Big day.
We started out going to Auschwitz. There are two main camps you visit - Auscwitz 1 and Auschwitz 2 called Berkinau. By mistake we drove to Berkinau first, and were appalled by a young bloke in the parking area who came to wash the windscreen, then demanded money. I thought Mark was generous by giving him 5 Euro, but he wanted 15! I went to get out of the car to give him a serve but his mate came over and said it was alright. Unfreakingbelievable.
We soon discovered out mistake and drove over the Auchwitz 1, bought a guide book and wandered around. We went into all of the main blocks and most of the others. Rooms full of personal effects and hair gave scope to the scale of this camp. Rooms showing living conditions showed the dying conditions. We saw the prison within the prison, with a firing squad wall next to it and cells inside where people would suffocate, and others where 4 people were kept in a room too small for one person to lie down. We saw the gas chamber and crematorium that was mostly disassmbled (by the Nazis when they new they were being overrun) but what was intact was equipment designed and built with the purpose of being efficient at killing many people.
Back over to Berkinau which is just massive. A train line goes down the middle, at the end of it all the passengers got off, were sorted into those who could work (30% or less) and those who couldn't. Those who couldn't were marched straight into an underground area where they were told to take off their clothes for a shower, then they were crammed together into another much smaller room. Lethal gas was injeted for 15mins or so, and after it cleared men came in and brought the bodies out one at a time, shaving the hair (for a nearby textile factory) and pulling gold from tooth fillings before putting them in a furnace, one at a time.
There are ruins of the two gas chamber/crematoriums either side of the two platforms at the end of the train line and an international monument betwee them. There was some light rain on us when we walked past it.
We spent about 4 hours between both camps. It's an experience that is hard to write about so soon (even more than week!) after.
Heading back to Krakow we ignored TomTom's directions and followed signs (having been fooled by TomTom before into driving down dodgy back roads), but this time it was the wrong thing to do again, as they took us through a dozen villages and behind many a tractor.
Into the main square where we thought we'd be able to watch the Poland Costa Rica game, but there was no big screen! Jeez. Oh well, to a bar!
After the game we went to Dominium for dinner (it was quite good) then back to the hostel for a shower before once again going off in search of night life.
Wandering down the square I could have sworn I heard someone calling my name (in a funny accent). I turned around and sure enough, there were Greg and Stuart the two guys who left their party to show us around a couple of nights earlier! They call some mates (girls) and we all go out clubbing once more. It was a top blast, we hardly even realised the time was flying, and only eventually returned to the hostel at 5:30am.
We started out going to Auschwitz. There are two main camps you visit - Auscwitz 1 and Auschwitz 2 called Berkinau. By mistake we drove to Berkinau first, and were appalled by a young bloke in the parking area who came to wash the windscreen, then demanded money. I thought Mark was generous by giving him 5 Euro, but he wanted 15! I went to get out of the car to give him a serve but his mate came over and said it was alright. Unfreakingbelievable.
We soon discovered out mistake and drove over the Auchwitz 1, bought a guide book and wandered around. We went into all of the main blocks and most of the others. Rooms full of personal effects and hair gave scope to the scale of this camp. Rooms showing living conditions showed the dying conditions. We saw the prison within the prison, with a firing squad wall next to it and cells inside where people would suffocate, and others where 4 people were kept in a room too small for one person to lie down. We saw the gas chamber and crematorium that was mostly disassmbled (by the Nazis when they new they were being overrun) but what was intact was equipment designed and built with the purpose of being efficient at killing many people.
Back over to Berkinau which is just massive. A train line goes down the middle, at the end of it all the passengers got off, were sorted into those who could work (30% or less) and those who couldn't. Those who couldn't were marched straight into an underground area where they were told to take off their clothes for a shower, then they were crammed together into another much smaller room. Lethal gas was injeted for 15mins or so, and after it cleared men came in and brought the bodies out one at a time, shaving the hair (for a nearby textile factory) and pulling gold from tooth fillings before putting them in a furnace, one at a time.There are ruins of the two gas chamber/crematoriums either side of the two platforms at the end of the train line and an international monument betwee them. There was some light rain on us when we walked past it.
We spent about 4 hours between both camps. It's an experience that is hard to write about so soon (even more than week!) after.
Heading back to Krakow we ignored TomTom's directions and followed signs (having been fooled by TomTom before into driving down dodgy back roads), but this time it was the wrong thing to do again, as they took us through a dozen villages and behind many a tractor.
Into the main square where we thought we'd be able to watch the Poland Costa Rica game, but there was no big screen! Jeez. Oh well, to a bar!
After the game we went to Dominium for dinner (it was quite good) then back to the hostel for a shower before once again going off in search of night life.
Wandering down the square I could have sworn I heard someone calling my name (in a funny accent). I turned around and sure enough, there were Greg and Stuart the two guys who left their party to show us around a couple of nights earlier! They call some mates (girls) and we all go out clubbing once more. It was a top blast, we hardly even realised the time was flying, and only eventually returned to the hostel at 5:30am.
posted by Tim at 11:30 pm
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