Krakow, Poland, Europe

So as expected, today was a pretty tough day. Of course I can’t complain about anything I had to go through today, but witnessing the struggles that so many people had to go through for so long. I got up at 6:30am, mainly just because the sun was shining in my face and there was no curtain to block it. I figured that since I was already awake, I might as well get an early start to the day. I packed up my stuff, moved out of my room, and left my bags at reception. I had to move rooms today but stay in the same hostel, hence me having to get my stuff together at stupid o’clock in the morning.

I was on the road by 6:45am which gave me plenty of time to get up to the bus station and find the bus to Oswiecim, where the Auschwitz museum is located. Some friends I’ve met along the way gave me a tip to go on my own before 10am and you can get in for free and you don’t need to have a guide. I’m so glad I did. The bus took just over an hour to get there so I was in the museum by 8:45am, and I stayed until 2:50pm when I could get the bus back to Krakow. It was intense, but amazing. After 10am when the groups started coming in with the tour guides I saw what my friends had warned me about. The guided tours were rushed along and didn’t get to see most of what was on display. I got to take my time and read every exhibition, which is definitely what they all deserved.

I have to say, I was shocked to see how many people were posing for pictures while inside the concentration camp. They were taking selfies, or asking people to take their picture in front of a crematorium where hundreds of thousands of people were killed. I cannot imagine why anyone would want to have a picture of themselves in front of such a morbid place. They were acting like they were at Disney World or something. It was pretty disturbing to me.

Anyway, I spent about three hours at Auschwitz I and then took the bus over to Birkenau. This is where most of the executions were carried out. They estimate that 1.5 million people were killed in Birkenau between 1942 and 1945. When the Nazis realized they were going to lose the war, they tried to get rid of any evidence they could that would show people what had been done here. They burned down the camps, blew up the crematoriums, and tried to hide any remnants of the deceased. Fortunately for history’s sake, they weren’t able to destroy everything so we still have an idea of what it looked like and how they carried out their heinous crimes against humanity.

After a couple hours at Birkenau, I had had enough. There is only so much of that I can take in one day, and I certainly had my limit. I got back to Krakow at about 4pm and considered going to visit Schindler’s Factory, but I decided against it. The material I’d already seen today had been really heavy, and anymore probably wouldn’t have really registered with me, and that’s not fair. I’ll have to come back someday to check it out, because I’ve been told it’s worth seeing.

I spent the rest of the day in the old town center trying to restore my faith in humanity. I sat in the main square and had a beer and just watched as thousands of people walked by without a care in the world. It was a nice reminder of the freedom we have in so many countries today. Especially with me travelling around, it really makes me appreciate how much freedom we have. Going back 80 years, or even 50 years, I would have been so much more limited as to what countries I would have safe access to, and now it’s hardly an afterthought. I’m certainly lucky to have grown up at the time I did, and to be travelling exactly the way I want today. So tomorrow I’m off to visit another post-war soviet country, Slovakia!