On the penultimate day of the Cold War Department of History Staff Ride, the Cadets visited the Kosciuszko Mound in Krakow, where they discussed the famed officer's role in the American Revolution and his status as a symbol of Polish nationalism. The Kosciuszko Mound Committee extended remarkable hospitality towards the staff ride, as the director personally escorted the cadets and then hosted a luncheon. During lunch, cadets discussed life under communist rule in Poland and what it was like watching it end with both the director and our tour guide.
In the afternoon, the staff ride traveled to Auschwitz and Birkenau. The visits helped drive home the scale of the Holocaust. Discussion on the sites centered on how the atrocity occurred and how it reshaped international relations in the 20th century through the development of the language of Human Rights in diplomacy and the creation of Israel. Afterwards, the staff ride drove to Warsaw in preparation for our final day on the ground in Europe.