The front forks and wheel are from a KTM. Every single piece that isn’t necessary to ride the GS offroad but still be street legal has been removed. It looks more like a large but proper dirt bike, and he rides it like one as well. It was great fun to follow him on some two-track dirt roads through the fields.

We picked up Ela (Lukasz’ sister-in-law) and headed off towards Lubiaz. On the way here, I had passed through Lubiaz, and by this absolutely enormous building. I had to go back and see what it was all about.

 

 

For centuries, this was a Cistercian monastery. Parts of it dates from 1175, and it is one of the largest Christian architectural complexes in the world. During WWII it was used by the Germans as a laboratory and for production of components for V1 and V2 rockets using prisoner labor. Much of the building was damaged after the war during occupation by the Red Army, and it fell into disrepair. Only a portion of it is open to tour today, and renovation has been ongoing since around 1990.

 

 

 

 

In 1997, Michael Jackson toured this massive complex, considering purchasing it as his residence (a European Neverland). Apparently the renovation expense was too great for even him, and he passed. I’m not sure how a place like this would fit in the hands of a private celebrity owner, especially considering that there are 98 mummified former dukes buried under the church in the center of the building.

Next stop: KZ Gross-Rosen. This was a WWII concentration camp that housed up to 100,000 prisoners. It was a hard-labor camp, where prisoners were forced to mine stone from a nearby quarry. The stone was used to build roads and buildings during the war.

I had been to Dachau many years ago, and was prepared for the experience of touring a Nazi concentration camp, but it is still a very emotional experience. Prisoners here survived an average of three months, due to the hard working conditions and poor nutrition. The average weight of the prisoners was around 35 kilograms, or 77 pounds. Built in 1941, the original small crematory quickly became overwhelmed and three larger ovens were built just to keep up with the death rate.

 

The German companies Blaupunkt, Siemens, and AEG all operated laboratories and manufacturing facilities during the war at Gross-Rosen using prisoner labor. Among notable prisoners, Simon Wiesenthal was an inmate at Gross-Rosen.

At Gross-Rosen, we were joined by Mariusz on his KTM640. Marius led us to Świdnica, and to the Peace Church. This large wooden church has an interesting history.

 

 

After the Thirty Years War ended in 1648, the Roman Catholic church allowed the Lutherans to build three churches, but under strict conditions:

1. The churches had to be outside the city walls, in less prestigious areas.
2. They had to be built from perishable materials, such as wood, sand, straw, and clay.
3. There could be no belfry or tower.
4. The exterior had to be atypical of a church.
5. Construction time had to be less than one year.

All of these conditions were met, and three wooden churches were constructed. These became the largest wooden religious structures in Europe.

From Świdnica, we rode to the small village of Jarkowice, where we spent the night at a guest house, and I was introduced to Pigwowa, a fruit-flavored vodka that tastes a lot like Choya, or Japanese plum wine. I tend to drink about one alcoholic drink every one or two months, so as Michau said, Poland is “practice for Russia”. I’m not sure how much practice I can take!

At Jarkowice, we were joined by Ela’s husband (and Lukasz’ brother) Marcin, on his Suzuki V-strom, and Paweł, who was riding Ela’s Kawasaki ER500.