Auschwitz is a place I am glad I went to but I can't put it to words, as of yet, what it was like to be there. Maybe at some point I will up date this blog, but at this point I can not put it to words. It was powerful seeing that horrible place, it seems like it was a dream now. My body just wanted to shut down and stop feeling the horrors of the place. Here are a few pictures most are from Birkenau (Auschwitz II). [View Full Entry]

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So I dont' know if I should blame today's events on being wiped out from last night, or lack of speaking Polish, or the possibility that my charades skills are fading--gasp!!! not that! It's my lifeline. Anyways, so I'm heading out to Auschwitz (largest concentration camp) by train. I bought a ticket. The lady asked if i wanted return ticket and i said yes. I am on my way. SO i check the schedule and head to platform 2 where the train is. Except, there are two platform 2's. And both of them have trains on them. One of them is [View Full Entry]

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I’ve read about it in books and watched it in movies but nothing can compare to the reality of being there. I don’t even know where to begin writing about the experience. The day I spent at Auschwitz is something that will take a lifetime to process. It put an entirely new dimension on something that I have heard about my entire life. When I walked out of the camp that day any doubt that something like that could have actually happened was removed from my mind. But it wasn’t so much like I ever doubted it, it was just that [View Full Entry]

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I awoke this morning to what must have been the most brilliant day of the year, if not the decade. The sun shone bright; it was warm and breezy and floral perfume floated in the air. What a great day, the kind of day you remember come winter. However, with train ticket in hand for Oświęcim, is there ever a fine day to go to Auschwitz? Do you roll out of bed look outside and say, “Gee, this would be a splendid day to see the camps, so much better than yesterday?” But, what of people who live in Oświęcim? They [View Full Entry]

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Auschwtiz and Brikenau How can I describe the indescribable? I do not believe I can, so I will not try. Rather I will write just a few words and then let the pictures I took speak. I had forgotten that Auschwitz was an old Polish army base. Thus, all the buildings are brick. I thought the barracks were all of wood, but the wooden barracks were built at Brickenau. Brickenau, a much larger camp, was built when the Nazis decided that Auschwtiz was too small and too inefficient. Auschwitz had two small furnaces that could only cremate six bodies at one [View Full Entry]

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Upon entering the famous Auschwitz the first feeling one has is, > "huh, that's it?". Here it is said that millions of people were > killed and yet the area seems so small. It is not only the size of > the Auschwitz that creates a feeling a disbelief. You hear about a > place where genocide was committed, where horrible attoricities > were perpetrated and when you come to it you find a tourist site > and a bad one at that. Tourist hawksters work their trade. > "Perhaps, you need a ride to Auschwitz Two.", one says. Enter the [View Full Entry]

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“For ever let this place be a cry of despair and warning to humanity, where the Nazis murdered about one and a half million men, women, and children, mainly Jews from various countries of Europe. Auschwitz-Birkenau 1940-1945.” "With one stroke, mankind's achievements seemed to have been erased. Was Auschwitz a consequence or an aberration of "civilization"? All we know is that Auschwitz called that civilization into question as it called into question everything that had preceded Auschwitz. Scientific abstraction, social and economic contention, nationalism, xenophobia, religious [View Full Entry]

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During the summer of 2003 I traveled through Eastern Europe. My travels took me to many places where the darkness of recent history was remembered. The Occupation Museum in Riga, the KGB Head Quarters in Vilnius and the whole of Warsaw s Old Town - so much was lost to Europe in the wars, both hot and cold, that ripped through the last century. Auschwitz one of the most well known places steeped in tragedy from the second world war. 60 km's from Krakow, many hostels organise day trips and public transport is also available. The two camps slaughtered around two [View Full Entry]

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I'll never forget Auschwitz. I had nightmares for a week afterwards. It is horrible to be in that Gas Chamber and crematorium. What happened back then was evil. [View Full Entry]

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