Poland - A Walk Through History

Day one:

I got to Kraków and found my way into town via a train from the airport. I found it strange that google maps does not seem to understand that there is a train station in the middle of town.

I got to my hostel and realised I had made a big mistake. It was a Soviet styled hostel and I think they took the idea too literally. I got to my room and there was no curtains. I was also assigned a top bunk which looked unsafe and I could hardly reach the steps. I managed to changed to the bottom bunk for that night and they said I could change rooms the following day. I got into bed and the mattress was made of thin foam meaning I could feel the metal frame of the bed. I then was awoken up loud drunk people in the hall outside my bedroom. I have no issue with drunkeness - just not where I’m sleeping. I did eventually fall asleep.

Day two: I woke up feeling sore from my awful

nights sleep. It was then that I decided that enough was enough. I got onto Expedia found a one bedroom apartment with a kitchenette which was only $200 for four nights so booked.

As I was near the old Jewish quarter (Kazimierz) I decided to go on a walking tour that started at 10.30. So I left my bags and got going.

The tour was outstanding and free with a donation. We started at the old synagogue - around since the 1600s and had not been knocked down. The area we were in once had a wall around it to seperate the Jewish and Christian areas. It is now the most expensive part of town as it was revitalised when it was used in Steven Spielberg's movie Schindler’s List. This picture below, this walkway was used in the movie where the man getting out of the sewer started moving the bags to stop the SS from killing him.

Many of the synagogues in the area are still standing as the Nazi’s used them as store houses in WW2. Kraków was not bombed like Warsaw as it was the centre of the Nazi government in Poland during WW2 and people left as they knew the read army was approaching.

It was amazing to think that this was once a centre for Jewish people for centuries then wiped out in such a small amount of time. There were around 67,000-80,000 Jewish people living in Kraków before WW2 now I believe the tour guide said there were around 200-300. However, many people hid they were Jewish and their children and grandchildren were raised as Catholics as they are not aware.

We then visited the market area where food and other things were sold before WW2. Only in the past few decades has it been safe to visit as before there were a lot of people stabbed here. It has now become a popular restaurant area.

We then crossed the bridge into where the ghetto was founded. The 3000 Polish people who lived there was kicked out so the 15,000 Jews left in the area could move in. Walking around it was so sad to think most of the people who lived here were murdered.

We then got to the square where Jewish people were assembled before either being marched to the nearby concentration camp Płaszów or a death camps. In the square now are 68 chairs representing the 68,000 people murdered. Almost all are facing forward to represent they being marched to Płaszów and the other direction to the death camps they were sent to.

The tour then headed to the Oskar Schindler factory. Unfortunately nothing original remains as everything was dismantled and sent to then Czechoslovakia. The front building we see in the movie is now a museum dedicated to WW2 and where the factories stood is now a modern art museum.

The tour was amazing the guide had so much information. She has holding a tour of the factory / museum after the tour ended so I decided to sign up. What I loved about the museum was that it focused on the Polish people as well as they suffered horrifically in WW2. The Nazi’s had collective execution so if one person in the family did something wrong the whole family were killed. This didn’t happen in Western Europe under Nazi control.

It then focused on how the Polish people when liberated by the Soviets were treated terribly. Many of them could not see the difference between both groups as when they were liberated they were assaulted, women raped and things stolen from them. It was only until 1989 that they were freed.

After both tours my feet were very sore (as it turned out I had walked 20,000 steps that day). I then headed to my new place and it was amazing. A separate kitchenette, living room, bathroom and bedroom was complete luxury. After a night of a worst bed it was like a fluffy cloud.

I then headed to find a supermarket and found a mall attached to the train station. Although easy to get lost (hello it’s me) it was amazing to see how well Poland is doing. Especially compared to Greece it was a amazing.

Day three:

I woke up with extremely stiff feet and was worried how I would cope today as I had booked a six hour tour of auschwitz birkenau. I was quite confused but managed to get a train (at 5.56am) to get me there by 7.40am. It was a strange journey knowing that so many people took it to get here - but in cattle cars before their deaths.

I got there and ended up meeting a girl who worked at the camp giving out the audio guides. Along with three girls from China she showed us the way. She said many people in the town hated that the death camp was so close to their houses and many had become quite racist because of it.

Getting there you seen nothing like the movies - as it turns out for years the infamous train and gate was at birkenau around 3km away. I always thought the main area was at Auschwitz. In the movies you see wooden shacks and the ones here were all made of brick. I went in and after a bit of waiting we met the tour guide for the day. A polish lady who was very knowledge about everything.

Auschwitz was the first camp and was originally built as Polish army barracks. Each building had been designed as a small museum. It was just so overwhelming to see everything like the hair shaved from the heads of 1000s of girls and woman and the mountains of glasses and shoes.

We also saw where the prisoners were interrogated and were kept until they were executed outside. Also on the buildings were pictures of the inmates with numbers. The Nazi’s used to take a photo of each person but they eventually changed to tattoos as they ran out of film. What struck me was that it showed when they came to the camp and when they died. Many looked healthy and yet some only lived a week or a few days. Only a few managed to last a year or more.

We then headed to the most scary part of the camp which was the first gas chamber. This was not like the ones in Birkenau that had fake shower heads. We went inside and it was terrifying. I had a quick look around and then left. It was just too much to know what happened there to stay any longer.

After that we had a quick break before heading over to Birkenau with our guide. It’s just like you’ve seen in documentaries, the train building and railway line with the area where the sorting took place. It was now where I knew my first confusion came from. In the field you see the burned down wooden huts with the chimneys still standing that I had always associated with Auschwitz. There were so many just lying there for decades.

We then followed as the people did to the gas chambers. The chambers themselves had been blown up by the Nazi’s as they were fleeing the area to hide the evidence. I had seen a model both in the Washington DC holocaust museum and at Auschwitz. They were built as mirror image copies of each other. Now there is a monument to the victims in between with a plaque with the same message written in every language the victims spoke at the camp:

‘For ever let this place be a cry of despair and a 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'

We then headed up to one of the huts named Canada by the people who worked there. If you managed to get a job inside you were much more likely to live longer. They imagined Canada was a place of prosperity and hope which is how the area got its name. However, if you were selected here you could never leave as you were a witness to what they were doing. They were kept separate from the other prisoners so they didn’t learn what the Nazi’s were doing. It was the same as the people who worked in the gas chambers - they were often executed after a few months before a new group were recruited. Saying that many killed themselves anyway. Women were often known to run into the electric fence rather then slowly be worked to death. As our guide said you either had a quick death in the gas chamber or a slow death working until you dropped.

For those chosen for outdoor work they lasted sometimes only days as the work was so hard. In terms of food they were only given half a litre of coffee for breakfast, watered down soup for lunch then bread and sometimes a tiny piece cheese for dinner each day. As the guide told us if it was the middle of summer and you were outdoors working you never had water to drink in the winter you could melt the snow. Along with everything else there were daily selections where people not healthy enough were rounded up and killed. There was a special area for them where they had to undress and wait. Even worse was that they would not start the gas chamber for a few people so some had to wait days to be killed.

We reached the final building where Polish Children were kept and saw paintings they had done for the children were still on the walls.

What I found sad were visitors had carved their name on the wall where the bunk beds were. Not to mention some people took photos of everything, including one lady taking pics of her kids next to the buildings. I took a few and was hesitant at that. I just don’t get what is in people’s heads to do this.

What struck me the most about Birkenau was this is was so peaceful. We rested under some trees on a quick break and it was amazing to hear the bird song and rustle of the leaves. I feel this must be fitting now for the area considering what happened and how it is the grave for over one million people.

Going to the camp was important to me as I have studied the holocaust for much of my life and I needed to see it first hand. I just hope other people continue to go here to see and learn what happened so it is never repeated again.

I saw a YouTube video on my solo travel reddit page about how people should not go as a place to tick off their list of things to see in Europe. I disagree because as much of the things we saw I already knew about many people do not realise the brutality that people faced here. Without going to places like this - even if it is something to tick off a list they are finding out the reality of the holocaust and what happened. Hopefully they will then tell family and friends to keep the history alive.

It was good to see the range of people on my tour, a family with kids, some teachers and a group of young women from Spain amongst others. Unless we keep this history in our memories not only are we bound to repeat it but more importantly we will forget all of those who were murdered. Generations of families were wiped out with noone to remember them - we must be the ones to do this.

People think I am strange to have such an interest in such a horrific part of history. I do this as I believe every movie, documentary and book I read allows these people be remembered. As long as we remember them they will not go unnoticed. The reality is is that in 100 years no one will remember you were alive but there will be a record of you for a family member to look up. These people will not.

Day four:

Today was amazing, I slept in had some breakfast then another nap. Exhausted after the past two days I decided to have a full days rest for my feet and brain. I caught up on YouTube and the Handmaids Tale amongst other things.

I then took an Uber to do some washing - I won’t repeat myself but you know how much joy it brings me. I then bought ice cream from the store next door and had a picnic in bed with the rest of my cheese and fruit.

I think getting the hotel / apartment has been the best decision for a while. I have enjoyed not having to interact with anyone and get use the bathroom when I want along with not being woken up by drunk people.

I also booked a tour of the salt mine tomorrow morning and will check out the old town before repacking as I’m off to Prague on Tuesday.

Day five:

Had to wake up early today as I had my salt mine tour. Luckily I was picked up at my hotel so didn’t get lost. After everyone was picked up we headed to the mine. Such a shame as we picked up some obnoxious English people. No offence to anyone, being English myself I can appreciate when people need to be quiet unlike this group.

We arrived at the mine and it was so strange as it was just a building with some nice gardens around it. It took awhile to get inside as they have so many groups visiting so people had to be let in by groups. It took awhile to walk down the stairs and I did start to get a bit dizzy by the end.

Let’s just say that this was amazing. So beautiful and well maintained especially considering it was started in the 1300s. Plus we only say approximately 3% of the mine - and it took us two hours to see that.

The statues were breathtaking with the more intricate statues in the main chapel made by three miners with no artistic training.

It was interesting as it’s not just a place to look around. There is a place you can get married, a restaurant, movie theatre and what looked like confidence rooms. Complete with two shopping areas and a cafe.

After the tour we headed out and I realised we came out at a different entrance as we had a far way walk back to the van.

I decided to get out at another hotel to walk over and see the dragon statue I had heard about. It was okay - not as amazing as I thought it would be. I then got a taxi driver lost after I googled the wrong hotel name! The rest of the afternoon I repacked with coins and magnets now in my big backpack so fingers crossed airport security won’t be mad at me again.

Finished off my day visiting the mall at the train station and buying new shoes. The ones I bought in the USA had a hole in the left shoe and another forming on the right. Unfortunately it was not an easy task as apparently in Poland I had midget sized feet - almost had to buy kids shoes!