Blogs from Auschwitz, Lesser Poland, Poland, Europe - page 6

So, this entry is pretty depressing--just wanted to give a quick warning. You'll understand if you keep reading...I went to Auschwitz this weekend in Krakow, Poland. I am going to discuss a lot of what I saw, most of which is extremely disturbing. A lot of people ask me why I would do such a depressing thing. When I sit and think about why I went, I tend to ask back to the person, "How could pass by this enormous, important piece of history when I am right next to it?" Yes, it was very depressing indeed, but one of the best things I have ever done. Auschwitz, a death camp to thousands of people in the Holocaust and one of the last places many of the men and women and even children saw before their ... read more

December 18 Note: Please use your judgment when sharing this blog with children. I was up early on Tuesday morning for a quick breakfast and a search for a bus. I decided that it would be easier to ask at Tourist Information than search by myself. They turned out to be very helpful and I caught the very next bus which took us right to the Visitor's Center at Auschwitz I. After the two hour bus ride, I made my way into the Visitor's Center and decided to take the guided tour, which was provided in English, and see the film Auschwitz, Oswiecim, also in English. The film, while not presenting too much information of which I was not already aware, was interesting and told about what had happened to some inmates of the camp who ... read more

Last Monday morning I went to Auschwitz. The program had arranged for an English-speaking guide to lead our tour. Driving up to Auschwitz was not exactly what I had expected. Thinking back on what I was expecting is kind of embarrassingly naïve. I guess I thought I would see a bunch of crematorium smoke stacks and beyond that I just pictured…hell. Auschwitz is actually one of three concentration camps located close together, Auschwitz 2 is also known as Auschwitz-Birkenau, the third camp is Auschwitz 3 or Monowitz. Our tour began at Auschwitz and ended at Birkenau. Monowitz was not included. Auschwitz was originally a polish military camp; this is when the large brick buildings were actually built. When the Nazis took it over they turned it into a prisoners camp where they held Polish prisoners. These ... read more

spent this past weekend in freezing, touristic Krakow. it is a beautiful city, with many old buildings, but its just foreigners central, with only about 20% actually being poles living there. it was good, as it was the first time we heard english in a month, and we could actually talk to people other than ourselves, but im glad im living in a remote village, as it really is experiencing living in a different world when no-one can understand you. wierd thing though, is even on our tour bus in krakow, with everyone speaking english, everytime i heard english, i still got excited, yet if i bumped into someone, or wanted to say something, i'd say it in polish instead of english.its a weird feeling. so, we took a 7 hour train trip to krakow, where ... read more

we arrived in the afternoon at the German Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz II. It was an experience like nothing else, to see the gas chambers and crematoriums first hand. The thought that over 1.5 million people were murdered here (90% being Jews) was unimaginable, its like half the population of Greater Vancouver just gone. Basically I took lots of pictures of what I saw, and so they sort of tell the story. Be sure to see all the pics, as there are 42 of them and you need to skip to the next page to continue viewing them. Now some details and history of the camp... Beginning in 1940, Nazi Germany built several concentration camps and an extermination camp in the area, which at the time was under German occupation. The Auschwitz camps were a major ... read more