Never Forget: Auschwitz Concentration Camp


Most visitors of Poland take a side trip to Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, the world's most powerful memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. At least 1.1 million innocent people were murdered here.

A visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp is truly heartbreaking and shocking

Auschwitz, the biggest and most famous concentration camp, is known for the Nazi slogan "Arbeit macht frei" on its entrance gate. "Work sets you free" was the cruel lie told by the gate. Death was the only way out for the prisoners.


Two layers of electrified fencing surrounded the camp

The average prisoner survival rate was 3 months

Before World War II, 80% of Europe's Jews lived in Poland, which was crucial to the Nazis' plans. Located at the heart of Europe, Poland's central positioning made it logistically efficient for the Nazis to carry out deportations and mass exterminations.

They brought their belongings because they were fooled into thinking they were being evacuated

The sub-camp Birkenau was created as an extermination camp 20 times the size of Auschwitz. The majority of victims were murdered here, as they were forced off the trains and unknowingly sent straight into the gas chambers. Its crematoriums had the capacity to cremate more than 17,600 people per day.

The site where in seconds millions of men and women were separated and went through selection. Children and elderly were automatically deemed unfit for forced labor and sent to the gas chambers.

Trains would arrive with cattle cars packed full of prisoners to be sorted

The massive concentration camp, Birkenau (also known as Auschwitz II), sprawls for a frightening distance.

4-6 people slept in each bed (up to 18 per bunk)

The monument implores, "Forever let this place be a cry of despair and a warning to humanity."

After our somber visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau, we returned our rental car and began our two night stay in Krakow with a buggy tour of the city. The tour focused on Kraków's Kazimierz district, once the center of Jewish life in Poland, and now a symbol of resilience. With graffiti everywhere, the district is a little rough round the edges. Its crumbling beauty adds to its atmosphere, now one of Kraków's hippest areas.

We went on a fun little buggy tour around Krakow

Fragment of the wall that surrounded the ghetto, trapping 15,000 Jews. The upper portion mockingly styled to resemble Jewish tombstones.

Ghetto Heroes' Square - 68 empty metal chairs that represent the 68,000 people who were deported from here

Schindler's Factory, now a museum, is where he helped 1,200 Jews escape Nazi persecution

Standing on a Krakow street corner, we ate dinner at Kiełbaski Z Niebieskiej Nyski.

Grilling here since 1991, two former taxi drivers serve the best kielbasa from a vintage blue Nysa bus

Deliciously juicy large Polish sausages smoked over a live beechwood flame

There are a lot of great aspects about Poland. The people are kind, patient and respectful. The cities and countryside are beautiful. One particularly amazing quality we've seen is giving pedestrians the right of way. What is most noticeable about it is that drivers must yield to pedestrians before they fully step into the street.

Considering its devastation to life and property during WWII, it's surreal that Poland is now one of the most beautiful and safest countries in Europe.

Never forget.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What Is a Vacation, Really?

Image
  As we prepare for the final bits of our upcoming trip — and describe to friends and family what we are doing — it becomes clear that there’s a disconnect between the traditional definition of ‘vacation’ vs. what we are about to go do. If you’ve read any of our previous blog posts, you’ve probably noticed that our idea of a vacation doesn’t usually involve lounging on a beach with a cocktail in hand. Don’t get me wrong — we enjoy a beautiful beach as much as anyone. But think about it: that kind of trip doesn’t leave much to say, does it?   When you picture a classic beach vacation — white sand, turquoise water, palm trees swaying in the breeze — it really is the perfect scene. One photo says it all. Case in point: beyond sharing a single stunning image, what’s left to write about? A vacation is any intentional break from daily routines that gives us space to reconnect with ourselves, each other, and the world in a new way. While this trip includes a physically demandin...
Read more

Malbork Castle to Zakopane - and a Surprise Stop

Image
We woke up to the most beautiful sky of our trip so far. It was incredibly deceiving of the weather we had in store. "I don't know what kind of rain you're talking about," commented Scott. I was being a nervous Nelly. Duped by the blue sky, we were convinced the forecast from the Meteorological Forecast Center in Warsaw couldn't possibly be accurate. Planned months before the weather forecast, today we picked up a car to drive eight hours to Zakopane, Poland's premier ski destination at the southern border above Slovakia. An hour into our drive, we stopped at Malbork Castle - built in 1274 as the headquarters of the Teutonic Knights, a military religious order of German knights supporting the spread of Christianity through the Holy Land. Though originally invited to protect Poland, the Teutonic knights turned and began conquering Poland. The Polish people believed the knights were ruthless fighters and symbols of war and destruction. The Castle of th...
Read more

24 Hours in Warsaw

Image
We arrived to Warsaw, Poland at 11pm and quickly ubered to the Old Town's Castle Square to join up with Scott and Jeannette for a celebratory beer.  We are spending the next 7 days traveling through Poland before we change countries. Cheers! Let the trip begin! After only two and a half hours of sleep, I woke up at 3:30am, not anywhere near rested, yet anxious to get outside and explore - because the birds were chirping and calling to me, as they do when the sky begins to lighten and prepare for dawn. Fortunately I was able to convince my body to get more sleep before going out for coffee and starting our day. View of the Royal Castle from our window - at 3:54am Walking the quiet, cobblestoned streets of Warsaw's Stare Miasto Our apartment is in the yellow building facing Warsaw's Castle Square  Starting with coffee at a cafe on an empty  Nowy Świat, Warsaw's Royal Route Up next on our itinerary was a 3 hour bike tour around the area near Warsaw's Old Town. We a...
Read more