By Byron LaDue, Kafka Project founding member & research associate

The search for Kafka's lost papers in the expansive region of Silesia has always relied on determination, luck, coincidence and the kindness of strangers. There was no definite plan when we arrived in Krakow, only a general idea to find some archives and pass out the Kafka Project Alert so that the archivists could recognize the missing Kafka treasure. And Kathi's belief that we needed to be here in order for "Something to Happen." A month ago we arrived in Krakow. There happened to be a Jewish Cultural Festival going on, beginning the day we arrived. As a part of the festival we decided to take Yiddish lessons at the Galicia Jewish Museum.

For an article she is writing, Kathi interviews the museum's director, Kate Craddy. As the interview concludes, Kate mentions, as an afterthought, that the US Embassy is throwing a Fourth of July party that very evening. She gives us the name of Susan Parker-Burns, Consul for Press and Culture at the US Consulate in Krakow as a contact. So we show up, get in the receiving line at the entrance to the party at the Sheraton, mention the name of Susan Parker-Burns, and, even though we admit that we don't know her and she doesn't know us, we know she is leaving on vacation and we need to speak to her tonight. We're a little bit dressed up and have our American passports and the next thing we know we're shaking hands with the US Ambassador to Poland. 

The Kafka Project waits. This part is what my friend Anthony Rudolf, one of the Kafka Project advisors in London, calls "the hard slog." Exactly what are we waiting for?

We are waiting to learn the locations of Nazi-era archives in Silesia, where Franz Kafka's missing papers were last traced. In Berlin ten years ago, I had to wait in some cases for months. I don't have that kind of time now. Byron and I leave Poland on the 24th of July, so there is pressure to move quickly. Time is running out to find these papers before they are lost forever. Locating these archives before they are opened, and providing information on what is missing is vital to discovering it. Even to people I meet on the street, who express even the slightest interest, I hand a copy of the Kafka Project ALERT, which identifies what exactly is lost and describes it in detail so that it can be recognized. The ALERT also establishes who owns these 35 love letters and 20 notebooks--the Kafka Estate of London, England. I have had the ALERT translated into Czech, Polish, Slovak and German. These are the languages spoken in the area which encompass Silesia. 

Connections have been made, phone calls placed and emails sent. Now we wait for responses and answers. The connections have been remarkable. Last week, at a Fourth of July celebration held by the US Consulate in Krakow, I met the US Ambassador to Poland, Victor Ashe, and more importantly for the Kafka Project, the US Consul General Anne Hall, who offered the resources of the US Embassy.  A graduate student at the oldest university in Eastern Europe, Jagiellonian University, Magda Kozlowska, is helping with contacts and translations. She is writing about the Kafka Project for Jagiellonian's Jewish Studies Department. A couple of responses from my queries have arrived, but are fairly disheartening, indicating that Silesia is too big and our search too vague. But we already knew that. This search is the first step to getting the word out that these papers are missing.

But while we wait, we have made excellent use of our time.

What a week! The 18th Jewish Culture Festival, the largest Jewish festival in the world, began the day we arrived in Krakow. Centered in Kazimierz, the ancient Jewish district on UNESCO's World Heritage List, this lively festival is attended by people from all over the world, and features theatre performaces, lectures, films, tours, concerts, classes, workshops, art installations, museum exhibits, and much much more. The music is extraordinary. We heard music spilling from synagogues, much as Dora must have done when she lived here in 1918. We heard many different styles of Klezmer music, as well as Hasidic, classical, and Jewish folk music. The culminating concert, Shalom on Szeroka Street, attended by thousands, started with rain showers in the evening and didn't end until two a.m. 

Byron and I took a week-long free, but intensive Yiddish class this week taught by wonderful Anna Gulinska at the Galicia Jewish Museum, and participated in a Yiddish singing workshops taught by Jeff Warschauer in the afternoons. We attended free Klezmer concerts held on tiny cobbled squares, surrounded by people from all over the world. 

One of our favorite groups we heard perform at the daily evening free "Concert between Two Synagogues." Konsonans Retro is a group of family members from the Ukraine.

When Byron and I were here in 2001, Kazimierz was a bit depressing, with little life left in the narrow lanes. Only old photographs, like this one below, showed the Jewish life on the ancient streets.

I'm learning a thing or two about blogs. After getting advice from the best and brightest at KPBS, the fact is I can't keep up. Life happens faster than I can write about it. Especially when you are living it in Krakow. The Old Town Market Square is about 10 minutes from our adorable studio flat, which is at the end of a quiet residental street, facing a garden. Lovely. The center itself is lively, but not too full. Last night for the finals of the Euro 2008 soccer games, there were people on the squares, filling the pubs, restaurants and cafes all tuned to the match, until past midnight, when Byron and I walked home on ancient cobblestone streets.

Home. Well, it is, until the end of July. The Kafka Project proceeds apace, which is slow right now. Have a meeting set for Wednesday with a couple of students who want to be involved. In the meanwhile, we sightsee and participate in the 18th Jewish Culture Festival in Kazimierz.  We have begun a week-long free class in Yiddish. Today we learned to write our names. 

I leave you now with a slice of life Byron snapped at Wawel Castle. Stay tuned: Coming up soon, more perpectives and thoughts from Magical Mystery Tour travelers, including my sister Trudi's report on her last night in Berlin. 

A nun checks her PDA during a tour of Wawel Castle in Krakow.

Hello Gentle Readers and Fellow Online Adventurers:

We are now in Krakow, Poland, having arrived late yesterday evening. Our hotel, the Pod Wawelem, is in a perfect location, just minutes from the Old Town Square, and at the foot of Wawel Castle. This next entry has been written for you by Glenda Winders, editor of Copley News Service in San Diego. Glenda has been a friend and editor for many years, and I am honored to have her as a member of the Kafka Project and our Magical Mystery Literary History Tour to Eastern Europe. Here is her report:

From Glenda: One of my favorite ways to organize a travel experience is to follow in the footsteps of a favorite literary or historical figure. I've tracked Boudicca through England, Keats through Rome and Robert Louis Stevenson through the Napa Valley, but I've never had the privilege of traveling with a scholar and writer who is an expert on the subject at hand. Seeing the places that were important to Franz Kafka and Dora Diamant and hearing stories about them from Kathi Diamant have absolutely brought this couple to life. Today, with Kathi pointing out significant places from our coach and reading passages from her book as we rolled through the Czech Republic on our way to Poland, I sometimes had the feeling that if I turned around and checked out the seats behind me, I just might catch a glimpse of Franz and Dora, holding hands tightly and listening intently to what she had to say.