Last fall we were able to watch our friends’ children while they took a weekend trip away as a couple. Between our two families’ schedules, our weekend away didn’t come until March. We decided to do a trip that would be more appropriate to just do as a couple – – Auschwitz.
Krakow Main Square: Daytime
Chris has done a lot of work in Poland and has visited Krakow on a number of occasions, but it was a different experience going as a tourist.
In Square
We stayed in the main square and enjoyed walking around at different times of the day. It’s definitely a different environment during the day than it is at night.
Krakow Main Square: Nighttime
We even found a Cinnabon shop! We can’t even get those in London! We may have visited the shop once . . . or twice . . . during our stay.
Cinnabons
Then we made our way to the Jewish Quarter of the city, Kazimierz.
The highlight was visiting the Remuh Cemetery, one of the oldest cemeteries in Europe.
Looking in on Remuh Cemetery
The stones were beautiful, although it was sad that we couldn’t read any of them as they were written in Hebrew.
Grave Stones
It was interesting that many small stones were set on the gravestones, just as we would place flowers at a grave of a loved one. They were marks that someone had visited; that the dead are not forgotten. Underneath some of the stones were also written prayers, in various stages of disintegration.
Prayers Left Behind
During the German occupation of Poland, the Nazis destroyed the cemetery and used the tombstones as paving stones in their camps or sold them off. After the war, many of the paving stones were unearthed and returned. However, some were so fragmented that they were put together to form a new wall on one side of the cemetery. This wall is now referred to as the ‘Wailing Wall.’
“Wailing Wall”
We had set aside a full day for Auschwitz. Not only did we allow for travel and touring time, but we knew we would need some down-time to decompress from what we had seen. We were glad we did because we were both emotionally drained from our visit.
“The one who does not remember history is bound to live through it again.”
– George Santayana
“Work Makes One Free” – Entrance Gate
We were able to take an English-speaking tour where we followed our guide through Auschwitz I with headsets. It was amazing to listen to what went on in the camps – ‘amazing’ in a ‘incomprehensible’ way.
Inside Auschwitz Fence
I definitely learned a number of new things. One of which was when the people had their hair shaved off their heads and other parts of their bodies, these were saved and sent to Germany to make textiles!
Block 24: The Camp Brothel
I also learned that many of the inhumane things done to the prisoners were done to them by other prisoners (Kapos) who were ordered to do them.
Barbed Wire Fences
I was surprised how well I was keeping it all together as we heard each terrible story after another. Then we came to the room with the suitcases. Each was labeled with names, addresses, and other specifics. At that moment, these people became real, with names . . lives . . . futures. I fought hard to keep my emotions in check.
Suitcases of Prisoners
Then we came to the shoes – millions of them! Seeing all the shoes of the children was absolutely heartbreaking. They came to the camp, promised a new way of life, and sent to ‘showers’ after their long journeys; many never living beyond that point.
Shoes of Prisoners – All Sizes
The Death Wall (where shooting executions took place)
After touring Auschwitz I, we took a shuttle bus to Auschwitz II, or Birkenau. This is where one of the main train platforms was. They still have a cattlecar on the site that was used to pack hundreds of prisoners into for their trip to the camp.
Train Tracks Leading into Birkenau
Guard Towers
Bunks in the Dormitories
When the Germans knew the end of the war was coming, they tried to destroy evidence of what happened here. They evacuated about 58 thousand prisoners into the country, leaving them to their own devices. At the same time, the soldiers were burning the camp records, blowing up the crematoriums and gas chambers, and setting fire to warehouses full of property taken from the Jews.
Destroyed Gas Chambers
Much of what we know went on in those chambers was due to the prisoners being forced to carry out these horrible, inhumane duties. They wrote about events or other details on scraps of paper and then buried them nearby, in hopes that someone would find them later. Thankfully many have been found . . . and these stories are preserved in history.
I was amazed to learn that the camps were open to the public by 1947 as requested by many survivors. Some could ask ‘why?’ But, walking around these camps, you can’t help but become humble at humankind’s capacity and their resiliency. These stories must be told . . . and not forgotten.
“Forever let this place be a cry of despair and a warning to humanity, where the Nazis murdered about one a a half million men, women, and children, mainly Jews from various countries of Europe.”
– Plaque at Birkenau
I was very grateful that Chris and I were able to go. Seeing these things first-hand is beyond any understanding you would get from books about the time or place. It truly felt like hallowed ground.
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