Poland
Oświęcim

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    • Day 4

      Auschwitz Concentration Camp

      March 6, 2022 in Poland ⋅ ⛅ 2 °C

      Today we visited possibly the saddest place I have ever been and maybe on earth. The quiet is ear splitting and I could feel the sadness of this place. Here millions of lives were lost and the worst atrocities happened. May this stand as a reminder for generations.Read more

    • Day 61

      Poland: Auschwitz

      September 10 in Poland ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

      This is probably one of the most sobering places that anyone could ever wish to go to. I've read many nonfiction and fiction books on this place as I've always tried to understand how human beings could do such things to one another. I think- since leaving here- I've been left with more questions than answers. It's an absolutely mortifying place. One would expect it to be so, but it was even more so than I imagined. The only way in which it is 'interesting', is to see how carefully the sadistic Nazis planned this, the macabre systems put in place to murder people on an en masse basis and the lengths they went to to hide their crimes. Everything was planned for from the start for their Final Solution to the 'Jewish Problem'. For example, all the death camps were built in Poland and not Germany for fear of reprisal from the German civilian population if they ever found out. Poland was also selected as it had the largest Jewish community in Europe at the time (over 3mil Jewish people). They chose Oswiecim (the town in Poland germanised to 'Auschwitz') for its excellent train transport links to the whole of Europe. They cleared a 10km radius around the camps so no one would know what was going on ie the only people intended to leave the camp were the SS officers. The list goes on. As tragic as this place is, I do think it is almost a place that everyone should visit. Empathy, integrity and respect were completely lacking in this place and visiting this foul place reinforces the fact that EVERYONE is deserving of these attributes. Sorry, some of the images are sadly quite disturbing, but people need to understand the horror of this place so as not to forget one of the worst events of history.Read more

    • Day 12

      Dag 12 - Krakau/Auschwitz

      August 18, 2022 in Poland ⋅ 🌙 25 °C

      Vandaag zijn we naar Auschwitz geweest met kim en corine. Het was heel interessant, maar wel lastig voor te stellen. Ik vond het minder heftig dan ik van tevoren had gedacht. Maar wel goed om een keer gezien te hebben. Savonds hebben we nog wat gegeten samen, heel erg bedankt opa en oma!😊Read more

    • Day 197

      191ème étape ~ Auschwitz

      February 15 in Poland

      Nous avons visité les camps de concentration et d’extermination de Auschwitz I et Auschwitz II-Birkenau. Les horreurs qui se sont déroulées là bas de 1940 à 1945 sont d’une inhumanité sans nom. Ces lieux chargés d’histoire sont entièrement placés sous les signes de l’hommage et de la mémoire pour toutes les victimes.
      Nous avons eu la chance d’avoir une guide en français qui nous a montré les différents endroits et expliqué le fonctionnement de ces endroits.
      Le chemin de la mort qu’ont traversé toutes les victimes est absolument inimaginable. Les lieux, inoccupés, ont l’air paisible, on peut difficilement s’imaginer les conditions dans lesquelles ils vivaient.
      Nous sommes entrés dans un bloc où étaient logés environ 750 femmes, les lits superposés sur 3 étages, le premier directement à même le sol, trop chaud en été, trop froid en hiver.
      Les allemands ont tout fait pour se faciliter la vie, ils ont construit des rails pour que les trains arrivent directement dans les camps, menti aux prisonniers de A à Z notamment en leur demandant d’attacher leurs chaussures ensemble, en leur promettant une meilleure vie, en leur vendant des maisons, des magasins.
      C’était un moment intéressant, nous avons beaucoup appris même si la tristesse a accompagné notre découverte.
      En hommage à toutes les victimes de l’Holocaust.
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    • Day 30

      Auchwitz and Birkenau

      October 14 in Poland ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

      Today, I went to Auchwitz and Birkenau concentration camps. It was impactful and emotional but an amazing experience nonetheless. Later in the day, I explored Krakow a bit and did a run by the Vistula River.Read more

    • Day 4

      Auschwitz

      September 26, 2019 in Poland ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

      É possível passar um dia em Auschwitz sem pagar uns 40 a 80 euros para um tour. Mas é verdade que não ouves a explicação dos guias, apesar disso e pelo facto de conhecermos razoavelmente bem essa época conseguimos acompanhar a visita e perceber o que aconteceu na segunda guerra mundial, neste lugar.

      A primeira parte, em Auschwitz Birkenau, o ambiente é um pouco mais leve do que estava a espera, passámos pelos dormitório, os sanitários comuns, o "corredor da morte", os crematórios completamente destruidos no final da guerra para não deixar vestígios das atrocidades, o tratamento das águas para o campo de concentração, o Canadá, local onde mantinham todos os pertences de quem entrou neste campo, que foi posteriormente queimado, mais uma vez para não deixar vestígios.

      Ao final da tarde fomos, ao museu de Auschwitz, ou seja à primeira parte do campo de concentração, pelos vistos a partir das 16h não se paga. Mas a visita é muito forte, mesmo sem guia, quando começamos a passar pelos sítios onde eles eram executados, os restos das suas roupas permanecem nos locais, onde dormiam uns em cima dos outros, as condições sanitárias, as histórias, as milhares de fotos de pessoas que morreram.
      Toda essa envolvencia, traz um sentimento de revolta, de raiva, de impotência relativamente a acontecimentos que são tão recentes mas por outro lado parecem tão longínquos, que conseguimos passear por estes corredores de tortura e morte e ainda assim rirmos com as nossas palhaçada do dia a dia.
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    • Day 13

      Aušvicas - Birkenau

      June 16, 2022 in Poland ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C

      Arbeit macht frei. Šitą girdėjo visi. Tik matė gal ne visi. Labai ilgai galvojau, ar po Italijos saulės reikia gadintis bendrą nuotaiką Aušvico koncentracijos stovykloje. Vis dėlto apsilankome. Iš pradžių užsiburbuliuojame, kad individualus patekimas nuo 16 val. Iki tol patekimas tik su gidu ir grupe. Vis tiek einame. Ir nė kiek netenka gailėtis. Informacija koncentruota ir labai išsami. Praleidžiame vietoje planuotų kelių valandų visas keturias.
      Ir visur siaubo liudijimai. Sunkiai suvokiami žiaurumai. Gidas gale ekskursijos pasiūlo prisiminti šią vietą, kai nuspręsime, kad mums subjuro nuotaika, kad kiaušinis pervirė ar kad saulė ne pro tą debesies pusę išlindo. Esame laimingi sotūs bastards. Kai kaimyninėje valstybėje - Ukrainoje, žudomi žmonės ir orkai vykdo tokį pat genocidą kaip anuomet naciai.
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    • Day 53

      Tour Day 4 - Driving to Poland

      July 12 in Poland ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C

      Today was another early start and we jumped on the bus headed for Poland. It was a quiet and snoozy coach ride. We stopped for lunch at a Czechia shopping centre which is very similar to Australian shopping centre food courts but the menu is all in Czech. We did a lap and asked a few tour members what they ate. One couple got liver accidentally which spooked me. However Erin went with sushi and I miraculously got chicken fried rice. We got back on the bus after I took a picture of the sign showing you can't bring your pig into the centre. We drove again for a while and our guide talked about the Holocaust as we were headed to Auschwitz-Birkenau.
      We got there and it was busy but we had our own tours organised. There was a lot of security to get through then we met our guide who was lovely. It was such an intense experience seeing the camp artifacts, photos and hearing the stories of the atrocities that happened. There was two sites and they were both overwhelming but incredible to be able to experience. We both felt so emotionally drained and it was interesting to see other tour members reactions. It really reminds me of how lucky we as as Australians to be able to travel and live so freely, but also makes me sad that humans around the world still live in fear of a similar situation happening to them.
      We jumped back on the bus, watching some episodes of selling sunsets to repair the spirits. Finally after a long day we arrived at the hotel and had dinner. We sat next to a mother and son pair from Canada. Darlene told us she was 82 and I was honestly geniunely shocked, she looks bloody amazing and is so active. They were so lovely. We got back to our room and went to sleep quickly.
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    • Day 10

      AUSCHWITZ-BIRKENAU

      August 7 in Poland ⋅ 🌧 16 °C

      Nous avons visité ces camps par un temps pluvieux et froid avec l'atmosphère lourde qui s'y prête.
      Pas de commentaire sur l'indescriptible et l'horreur de ces deux lieux.
      Une chose est sûre les mots humains et dignité n'existaient plus passé ces murs.
      QU'ILS REPOSENT EN PAIX 🙏🙏🙏🙏
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    • Day 44 - Auschwitz Memorial & Museum

      August 22 in Poland ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

      Today we got up early, had breakfast in the apartment to go to the bus station, we are off to see and pay respects to Auschwitz-Birkenau.

      We got told yesterday the bus was at 7:25am, today the bus is now at 8:05am and gets us to Auschwitz at 9:19am… our tour starts at 9:30am, should be fine.
      While waiting for the bus, I opted to buy an obwarzanek, it’s a bagel that the dough is boiled for 10seconds in 65degree water.
      Then I decided to start googling, and no our bus gets in at 9:30am… So the bus trip was a wee bit panicky as we had a 6hour tour and they only do one a day. We got to Auschwitz at 9:35am, talked to the desk and we got escorted to our group thankfully, we only missed an 8 minute intro video.

      We spent 3 hours in Auschwitz going through the blocks and exhibitions. As we were on the longer tour we got to see Block 3, the most untouched block showing the living conditions in the camp.
      After a half n hour break we got on the bus to Auschwitz II-Birkenau which takes 10 minutes. We spent 2.5hours here on the grounds. Birkenau was mostly destroyed by the Nazi’s before liberation day and the old blocks torn down by returning locals, as the Nazi’s had destroyed their brick houses to build the Blocks, so the locals started using what was at Birkenau.

      After the tour it was a bit too process what we had heard and seen, though our Polish guide spoke very fast which somewhat helped that we didn’t have enough time to fully comprehend exactly what we were being told at times.
      We rode the bus back to Krakow, I was pretty exhausted so caught a nap while Katie decided to film me…

      We got back to the apartment and got freshened up and headed for dinner. Another recommendation from the guide yesterday, Resyauracja Cechowa, another traditional restaurant. The food in Poland is amazing!

      After dinner we walked through Market Square, stopping to watch the lightning around us light up the night sky. We got some gelato and went back to the accomodation.
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    You might also know this place by the following names:

    Oświęcim, Oswiecim, Auschwitz, Освиенцим, Οσβιέτσιμ, אושוויינצ'ים, オシフィエンチム, 오시비엥침, Osvecimia, Osvencimas, Osvencima, ओश्फिन्चिम, Освенцим, Osvienčim, אשפעצין, 奥斯威辛

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