AUSCHWITZ & BIRKENAU

We took a day trip to Auschwitz (pronounced ouchvits) – harrowing.

You have to go we decided to honour the many, many who lost their lives there.

Our driver Wojcek was very knowledgeable but when he said he would show a film on route I thought he meant a Hollywood movie not a scene setting documentary – there was little conversation in the mini-bus after watching this on the one hour journey.

We learned that initially the camp was a prison for the Polish intelligentsia before a death camp for the Jews and Roma.

One of the most awful facts our guide shared was nearly all the perpetrators of these terrible war crimes escaped punishment with the exception of the  camp commandant and one former guard who wrote a book describing his time there ‘as the best years’ of his life.

The piles of empty suitcases, clumps of hair, discarded shoes, baby clothes and carefully documented photographs we saw on the tour of the brick barracks were heart-breaking and in stark contrast to where the family of the commandant lived. The tour included walking through both Auschwitz and Birkenau. The two camps are two miles apart and housed over 90,000 prisoners.

We asked our guide how did she do her job, day after day, in the midst of so much suffering and death? She said: “I feel it is my duty to educate people about the horrors of the past and hopefully prevent such genocide happening in the future.”

I thought after Ellis Island in New York I was almost immune to man’s inhumanity to man, but I couldn’t sleep that night...

 

JEWISH QUARTER & FORMER GHETTO

We were transported in a golf buggy from our hotel to the Jewish Quarter of Kazimierz, which lies south of the Old Town on the banks of the River Vistula. Kazimierz has been the centre of the city’s Jewish community for more than 500 years. Our guide Miriam, of Wojcik Tours, gave us an entertaining and informative tour of synagogues, schools, cemeteries, cafes and bars of this bohemian part of the city including a 10-minute stop to explore the imposing Corpus Christi Church. During World War 2 the Nazis destroyed Kazimierz moving the Jews first to the ghetto on the opposite side of the river then by train to the death camps. Residents are today slowly moving back into the area including young descendants of those who died in Auschwitz/Birkenau. Miriam took us across the Vistula, to the site of the former Jewish ghetto. We visited Plac Bohaterow Getta. This market square was where the Jews unloaded their belongings before being allocated accommodation in the ghetto, prior to deportation to the death camps. Today the square contains several large iron chairs as remembrance art not street furniture all facing different directions as a reminder that when the ghetto was cleared in 1943, bits of abandoned furniture were all that left of Krakov’s Jewish community. We also drove past the factory where its owner Oskar Schlinder saved many Jewish lives and his story is immortalised in the 1993 Steven Spielberg film.

 

CHURCH OF SAINTS PETER AND PAUL

On route to the castle and cathedral we visited one of the most magnificent early baroque churches in central Europe in Grodzka Street. This is one of the oldest streets in Kraków and we passed the five star Hotel Copernicus and thought in high season this could be quieter location that the main square and certainly worth investigating.

 

WAWEL ROYAL CASTLE

Both the castle and the cathedral are within a 10- minute walk from the Market Square. We visited the castle under a blue cloudless sky, in warm sunshine. The castle was the official royal residence for Polish kings and queens for three centuries and was the headquarters of the Nazi governor general during World War 2. The castle fortifications and towers date back to the 15th and 16th centuries. We visited the crown treasury and armoury and admired a vast collection of swords, armour, muskets and cannons. The architectural highlight was the beautiful 16th century courtyard with its ornate columns and balconies. The castle is situated on a hill overlooking the Vistula and offers panoramic views across the city and the surrounding countryside. The outdoor café was fun, frothy beers and crumbly fruit pastries and big chats with fellow visitors from near and far.

 

THE ROYAL ARCHCATHEDRAL BASILICA OF SAINTS STANISLAUS AND WENCESLAUS (at the castle)

The 14th century cathedral with its baroque twin towers and spires majestically dominates the city skyline. We attempted to climb the Zygmunt Tower to see the largest bell in Poland, weighing in at nearly 11 tons, but we gave up before reaching the top of the tower as our ascent became increasingly cramped and claustrophobic. Back on the ground we enjoyed visiting the Zygmunt Chapel and admired the sculptures, stuccos and paintings as well as the beautiful silver altar.

 

ST MARY’S BASILICA

Back on Market Square, we visited the Church of St Mary (Kosciol Mariacki). Legend has it, that the two towers were designed by two brothers who were each determined to build the tallest and most beautiful tower in a fraternal competitive spirit. Unfortunately, the magnificent 15th century high altar with its ornate panels depicting the crucifixion, ascension and resurrection was undergoing restorative work and was obscured by scaffolding.