Yesterday was a cold and rainy day, but I woke up this morning to find it snowing! This was a picture from my windown this morning.
It’s so beautiful! I love the snow. We traveled to Bautzen by bus for about an 1.5 hours. We drove past many small villages, forests, and wide open spaces on the bus. The view was even prettier for me today because the charm was enhanced by the layers of white powdered snow and the giant falling snow flakes. As we came close to our destination, the weather improved however the day was a constant back and forth between rain, clear skies and falling snow. I loved it!
Bautzen is a small Eastern German village town of about 50,000 people and is only 15 miles away
from the Czech Republic border. 
This city is an interesting city because of its constantly changing leadership history. It was controlled by many neighboring kingdoms such as Bohemia, Poland, and Brandenberg (W. Germany), until finally the Saxon king helped Bohemia in the 30 years war (conflict between Christians and Catholics). It was in 1632 when the Bohemian king could not pay his war loans to Saxony, that he gave Bautzen to the Saxon kingdom. The city looks an old medieval city. Its ancient structures and the fortified wall that protected it from outside invaders eaisly transported me to the middle ages. One of the interesting churches here was the inter-denomination church. The 30 years war (conflict between Christians and Catholics after 
the reformation) spread and caused great chaos and destruction throughout Germany and Europe. This church represents the unity between the Cathoics and Christians and is still an important c
hurch for Germany today. Also Christmas markets started here and then spread to other parts of Germany.
This city is also known for two famous Jails Bautzen I and II. These were not concentration camps, but used after WWII during the GDR period. We visited Bautzen II. 90% of its inmates were political dissidents or enemies of the state. The trucks you see were used to find those enemies of the state from either their home or work place and transport them to the jail. Those captured individuals were told they would be executed upon arrival which of course caused great anxiety. Usually what happened when they arrived, the guards called Stasi (like FBI, CIA or KGB) put the individuals under great stress to the point of breaking. They were usually beaten, put in cells, stripped naked and then body searched, clothed, and then starved for a period of time. When in their cells they had to stand for periods of 8 hours at a time. Then, the Stasi would come in and get them to talk and try to build loyalty with them because they were close to the breaking point.
A famous prisoner was Diefer Hotger, a West German, who during this time was trying to help his girl friend from East Germany escape to West Germany. What he didn’t know was that one of his friends was an informant to the Stasi and he was turned in and captured, taken to East Germany and
imprisoned. He escaped twice, but was caught both times. He stayed a total of 12 years in the prison, but as socialism started breaking down in East Germany, deals were made between East and West Germany to exchange political prisoners. He was finally released. In the period of the 50s 60s and mid 70s conditions were really poor, but after the mid 70s, East Germany tried to have a better reputation with the world and jail conditions improved slightly. As the unification process began, the Stasi pulled out, leaving only the guards. Finally when unification occurred they released the political prisoners except the last 10%. Those people were actual criminals and went to Bautzen I the main jail. 
In 1992-1993 the prison was empty and was then turned into a memorial for everyone to see how political prisoners were treated during the Cold War. There are so many details on prison life, way more than I can go into details on here.
Our last meeting of the day was the Sorben minority group. They are a member of the Slavic ethnic group. We learned about the Sorben people and how they are seeking nationalism and working to maintain their traditions and culture.
It’s so beautiful! I love the snow. We traveled to Bautzen by bus for about an 1.5 hours. We drove past many small villages, forests, and wide open spaces on the bus. The view was even prettier for me today because the charm was enhanced by the layers of white powdered snow and the giant falling snow flakes. As we came close to our destination, the weather improved however the day was a constant back and forth between rain, clear skies and falling snow. I loved it!Bautzen is a small Eastern German village town of about 50,000 people and is only 15 miles away
from the Czech Republic border. 
This city is an interesting city because of its constantly changing leadership history. It was controlled by many neighboring kingdoms such as Bohemia, Poland, and Brandenberg (W. Germany), until finally the Saxon king helped Bohemia in the 30 years war (conflict between Christians and Catholics). It was in 1632 when the Bohemian king could not pay his war loans to Saxony, that he gave Bautzen to the Saxon kingdom. The city looks an old medieval city. Its ancient structures and the fortified wall that protected it from outside invaders eaisly transported me to the middle ages. One of the interesting churches here was the inter-denomination church. The 30 years war (conflict between Christians and Catholics after 
the reformation) spread and caused great chaos and destruction throughout Germany and Europe. This church represents the unity between the Cathoics and Christians and is still an important c
hurch for Germany today. Also Christmas markets started here and then spread to other parts of Germany.This city is also known for two famous Jails Bautzen I and II. These were not concentration camps, but used after WWII during the GDR period. We visited Bautzen II. 90% of its inmates were political dissidents or enemies of the state. The trucks you see were used to find those enemies of the state from either their home or work place and transport them to the jail. Those captured individuals were told they would be executed upon arrival which of course caused great anxiety. Usually what happened when they arrived, the guards called Stasi (like FBI, CIA or KGB) put the individuals under great stress to the point of breaking. They were usually beaten, put in cells, stripped naked and then body searched, clothed, and then starved for a period of time. When in their cells they had to stand for periods of 8 hours at a time. Then, the Stasi would come in and get them to talk and try to build loyalty with them because they were close to the breaking point.
A famous prisoner was Diefer Hotger, a West German, who during this time was trying to help his girl friend from East Germany escape to West Germany. What he didn’t know was that one of his friends was an informant to the Stasi and he was turned in and captured, taken to East Germany and
imprisoned. He escaped twice, but was caught both times. He stayed a total of 12 years in the prison, but as socialism started breaking down in East Germany, deals were made between East and West Germany to exchange political prisoners. He was finally released. In the period of the 50s 60s and mid 70s conditions were really poor, but after the mid 70s, East Germany tried to have a better reputation with the world and jail conditions improved slightly. As the unification process began, the Stasi pulled out, leaving only the guards. Finally when unification occurred they released the political prisoners except the last 10%. Those people were actual criminals and went to Bautzen I the main jail. 
In 1992-1993 the prison was empty and was then turned into a memorial for everyone to see how political prisoners were treated during the Cold War. There are so many details on prison life, way more than I can go into details on here.Our last meeting of the day was the Sorben minority group. They are a member of the Slavic ethnic group. We learned about the Sorben people and how they are seeking nationalism and working to maintain their traditions and culture.
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