Auschwitz and Birkenau
On Thursday, we spent a very somber morning visiting the concentration camps of Auschwitz and Birkenau. We went to Auschwitz first, which is about a two hour drive from Krakow. At Auschwitz, we first entered the main gate, over which are the German words "Arbeit macht frei", which means "Work will set you free."
After entering the compound, we walked around and saw the barracks, the mass execution sites including a long bar used for hanging ("the collective gallows"), the "Death wall" where prisoners were lined up and shot, artifacts such as shoes, eyeglasses, hairbrushes, luggage, Jewish prayer shawls, and an entire room full of hair that was collected after the prisoners' heads were shaved. Also on display were the ruins of the gas chamber, crematorium, and some human ashes.
In one of the barracks, we saw the room where St. Maximilian Kolbe died. Maximilian Kolbe was a Catholic priest who had been sent to Auschwitz. After a prisoner had escaped, the officials chose 10 men at random for execution by starvation, which was typically done to discourage attempts to escape. One of these 10 men was a young husband and father, and he begged the officials to let him live. Fr. Maximilian Kolbe heard him and volunteered to take his place. Survivors of the camp later reported that they heard the starving prisoners praying and singing hymns, led by Fr. Maximilian Kolbe. After 2 weeks in the starvation cell, Fr. Maximilian Kolbe was still alive - the other 9 prisoners had died. The officials finally decided to end his life by lethal injection. Fr. Maximilian Kolbe was canonized by Pope John Paul II in 1982. The man whom he had died for was present at the canonization.
The room at Auschwitz where Fr. Maximilian Kolbe died now has a small memorial shrine in it, with some tall candles, some rosaries, and a holy picture of Jesus. We were not allowed to take pictures of it because there are certain places in Auschwitz where photos are not allowed, and the rules are very strict: the penalty is imprisonment. They will throw you in jail if you take a forbidden photo.
After Auschwitz we drove 2 miles down the road to Birkenau, which was originally called Auschwitz II. Birkenau was the largest center for extermination of Jews. It was the Nazi plan for the "Final Solution of the Jewish Question." At Birkenau, we saw the "ramp" where prisoners were unloaded from the trains that transported them here, the barracks, ruins of the gas chambers and crematorium, ponds where human ashes were thrown, and a monument to the victims.
After our visit to the concentration camps, we headed for a drive to the mountains. First we stopped for lunch. While Denise tried more galunki (she said it was better than the last one), Joe and I decided to go American and order a cheeseburger. The only burger on the menu was called Gosciniec Burger. We were wondering if the hamburger was beef or some other animal, because Gosciniec kind of sounded like Goose neck. We tried to Google it, but whenever we typed in Gosciniec, the word "highway" kept coming up. We asked the waitress what kind of meat it was and she said "cow". We later noticed that the name of the restaurant was Gosciniec something or other, and realized that it was Highway Restaurant that serves Highway Burgers (from a cow), not Goose neck burgers. Whew!
After lunch, we took a 3 hour drive to Zakopane, which is in the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains. The scenery along the way was beautiful.
Zakopane is a resort town in the Tatra Mountains within the Carpathian range. It's a popular destination for skiing. Pope John Paul II was an avid skier and frequently skied here, not just while he was growing up, but he continued to ski 9 years into his papacy. He was referred to as the "skiing pope."
The weather today and actually every day of this trip has been gorgeous. We've had total sunshine with deep blue skies, and temperatures in the 70's with low humidity. Very pleasant!
After entering the compound, we walked around and saw the barracks, the mass execution sites including a long bar used for hanging ("the collective gallows"), the "Death wall" where prisoners were lined up and shot, artifacts such as shoes, eyeglasses, hairbrushes, luggage, Jewish prayer shawls, and an entire room full of hair that was collected after the prisoners' heads were shaved. Also on display were the ruins of the gas chamber, crematorium, and some human ashes.
In one of the barracks, we saw the room where St. Maximilian Kolbe died. Maximilian Kolbe was a Catholic priest who had been sent to Auschwitz. After a prisoner had escaped, the officials chose 10 men at random for execution by starvation, which was typically done to discourage attempts to escape. One of these 10 men was a young husband and father, and he begged the officials to let him live. Fr. Maximilian Kolbe heard him and volunteered to take his place. Survivors of the camp later reported that they heard the starving prisoners praying and singing hymns, led by Fr. Maximilian Kolbe. After 2 weeks in the starvation cell, Fr. Maximilian Kolbe was still alive - the other 9 prisoners had died. The officials finally decided to end his life by lethal injection. Fr. Maximilian Kolbe was canonized by Pope John Paul II in 1982. The man whom he had died for was present at the canonization.
The room at Auschwitz where Fr. Maximilian Kolbe died now has a small memorial shrine in it, with some tall candles, some rosaries, and a holy picture of Jesus. We were not allowed to take pictures of it because there are certain places in Auschwitz where photos are not allowed, and the rules are very strict: the penalty is imprisonment. They will throw you in jail if you take a forbidden photo.
After Auschwitz we drove 2 miles down the road to Birkenau, which was originally called Auschwitz II. Birkenau was the largest center for extermination of Jews. It was the Nazi plan for the "Final Solution of the Jewish Question." At Birkenau, we saw the "ramp" where prisoners were unloaded from the trains that transported them here, the barracks, ruins of the gas chambers and crematorium, ponds where human ashes were thrown, and a monument to the victims.
After our visit to the concentration camps, we headed for a drive to the mountains. First we stopped for lunch. While Denise tried more galunki (she said it was better than the last one), Joe and I decided to go American and order a cheeseburger. The only burger on the menu was called Gosciniec Burger. We were wondering if the hamburger was beef or some other animal, because Gosciniec kind of sounded like Goose neck. We tried to Google it, but whenever we typed in Gosciniec, the word "highway" kept coming up. We asked the waitress what kind of meat it was and she said "cow". We later noticed that the name of the restaurant was Gosciniec something or other, and realized that it was Highway Restaurant that serves Highway Burgers (from a cow), not Goose neck burgers. Whew!
After lunch, we took a 3 hour drive to Zakopane, which is in the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains. The scenery along the way was beautiful.
Zakopane is a resort town in the Tatra Mountains within the Carpathian range. It's a popular destination for skiing. Pope John Paul II was an avid skier and frequently skied here, not just while he was growing up, but he continued to ski 9 years into his papacy. He was referred to as the "skiing pope."
The weather today and actually every day of this trip has been gorgeous. We've had total sunshine with deep blue skies, and temperatures in the 70's with low humidity. Very pleasant!
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