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We had to get up at 6:30 to get ready for our trip to Auschwitz. We used a local tour company to do a private drive to the concentration camps that picked us up at 8:00 AM. I think I had slept for like an hour and a half. Auschwitz is actually two separate camps. There is Auschwitz I, which is the first camp, and then a little ways down the road is Auschwitz II Birkenau, which is the second and much larger concentration camp. The concetration camps are about an hour from Krakow in a small town called Oswiecim, Poland. I think Scott and I both had mixed feelings about visiting Auschwitz. I mean...it seems weird to say you're excited to see the place, but I really wanted to experience it. The drive takes you through a lot of countryside where I actually saw the steroptypical Polish women I imagined. Scarves on their heads, brown dresses, drab shoes. In Krakow the people dressed up a good bit.
Auschwitz I - We went to this camp first. All of the original buildings are still standing and most of the "dorms" have been made into museums of sorts. We passed under the sign that says Arbeit macht frei, or "works sets you free". Yuck. The entire camp is surrounded by double barb-wire electric fences. We spent about 2 hours at this camp. The halls of the buildings were filled with "mugshot" pictures of people who were executed at the camp. They had recreated the living conditions of the prisoners, and there were displays of things stolen from the prisoners by the Nazis when the Soviets liberated the camps....prayer shawls, eye glasses, hair, toothbrushes, hair brushes, mirrors, shoes....everything. There were a lot of original documents on display and photos that were taken by the Nazis. They were awful. We walked up to the execution wall and the hanging station. Walked past the experimentation buildings. Then we walked back to the gas chamber and crematorium. Yes, I did take pictures. Scott and I didn't talk much either. I mean really, what is there to say? At this point I was sufficiently naseous, so we found our driver and headed to Birkenau.
Birkenau - This camp is much, much larger than the first. When the Soviets invaded the camp, the Nazis starting destroying buildings to get rid of evidence, so this place was full of some free-standing buildings, but also a lot of ruins. The "dorms" at Auschwitz I were a f.u.c.king paradise compared to these. The buildings were originally built to house 52 horses, but instead they stuffed hundreds of prisoners in them. You can see the pictures to get a better understanding of the sleeping conditions. As most of these buildings were destroyed, you can just see a vast stretch of chimney's that still stand. They went on as far as you could see. We followed the train tracks to the back of the camp to the sorting station. This is where they would pull prisoners off of the train, make one group that would go to Auschwitz I to work, and the other group (elderly, sick, women and children) who were immediately executed. The gas chambers and crematoriums have been destroyed at this location. There are just ruins remaining. It was eerie how "dead" the area was. Other than ravens, there were no birds, no trees. Just grass, gravel and mud. It was creepy. All things considered though, what in the world would want to grow and live here? We headed back to Krakow.
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