Derek and I decided to maximize our 4 hour train ride from Warsaw to Krakow by watching Schindler’s List. Neither of us had seen it and it took place in Krakow. After 3-½ hours our eyes were blood shot and we were totally drained.
We dropped our bags at the apartment and headed for St. Mary’s church tower. We both needed some exercise and a distraction. St. Mary’s was closed for the day. Rats!!
Then we heard that Krakow had two mounds outside of town. One to the east and the other to the west. “What’s a mound?”
As it turns out they are ancient burials. Rumor has it they are the first king’s of Krakow. We never got a straight answer but they are clearly mounds. Krakow is almost entirely flat. So you can see the mounds from almost anywhere. They are a couple of miles from old town.
Emotionally exhausted from our experience with Schindler’s List, we started to walk towards the mount to the east in hope of watching sunset over the city. We soon became aware of how alive Krakow is. There are bikers, runners, and roller bladers everywhere. The square is full of musicians and busters of all kinds. Children are laughing and we even ran into a nun or two smiling and carrying on.
Soon we past a huge park and the sun came out. This city may have been a dark place at one time but it was alive now.
As we approached the mound, it was surrounded by castle walls.
Then we came to the door and it was locked. It closed at 8:30. It was now 8:45. Rats! Again! That’s twice in one night.
We did get a beautiful view of the mound.
But we missed sunset. It set at 8:30. Just 3 nights ago sunset was at 10:30. Now it is 8:30. How come sunrise is still at 5:30?
We did get a panoramic view of the city.
It was wonderful to see the mound lite up.
As we returned to old town, it was alive with friendly chatter. Derek even found some math professors to engage in a conversation with.
The next day we were scheduled for an 8 hour tour of Auschwitz and Birkenau concentration camps in the afternoon. We decided it would be best to start the day with the St Mary’s tower climb. It is one of the best viewing spots in the entire city.
The views of old town were spectacular.
After that we just walked the town and enjoyed another meal with of Pierogi. I am going to miss Pieogi when we leave Poland.
As we began our tour of Auschwitz I, I was struck by the shear mass of people. I was not surprised to hear that almost 2 million people a year visit Auschwitz concentration camps. The first tour was in 1947 just two years after the war ended. The initial guides were survivors of the camp.
I was taken back by the large groups of young, Jewish men. My guess was they ranged from 16 to 20 years of age.
As we left the gas chamber and headed into the crematory ovens, one young man was leaning against the wall in tears. Unable to take another step. I began to tear up. Unable to help this boy. The image will stick with me the rest of my life.
Auschwitz I was the first camp where the Nazi’s learned the skills of mass murder.
One of the places that struck me was the killing wall. You could see the bullet holes.
Our tour finished with a walk through Auschwitz II / Birkenau. This camp was built on the other side of town. The Nazi’s needed more room for prisoners as well as space for mass cremation. The camp quickly got the name “the death camp”.
What struck me the second I got off the bus was how big this place is
The picture below was taken where the tracks enter the camp. The forest in the picture is the other end. Takes about 15 minutes to walk the length of the camp. It is easily as width as it is long.
The Germany army was ordered to destroy any evidence of the camp before they retreated. They grounds remain unchanged since the Germany’s left.
At the far end of the camp was the crematorium. Though the German’s destroyed most of it, some evidence still remains.
There is a memorial at the end of the camp between the two main crematoriums. It included 23 plauces with the same statement. All printed in different languages. They represent all the languages spoke in the camp.
Very few children survived the camps. Some did not speak. They never learned a language.
It is not surprising that Poland has become the melting pot of Eastern Europe. There are some many languages spoken here.
As we took our free walking tour the next day, I marveled at all the different walking tour languages. Our guides had flags on top of their umbrellas so the tourist could easily identify which language to attend.
The guide walked us through the normal places. Told us about the center square actually been 12 feet higher than in medieval times. When the square got too muddy they just added new bricks.
We walked through the university in old town which is one of the oldest in Eastern Europe.
This is university where Pope John Paul II was educated in secret during World War II. It was against the law to study religion. He was educated in the basement where the college kids also gathered to listen to western music and read poetry. He was awarded his diploma in 1945 just proceeding the end of the war.
The university is also famous for producing the first paper with evidence, stating the earth was round. Copernicus published his findings and then conveniently died before he could be persecuted for such rubbish. He left that for Galileo.
Then we did something different for a standard tour. He starts taking us through his favorite old churches. Some of the stain glass was amazing.
We finished our old town tour by going to the really old town. The first setting which was on top of the high point in Krakow. When the city got to big, they moved it to the surrounding areas and the king took over the hill top creating a castle and a walled city.
The church in the king’s castle is so funny looking. Each king has added his own tower.
After we finish our tour of Schindler’s warehouse which has been converted into a very good World War II museum, we headed off the climb the mound to the day of town.
On our way we past a World War II historical site in the Jewish Ghetto. The bullet holes remain in the building to remind everyone what happened there.
As we climbed up towards the mound, we past a huge cemetery where every tombstone had fresh flowers and lanterns. I would love to know what the celebration was.
Then the mound came into view.
Then we were rewarded with the 360 degree views. To the south are the actual mountains. We had planned to be hiking today but decided the weather looked to iffy. When we looked south, everything was covered by very grey, black clouds. Good decision.
As we headed back through old town, we catch the pink glow of the sunset. What a beautiful city.
