Auschwitz
Trip Start
Jun 28, 2008
1
11
27
Trip End
Aug 29, 2008
Oswiecim and Krakow,
Southern Poland,
Poland
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Once I found my train and car, I was warmly welcomed by a bunch of young travellers in the same cabin as me. It was very relieving and we had a good chat. They were all heading to Krakow also and one of the guys... Australian again... was going to Auschwitz also. He was going to go the day after but decided to come with me. I was very greatful to have someone there even if I did not know him.
We arrived in Krakow at 7 am. The overnight train is pretty good. I actually slept! We had some breakfast ant then caught the bus up to Auschwitz I which took about an hour. The journey was beautiful which did not quite seem right. It is hard to believe that such a horrible thing could happen in such a beautiful country. There were points where I had to remind myself as to where I was. We were on a windy road that looked liked the road down to Frankies cabin. There were so many people there when we arrived. We decided to pay for the guided tour and there was a movie to watch first. The movie was the regular scenes we have all scene of the jew people selected off of the transport trains and bodies in shallow graves. It is however totally different because I was sitting right next to where a lot of it had actually happened. When we learn about it is school, it is so far away it is hard to comprehend.
Auschwitz I
The tour started in Auschwitz I which was strangely enough from first glance not that horrible looking. We learnt later that Auschwitz I was considered paradise compared to Birkenau or Auschwitz II. The buildings were made of brick and perfectly lined with trees. The only things bringing reality was the sign at the entrance to the camp WORK MAKES FREE and the fencing and watch tours. Otherwise you would have thought it was just a village which I guess was the point. It was not meant to look scary so that prisoners remained calm and so that they passed the red cross inspections. Horrible to think that they actually did pass.
There were an unbelievable amount of children there. The website actually recommeded that children under the age of 14 not come. It was pretty sad that some people treated this as a tourist destination rather than a memorial. They were taking pictures next to the barbed wire smiling. Awfull. We went into a few of the barracks and when the camp was liberated piles of glasses, suitcases, combs, shoes, and hair were found. The site was declared a memorial as early as 1947 so these items remained and have been out on display in one of the barracks. They were behind glass but it was unbelievable to see items belonging to those who were murdered and those who survived. There was a replica of the gas chamber also as the original was distroyed by the Nazis before evacuating the camp. It was massive and could murdered 1500 people a day. They also had the cans that held the gas which was used in the chambers. I cannot describe everything, nor would I be able to do it justice, but these are just a few things that were there. We saw the cells in which prisoners were forced to stand 4 to a cell all night and often died of suffocation. The cells were less that 4 feet square.
Birkenau Auschwitz II
After a short break, we headed the extermination camp about 3 km away from Auschwitz I. The bus was packed with people and you could here people complaining. I honestly think that the museum does this on purpose so that we get a miniscule glimpse of what it may have been like. Again tourists not fully taking in what they are doing or seeing. We arrived at the camp and went through the front gate. This is where the trains would have arrived through. We saw the place where the famous picture was taken of the rows of people being selected for work and for death. I felt guilty even walking on the same road that they would have been standing on. The camp is massive and stretches beyond your site. All of the wooden barracks were destoyed but you can still see the chimney stacks where they would have been. The brick barracks were still in tact and remain untouched. We went into one of the womens barracks and like in the pictures there are bunks made of cement 3 rows high which would have slept 6 to 10 prisoners. It is hard to fathom what it would be like. No words can describe what it was like. We walked over to where the gas chambers would have stood and are now just rubble with pits that have ashes of the victims in them. The drive home was long and solem.
I toured around Krakow waiting for my train back to Prague. Poland is very beautiful and I would love to come back and visit.
