Oswiecim (Auschwitz) and Krakow

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The last day of our trip through Poland, we stopped in the town of Oscwiecim, which in German is Auschwitz. It is of course home to the famous Nazi concentration camps. It is not always clear from the information seen in a TV documentary or read in a book, but there are actually three Auschwitz camps close to one another. The main camp has been preserved and turned into the Auschwitz museum. It was the sight of approximately 70,000 deaths, while the nearby Auschwitz II (Birkenau) was the sight of several hundred thousand. The camp is not a happy place to visit, but it was well worth visiting. It is also not always mentioned that although Jews were the main target of the Nazis, many thousand Polish Catholics (including a huge percentage of the clergy), as well as Eastern European gypsies were murdered in the three camps. One of the most interesting sights in the camp was the cell in which Fr. Maximillian Kolbe was held after volunteering to take the place of another prisoner. He and 15 other prisoners were slowly starved to death inside the underground cell. My experience at Auschwitz was a powerful one and I would encourage anyone who gets the opportunity to see it as well.
It was a strange transition from seeing Auschwitz in the morning to seeing the beautiful city of Krakow. The weather was very nice and the four of us spent the afternoon walking around the old town as well as the castle. We first saw the old town square and tried some famous Krakow pretzels before walking through St. Mary's Cathedral, which is famous for its hourly trumpet call commemorating the warning that was sounded from the tower during the Mongol invasion. After the old town square, we walked to Wawel Castle and through Wawel Cathedral, which is the site of many famous Polish burials. Additionally, there are many other famous Poles buried here.
Krakow was the last stop on our trip to Poland. Just as we returned to our car, it began to hail and rain. Our timing seems to have been right.

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Photos

The Auschwitz I Camp Entrance
Me standing below the famous sign which means, "work makes you free."

Auschwitz Concentration Camp
A view from inside Auschwitz.

Firing Squad Wall
The wall was used by the camp firing squad for the murder of many prisoners, including many military prisoners of war. Nearby were the gallows in which prisoners were hung by their arms.

The Cell of Maximillian Kolbe
This cell was where the Catholic priest (now a Saint) was starved to death along with several other prisoners after he volunteered to take one prisoner's place. That prisoner survived the camp and spent the rest of his life testifying about his experiences and his encounter with Kolbe. It is also interesting to note that before his imprisonment, Kolbe was a missionary to Japan where he founded a monastery near Nagasakia which amazingly, survived the atomic bomb.

Auschwitz Guard Post
The multiple barbed-wire fences were electrified with 6000 volts. Many prisoners committed suicide by "going to the wires."

St. Mary's Basilica
The famous basilica is located in the main square of Krakow. The famous "heynal" is trumpeted from the larger of the two towers. It was the alarm sounded by a trumpeter during the Mongol invasion that was cut short after the trumpeter was shot in the throat by an arrow.

St. Mary's Basilica Ceiling
The beautiful view looking up inside the basilica. The church was built starting in the 1300s and is well preserved.

Krakow Pretzels
Sylvia and her dad buying some famous pretzels on the square.

Wawel Cathedral
The famous coronation cathedral inside Wawel Castle in Krakow.

St. Stanislaus' Tomb
The silver tomb of St. Stanislaus is the centerpiece of Wawel Cathedral, which was the coronation and burial site of virtually all Polish rulers since the 14th century. St. Stanislaus was murdered by Polish King Boleslaw the Bold in 1079.

Karol Wojtyla's Home
This building was where Wojtyla lived as bishop of Krakow.