Auschwitz & Birkenau, Poland - April 21, 2003

One interesting bit of Polish tradition trivia first...the Monday after Easter (today) in Poland there is a tradition that kids run around and throw buckets of water on anyone they can. If you pass under a window, for example, you might get doused. As we got off the bus to go to the museum of Auschwitz, wouldn't you know that 3 or 4 kids with buckets started to approach the group of 20 of us. And the next thing I knew one guy was completely soaked and the rest of us were running like crazy. Certainly a strange way to start your visit to Auschwitz. Interesting tho how growing up we always seemed to get water guns for Easter...seemingly a continuation of this Polish tradition tho I never heard anyone make the connection...

This is a general overview of Auschwitz, which consists of roughly 30 buildings..

This is the entrance, with a sign at the gate in German reading: "Work is Liberating"

A picture at the edge of the camp, along one of the fences.

Another picture from the edge of the camp.

An etching in the wall of one of the rooms where prisoners were kept before being killed.

A directory containing the names of prisoners. There is a Wnek among many Wnuks.

There are also many Adamczyks. Makes you wonder.

A small indication of what Poles were subjected to in WWII.

Moving on to Birkenau, or Auschwitz II. Another camp for prisoners.

One of the simple barracks prisoners were kept in, with a small furnace to keep warm by in the surely freezing winters.

One of four gas chambers here that was destroyed by the Germans themselves when their defeat became imminent.

A monument to the 1.5 million people who lost their lives here.

Heading back to Krakow...a shot of the countryside.

Snuck in with a standing ticket to the last show of the Beethoven festival, which was Beethoven's 9th Symphony. Here an award is being given by the mayor of Krakow, on the right, to the woman who organized the festival. The woman in the middle is righting everything down as it is said in Polish and then presents a translation of it in English. One thing to note: doesn't the mayor of Krakow look a little like uncle Phil?

Part I / II / III / IV / V / VI / VII