Blogs from Auschwitz, Lesser Poland, Poland, Europe - page 9

Since we arrived in Poland, we have taken day trips to the Salt Mines and Auschwitz. Completely different places, but both close to Krakow. The salt mines were rather impressive in sheer size and dedication (who would carve a life-size Pope John Paul 2 out of salt?) but unremarkable otherwise. Something interesting I did not know was that the miners kept horses in the salt mines for their entire lives-they never saw sunshine! They would work all day, then be led into the stables in the mine at night. It was a pretty unbelievably cruel life. The miners, on the other hand, had no adverse reactions to the mines, unlike coal miners, and were paid equally in salt and cash. They were very rich men! Salt was very valuable, and so they have mined in ... read more

Took a tour to Auschwitz and Birkenau, the largest extermination camps in WW2 history. I remember studying the Holocaust back in school but nothing prepares you for the reality. Around 90% of the prisoners comprised European Jews. The remaining 10% consisted of Soviet POW's, politicial prisoners, criminals, and those minorities considered by the Nazi's as being 'inferior' or 'anti-social' such as Gypsies, Jehovah's Witnesses and homosexuals. Extremely sombre experience. Quite a few people were visibly upset and broke down in tears. While we were visiting there was a large Jewish contingent defiantly waving flags. The tour took us through various exhibits such as prison blocks, and a gas chamber and crematorium (including the Zyklon B gas pellets used). Also notorious Block 11 where the Gestapo Police held trials and sentenced prisoners to death either by execution ... read more

Geo: 49.7031, 19.6148Auschwitz ... in all honesty, I didn't really want to go because I wasn't sure how I would react. But at the same time, I felt compelled to go. You can't imagine what these places were like unless you see them in person. Even then, you can't fully imagine how horrific life must've been like here. Almost 1,000,000 people were killed here. That's only at the Auschwitz sites. It wasn't just a concentration camp (i.e. - work camp) - it was also an extermination camp. Some people were sent directly to the gas chambers as they got off the trains. Warehouses were used to store the belongings of people that were sent here. These were actually nicknamed "Canada I" and "Canada II" by the first Polish prisoners that were kept here. Apparently they had ... read more

Laughed out loud at your messages much to the shock of the local internet cafe owners. Vince, comfortably numb was an excellent suggestion and so true. Will have to think of some to do with your jeep 'I like driving in my car' or 'Baby you can drive my car' but dont let her watch the film 'Crash'! We are hoping to get an overnight train to Budapest tonight so any more suggestions would be great. Yesterday we went to Auschwitz which was, to say the least, quite an experience. Stupidly I thought it would be quiet but it was so busy, but of course it is an international attraction. Attractions tend to be things like disneyland and this had no entertainment value through any stretch of the imagination. People were taking pictures of gas chambers ... read more

Allrighy theeen This morning I got up at 9.40 and had to scramble to avoid paying the late fee of checking out after 10am. Of course I was about 5minutes over but they didn't seem to mind. I headed upto the bus station to book my train to Prague and check out how we where gonna get to Auschwitz later on. I managed to book a train for around 10.30pm later on tonight so am looking forward to my first EUROTRIP of 2006 *crowd pop*. With a few hours to spare before the 1.20pm departure to Auschwitz I decided to check out the last of Krakows sights... the big castle in the market garden. It was OK. I have seen better in Ireland but still there was cool folk music being played and the weather was ... read more