Krakow and Auschwitz

Last week, I (Cindy) was able to accompany the Calvin student group that is studying in Budapest on a trip to Poland. There were 24 of us on the bus. We had a tour guide traveling with us who took us to interesting stops along the way. The first stop was at Banska Bystrica in Slovakia. We had an hour to walk around and find something to eat. It is a beautiful European City.

Next stop was 4 hours later when we reached Oravsky Castle, still in Slovakia. We were given a complete tour from bottom to top. Here's a picture as we're approaching by bus.

Here's the view from the top of the castle...it's good not to have a fear of heights here.

We arrived to our accommodations in Krakow in time for a wonderful meal at our hotel. It was quite cold and foggy every night and morning while we were there.
The next morning we headed to the main reason for our trip: Auschwitz. I had tried to prepare myself, but I don't think you can really be prepared for what you see. We had watched "Schindler's List" on the bus the day before, so that set the stage, but it's a hard reality to take in when you are standing in a place of so much suffering and horrible death.

These are the gates when you enter Auschwitz: "Work Makes You Free"

The barbed wire fences everywhere.

After Auschwitz 1 we drove 2 km to Auschwitz 2 or Birkenau. 

While Auschwitz began in the first two years as a labor camp, mostly for the Polish aristocracy, it soon became a death camp for Jews. When the gas chambers and ovens at Auschwitz proved to be too small to keep up with the demand, Birkenau was built with much larger gas chambers and crematoriums. Those killed included 400,000 Jews from Hungary.

This is the entrance gate at Birkenau with the railroad tracks running through the middle of the camp.

In the background you can see what was left of the gas chambers and ovens after the Germans bombed here to remove the evidence.

These are the bunks in the barracks at Birkenau...5 or 6 persons on each.

This is the view from the entrance tower at Birkenau which housed 80,000 people each day.

The next day we had a tour of Krakow, including the Jewish Quarter.
This is the main synagogue in Krakow.

This is Oscar Schindler's factory. He is acknowledged with saving at least 1,000 Jews.

Along the streets of Krakow...here is the home of Helene Rubenstein of cosmetic line fame.

The City Square in Krakow...largest square that I have seen thus far...where the picture is taken from is not even in the middle.

The Wawel Castle in Krakow