Day 2 - Auschwitz and Birkenau

Our second day in Krakow was a day trip out to the concentration camps where we met up with a private guide.  She was excellent and very thorough.  We could tell she was a little concerned about how much to say with the kids, but we told her we had talked about it before and to tell us what she would any other group.

She proceeded to walk us through the bunks and various buildings, some looking as they did and some  with photos and displays.  We went through Auschwitz first.  I took some photos, mostly outside.  I could have taken more inside, but to be perfectly honest, it just didn't feel right to take pictures of many of those things...display cases full of suitcases, shoes, combs and brushes, dishes...these people were lied to, told they were being relocated to another country, to take their most important belongings...some even paid money for their "relocation" - only once they were herded into train cars in deplorable conditions and arrived at the camps where "selection" occurred as they stepped out of the train car and many were immediately marched to a gas chamber did they realize their fate.  I think the most disturbing display for me was the piles of human hair.  They would actually collect it and send it to be used in making textiles.

Front gate

A view down the 'street' in Auschwitz

The shoes...thousands of them and this is maybe only 1% of what passed through these gates

Memorial at the sight of the firing wall

Guard stand where the Nazi would stay dry while the daily count of prisoners was taking place

At the end of the tour here, we walked through what had been the gas chamber and crematorium.  This facility was too small...so nearby, Birkenau was constructed.  Instead of brick construction buildings, it had wood bunks and for over a year, no running water.  Conditions were intolerable and the crematoriums in this facility were much larger and there were several of them.  I don't think I need to explain any further... I could give you more details and tell you some of the things our guide told us, but let me say, it is even worse than you can imagine.  Here are some photos from our second stop - Birkenau.

The tracks down the middle of Birkenau

Inside a bunk house - multiple people in each bunk, each house
holding hundreds (maybe even a thousand) people

A train car - inside would be as many as a hundred or more
people, one bucket for water, one for waste.  People
could be in one of these cars for days or even weeks
depending on where it was coming from.

The memorial at Birkenau

Plaques in every language of a person who lost
their life here, plus a plaque in Englis

The remains of what was once a very large crematorium

On either side of these tracks, the brick chimneys that remain of all the
wooden bunk houses stretch as far as you can see.

It was a solemn day, lots of learning, lots of history...but also a very real lesson in tolerance and compassion for all people.

Once back in Krakow, we searched out a restaurant that had great reviews and the efforts paid off - fun atmosphere, decorations, and amazing traditional Polish food to match!

Our last stop of the day...
Cupcake Corner :)