Auschwitz; cold, wet and horrifying

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We got up at 5.30 am, because this is a Wade holiday. And because we were being picked up a 15 minute walk away at 6.50am. The day started how it planned to stay: dark and wet. A guy in a minibus met us on a random bit of pavement outside someone’s apartment. There were 8 tourists, all British except one lady from north Sweden.



And so began the 70 minute journey to Auschwitz. The lovely architecture of Old Town quickly gave way to flat-sided, grey and dull apartment blocks, the traffic seemed less pedestrian friendly.



Once through the slippage of the city, we drove through leafless winter trees along a highway that appeared to be in better condition than most British roads, probably because it was a toll road. Then the trees gave way to fields and conifers.



Eventually, we passed a railway station where the initial prisoners arrived and were made to walk the 1 kilometre to the camp. Soon after, we ended up at Auschwitz One. This was originally a Polish army barracks, thus the buildings were constructed from brick. This was originally a concentration camp for political prisoners and had one gas chamber built outside. Later on, the much bigger Auschwitz Two Birkenau was built. This was a purpose built death camp, with six gas chambers and could hold 100,000 people at a time. I don’t know why, but I expected it to be in the middle of nowhere, but it’s quite residential around the camps. Seven villages had been cleared to make the second camp, the homes destroyed and used as materials for building the camp. And the prisoners were forced to do the building.



We’d managed to come on a particularly busy day and around 150 Italians arrived at the same time. They don’t queue, so the British had to wait longer although our driver tried to help. Even the queue to the ladies loo would have taken at least 30 mins, but a few of us decided to use the men’s instead.



I think we waited around 45 minutes to get to the airport style security. After which we were given headphones and a transmitter so that our guide wouldn’t have to shout over other guides. We were led through a tunnel and asked to keep silent as a recording read out names of the some of the known victims of Auschwitz. Most people managed not to talk here.



At least 1.3 million people, mostly Jews, were murdered in Auschwitz. A lot weren’t recorded because they were killed as soon as they arrived, so the number would have been a lot bigger.



Most people actually did keep quiet through the tour, so we could always hear our guide as she explained how people were selected for death or work (which was a slow death) upon their arrival. You were allowed to take photos without flash, but not many did, it’s not a place for that, just a few record images. I just used my phone, getting out a big camera didn’t feel right.



We were shown where people lived and were imprisoned within torturous conditions. Some starved, were left in the dark or in a space so cramped they only had room to stand. There were many mugshots of early prisoners, most with shaved heads. However, as prisoners quickly became unrecognisable due to starvation, overwork and illness, they were tattooed with a prison number instead.



We saw tons of human hair that would have been sent to Germany to be made into textiles, this was the hair that didn’t get sent because it was collected shortly before Liberation. We saw clothes, shoes, glasses and false body parts; which all were stripped from the people minutes before they were sent to the showers (gas chambers) naked. They were told they were going for a shower, as the lie made them easier to control. By the time they realised what was happening, it was too late. After 30 mins, the chamber would be ventilated and other prisoners were sent in to remove the bodies. And then they were cremated, ashes thrown in the river. Some of these ashes have been recovered and are part of a memorial there.



It was awful, seeing all those belongings, knowing each pair of shoes represented a murdered person. Many of the items were tiny, as children were immediately killed because they were unable to work. It made me feel quite sick just looking at it all. Huge photos on the walls depicted selected people unknowingly walking to their death, children holding hands with their siblings and mothers clutching their babies. Many had spent days in cattle trucks with no food or water, so were incredibly frail and never stood a chance.



Rudolph Hess was the commander of the camp and we could see his house through the trees, the upstairs had a view of the gas chamber, but Mrs Hess thought it paradise because they got so wealthy from stealing the Jews’ possessions. However, after lLiberation day, Hess was sentenced to death and hung at the gallows next to the gas chamber, where his last view would have been his home by the camp.



The gas chamber could hold around 600 people at a time and it took around 6 mins to kill them all with a pesticide known as Cyclone B. It would have been a very painful death.



At the end of Auschwitz One, we went back to our minibus for a quick packed lunch - no eating or drinking is allowed in the camp. And then it was a 10 minute drive to Auschwitz Two Birkenau.



This was very recognisable, as I’ve seen it in history books, documentaries and film; the train track leading up to the building. A lone cattle truck that would have held 60 people remained. The area ringed with barbed wire and guard turrets.



The wooden huts, originally designed to hold 51 horses each, had been converted to hold 400 people instead. Triple bunks with wide beds, which at least 5 people would have shared with only straw and a blanket. No heating, no air, it was terrible. Most selected for work (slave labour) didn’t live for long.



The railway track ended in the camp, a place where people were immediately selected. The prisoners knew what was happening to the new arrivals each time, but there was nothing they could do.



The rain continued to pour down as we walked around 4km around the camp. Much had been destroyed by the Nazis when they knew they were losing the war, but there were still the remains of the gas chambers and some huts.



These gas chambers could hold 1000 people at a time. We walked in silence through the only one left intact; an ugly dark grey and evil place.



There was a memorial in all the languages of all the people who died there. Our guide thanked us for coming, as she reminded us that the holocaust did not start with gas chambers, but with hate and especially in these times, we must never forget that. I noticed she was wearing a pin badge that read FCKNZS.



We returned to our minibus, wet and sombre. I’m glad I went, but once is enough. There was no chatting on the way back, not that there was on the way there. We’d walked around 7.5km in all, and it had been upsetting at best.



The rain never let up, and upon returning to Krakow, we left the minibus complete with soaking wet coats, gloves and hats at around 2pm, wondering what to do next.



Walking to Schindler’s factory was a mistake as that shut at 2pm on a Monday. The Museum of Contemporary Art next door was completely shut on a Monday. We thought we could walk to the museum that displayed the Da Vinci painting, but guess what? Also shut on a Monday. So we walked to St Mary’s Basilica and woo hoo, that was open.



Being Catholic, this place of worship was extremely extravagant, decorated throughout with coloured paintings on the walls and ceiling, including an excessive amount of gold. Although very beautiful, I find this opulence somewhat obscene as the church (on paper) is meant to be about helping the poor and needy. I can’t help but think that the money spent in the creation and upkeep of this building could have been better spent on people trying to survive the cost of life.



Upon leaving, we were still very wet and cold and it was getting dark. We decided to sit in the Hard Rock Cafe next door. Here they played a wide range of music, including some songs I like. We warmed up with hot drinks; I also had cocktails, Glyn had Pepsii and it was nice just to relax and warm up.



Afterwards, we went to a vegan sushi restaurant called Ka Udon, obviously it was a bit of a walk further away, but the lovely food made it worth it. The evening ended with a long walk back to our apartment. By this time, the rain almost subsided!

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