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Left early this morning for Krakow via Auschwitz, the breakfast was amazing leaving Olomouc though! Everyone was knicking a piece of fruit here, a donut there and taking it for lunch haha.
Arrived at Auschwitz just before noon where we had lunch first. (theres not much appetite for food after). We went to Auschwtiz 1, (there is 1, 2 and 3) which has now become a museum/memorial. It has got to be one of the most depressing things I have ever experienced in my life. The whole thing is just so hard to comprehend how they could have exterminated so many people based on their religion. Its not like we are talking about thousands of years ago when people may have been less educated or less ethical, but this was only 60 years ago. And it is even scarier to think these things still happen now.
Block 11 in Auschwitz was where alot of punishment/exterminations happened. One form of punishment was a cell about 80 x 80cm and in this space, 4 men were kept overnight. The next day they would have to go to work, but at the end of the long working day they had to go back to the small cell as punishment like this usually lasted 3-4 days. Needless to say many people died in these conditions from exhaustion.
They also had cells where they kept so many people they would literrally run out of oxygen. Some even burned candles so that the oxygen ran out faster.
There is a cabinet of hair in the museum. You could see the different hair colours, some were still in plaits... I knew this cabinet existed but it was not the same seeing it. When I walked in the door I did not realise it was there, but I looked away almost as soon as I saw it. It was absolutly nauseating. They used the hair to make rugs and mats.
There were also peoples spectacles, shoes, combs among other things...
Next stop was Auschwitz 2 (Birkenau) which was built up as the first camp could not fit enough people. Most of these barracks were built with wood so before liberation of the camps the Nazis tried to burn most of the buildings down to destroy the evidence. There is this specific stench in the barracks and in Block 11 from Auschwitz 1. A British guy from the tour who is Jewish said it kind of smelt like his grandmothers house and it kind of freaked him out a little bit.
Anyway, we all left Auschwitz a bit depressed and made our way to Krakow. I got to play DJ this time.. Carlos has some pretty bad music eg from 80's 90's so I put my ipod on instead. Made our way to the hostel and we went out for dinner at a restaurant called Roosters. The boys certainly loved it because it was the Polish version of Hooters haha. Food was pretty good though. After dinner we hung around the main square and ended up going to a bar that the Ministry of Sound was at. All in all, not a bad night.
Till tomorrow.
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