It was hard to find an appropriate title for today’s post, but I guess A Mixed Day is about right. Anyone with an interest in history, or just an interest in humanity, could not come to Krakow without making the trip to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial Museum. I know I don’t need to describe what that is and what it records, there can be few people that do not know about the holocaust and the atrocities committed against the Jews of Europe by the Naxi regime in WWII
Auschwitz is visited by thousands each day and the process is very regulated. At this time of year you can only see the site on an organised tour after 10 am, but we preferred to see it by ourselves so had pre-booked a 9.20 am entry ticket. It’s over an hour drive to the memorial from Krakow so it meant an early start but I’m glad we did it this way. It meant we could go at our own pace, and for me personally, I was glad to be able to move on quickly from the more distressing exhibits. When we got to the huge room that displays a great mound of the hair taken from the victims, I lost it. There were similar rooms full of shoes, hairbrushes , eye glasses and other sad testiments to the million plus people who were murdered here.
Entry gate to Auschwitz
A fraction of the shoes stolen from victims
After seeing the Auschwitz site we caught the shuttle bus that takes visitors 2 km down the road to Birkenau. In 1941, the Nazis decided they needed a more efficient way of murdering and cremating more people so they built Birkenau. It is vast, the walk from one side to another was half a mile, it’s even longer in the other direction. We walked right across along the railroad tracks that brought victims to the site until we reached the memorial at the other side and one of the four huge gas chamber/crematoriums. They are only ruins today.
Looking back to the guard tower from the “selection area” , where victims were separated into two groups – one to die immediately , the other to work a little before they were killed.
Everything you see is within the camp
Latrines
Crematorium ruins
English plaque on the memorial. It was repeated in over a dozen languages.
After driving back to town we went for a short walk to the city market that operates every day in the middle of town. On the way we passed the Barbican, built to guard the original town gates. Unlike the other markets we’d seen the Stary Kleparz market is a genuine goods and farmers market catering to the locals. No souvenirs in sight! You could buy beautiful fruits, veges and meats, the kitchen utensils to cook them, and even the underwear to wear while doing the cooking!
Barbican
Markets entry
Kitchen utensils and fruit
We walked back through the Planty to the Town Square and on back to the hotel. Thunderstorms were predicted and the sky was getting black. We had a lazy couple of hours finishing off a bottle of bubbly that we’d been carrying around with us since Germany and then went downstairs to the bar. My cocktail was delicious, made with a Polish vodka and elderflower syrup. The rain was getting heavier outside and we were very comfy where we were so we took the easy option of ordering off the bar menu for dinner. A relaxed end to a powerful day and to our time in Poland. Tomorrow we head on to the mountains of Slovakia.
Cheers!
