krakow, poland
at 8am in the morning, we assembled in the city center for our day trip out to auschwitz concentration camp. one of the biggest and most well-knowned concentration camps around, due to the large number of victims (mostly jewish) who were exterminated there, it is around 1 ½ hrs drive away from central krakow.
auschwitz 
unlike dachau, auschwitz still retained a lot of the original structures as well as evidence of crimes. seeing these in real-life as opposed to merely hearing about them does indeed make the message more powerful.
barbed wires and electrical fences 
where the bodies were burnt
luggages of victims
victims 
statue made entirely out of salt!
after dinner, we took an overnight train to prague. this time round, we got a 3 man cabin, and it was so nice we couldn’t believe our luck!
macdonalds, with its value 2eur deals, has became our best fren on this eurotrip
krakow was definitely not on my initial top 5 list of “places I want to visit” on this trip. but now, it ranks as one of my favourites so far. maybe it is its deep history and the strength of its people. im not sure. but i know that it showed me a side of europe i hadn’t seen. the closest we have gotten so far is probably bratislava, but i definitely find krakow having more character and oomph than slovakia’s capital.
its an unexplainable affinity i have with this place.
auschwitz
having been to dachau, i thought auschwitz will be more or less the same. well, i was wrong.
our guide, a local polish i suspect, was very strong and succinct in his explanations. probably because of his personal experience (his uncle was a victim of the nazi occupation) his dislike for the germans, the sarcastic remarks and dark humor gave the tour a totally different dimension.
unlike dachau, auschwitz still retained a lot of the original structures as well as evidence of crimes. seeing these in real-life as opposed to merely hearing about them does indeed make the message more powerful.
barbed wires and electrical fences
one of the most shocking and powerful exhibits had to be the glass display case (spanning the entire length of the room) of victims hair. an estimated 20,000 victims’ hair are placed in the case, as evidence of how due to lack of space, the nazis had to burn all the bodies of the prisoners and recycle every single part of the victim which could possibly be recycled. hair was one of the very few items that was left untouched.
where the bodies were burnt
similar display cases also showcased the prisoners’ luggages (which they brought with them to the camp) which had their names written on them, their personal belongings like mugs, scissors, etc. the names seem to give face to these victims, whose identity, due to the large numbers, have been reduced to mere numbers.
luggages of victims
victims
auschwitz was an emotional experience but a must-go for every visitor to krakow.
that afternoon, we took up another tour, this time round, to the welka salt mine. its amazing how the whole place is so well maintained and our 2 hours tour only covered 1% of the entire salt mine. the place is huge.
that afternoon, we took up another tour, this time round, to the welka salt mine. its amazing how the whole place is so well maintained and our 2 hours tour only covered 1% of the entire salt mine. the place is huge.
statue made entirely out of salt!
after dinner, we took an overnight train to prague. this time round, we got a 3 man cabin, and it was so nice we couldn’t believe our luck!
macdonalds, with its value 2eur deals, has became our best fren on this eurotrip
krakow was definitely not on my initial top 5 list of “places I want to visit” on this trip. but now, it ranks as one of my favourites so far. maybe it is its deep history and the strength of its people. im not sure. but i know that it showed me a side of europe i hadn’t seen. the closest we have gotten so far is probably bratislava, but i definitely find krakow having more character and oomph than slovakia’s capital.
its an unexplainable affinity i have with this place.
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