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Published: October 15th 2017
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This morning we enjoyed a great buffet breakfast at the family owned Hotel Stekl. We then left Bohemian Paradise National Park, heading for Wroclaw in Poland.
Wroclaw (pronounced Vrotswaf in Polish, known as Breslau in German) is the largest city in western Poland. The history of the city dates back a thousand years, and its extensive heritage combines almost all religions and cultures of Europe. At various times, it has been part of Poland, Bohemia, Prussia, and Germany. It became part of Poland in 1945, as a result of the border changes after the Second World War. Prior to the war it had been part of Germany. Wrocław is a university city with a student population of over 130,000, having a similar number of university students as Berlin, which is a substantially larger city.
In ancient times at or near Wrocław was a place called Budorigum. It has been mapped to the ancient Claudius Ptolemy map of the years 142–147 AD. The city of originated at the intersection of two trade routes, the Via Regia and the Amber Road.
On arriving in Wroclaw, we checked into our Boutique Hotel adjacent to the
Old Town. After consulting Google regarding Walking Tours in Wroclaw, we discovered that a Free Walking Tour commenced at 1.30pm in the Main Square. It was 1.20pm. Quickly grabbing our camera and phone, we headed out the door and made the tour with minutes to spare.
Shimon was our guide, and he led us around the Old Town, providing a detailed history of the city, which has been tossed back and forth between conquering nations, and religions, Pagan, Protestant and Roman Catholic. Shimon, however, did not provide any information during the tour as to what happened to the inhabitants of the city of Breslau, including the Jews of Breslau, during WWII.
It seems from my research that Breslau has a bit of a shameful past in terms of their support for Hitler’s Nationalist Socialist Party.
Breslau eventually became one of the strongest support bases of the Nazis, who in the 1932 elections received 44% of the city's vote, their third-highest total in all Germany. KZ Durrgov, one of the first concentration camps in the Third Reich, was set up in Breslau in 1933. After Hitler’s appointment as German Chancellor in 1933,
political enemies of the Nazis were persecuted, and their institutions closed or destroyed. The Gestapo began actions against Polish and Jewish students, Communists, Social Democrats and Trade Unionists.
Arrests were made for speaking Polish in public, and in 1938 the Nazi-controlled police destroyed the Polish cultural centre.The city’s once magnificent main synagogue was torched on Kristallnacht (November 9, 1938). Many of the city's 10,000 Jews, as well as many others seen as "undesirable" by the Third Reich, were sent to concentration camps, whilst those Jews who remained were killed during the Holocaust. Only a few dozen Jews from Wroclaw survived the Holocaust. Poland was where Hitler’s “Killing Factories” were located, and it was only a short train ride from Wroclaw to Auschwitz-Birkenau.
After completing the tour, we walked back through the Old Town to our Hotel, and googled a GF Friendly restaurant, which was located just around the corner. After dinner, we walked around the Old Town, located a Vegan Cafe nearby, and stopped in for a cake each. We have been very happy with the labelling and access to GF and DF Foods across each city and country we have visited, as well
as the friendliness and helpfulness of the waitresses and waiters that have tried their best to assist. Most have spoken good English, which has been invaluable.
Tomorrow we leave Wroclaw, headed for Krakow, via Auschwitz.
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