So, as I’m sure you all know after reading my last blog, I am currently in Poland! And it is from Krakow that I write to you all tonight.
Today I actually visited Auschwitz, but more about that later, I wanna start by talking about the culture differences and the architectural differences between Poland and Spain, and about how it is to travel alone.
So, since Krakow is not as popular a tourist destination as say, Barcelona or Rome or Paris (Pray for Paris btw) or London, I’m assuming most of you do not know too much about Poland’s second-largest city. It’s quite alright, neither do I, but I’ll definitely share a bit of what I learned in Poland so far.
So, Poland is colder, much colder than Spain, obviously. And here it’s been raining a lot, though maybe I just caught it here on the wrong weekend.
It also gets dark super early, like at 4 PM, which is even earlier than in Montreal, is it not? And so, consequently, everyone starts to go inside and the city kind of dies down… and dinner certainly is not at 11 PM!
But… last night I did go out with my new hostel friends and the city was alive again, apparently, according to sources, there are more students in Krakow than in Madrid, woah!
Poland uses the Polish Zloty as a currency, and so 1 PLN is roughly equivalent to $0.34 Canadian, or 0.23€, crazy right?? So a beer here would cost 4 PLN, not 4€, and I got basically turkey, cheese and bread, two apples and a banana for 11 PLN this morning, roughtly $3.75 CAD this morning, so cheap!
Other differences: oh yes, at the club they play mostly Polish music (why??) and the ambiance is definitely not as energetic, and since the city centre is small and cozy, walking home at night surely does not prove difficult.
Krakow obviously has a strong WWII history, but a strong cultural history as well. Check it out!
The architecture is so interesting, and so different. Everything here seems to be in brown with colorful rooftops, certainly not Gran Via, but definitely impressive to look at and a change from the Spanish architecture I’ve become accustomed to. Also the large plaza in the centre is amazing!! It boasts a huge goods market and has several impressive monuments. My tour of the city is also not yet done; tomorrow I go to a lookout, visit the Jewish quarter and go to the Schindler’s factory museum!
Also, about traveling alone, it really is something. During the day, it’s great because I set my own itinerary, and when walking around the city you don’t even feel it, because you get to observe your surroundings and it’s great! I don’t know if it’s just me, but I really notice the fact that I’m traveling alone when in museums, because there’s no one to talk to, it’s just me and the exhibits.
What’s good though, is that in hostels you meet tons of people, and I did, and we all went out for drinks last night and it’s lots of fun, and everyone has a story. I met a group of Spaniards who are doing Erasmus in Bologna, so I basically got to know more Spaniards here in Poland than I know in Madrid…
Now, Auschwitz… I’m assuming everyone knows that Auschwitz is the German concentration camp for Jews and other prisoners during WWII that was established after the Germans invaded Poland.
I knew that before coming, but actually being there in person is a completely different experience.
Now, Auschwitz is actually split into two, the main camp, and Birkenau, which is much bigger and another site of mass murder.
The museum is located on the main site, and so we have the opportunity to go into different used-to-be living quarters, now turned into museum exhibits, and learn about different aspects of life in Auschwitz.
To begin, here are some photos:
This is Birkenau, which is massive.
Among the ruins pictured above are the gas chambers, which have since been reduced to rubble.
Below is one of the living quarters in Birkenau, and the bathrooms… awful. And also the living quarters from the outside.
The first picture below is a French room paying tribute to the fallen French soldiers. Two two to it’s right are pictures from the general’s headquarters, on the main site. The wall on the right is where Jews got executed, ‘murder wall,’ just awful.
Below is probably what made me the most emotional of the entire visit. There was one exhibit in one of the buildings in which the walls were covered in mug shots of men and women, who were shaved to nearly bald. Below their picture it was marked their date of birth, their occupation, their recruitment date and their death date. And yes, they all had a death date, sometime close to their recruitment date. The lady in the middle photo below was killed one day after being recruited, I had to take a picture, it’s just too sad. What made me really sad was seeing everyone’s expressions on their mug shots. Some looked confused, some looked defiant, some looked hopeful and were somewhat smiling, while others just looked defeated and depressed, like they knew they were going to die, and unfortunately they were right.
And if all this isn’t saddening enough, look how they treated the children that they didn’t kill right off the bat.
Within the same building was an exhibit entitled ‘evidence of crimes.’ In this exhibit, we saw collections of items of clothing worn by the people that were killed, usually the ones gassed. The most saddening moment in this exhibit was seeing small kids clothes. The most shocking: a collection of women’s hair that was shaved off them before their brutal murder. There was also a large collection of shoes, glasses and pottery.
Awful, just awful awful. To live with the knowledge that this stuff happened for real, to have walked in the grounds where these atrocities happened… it is an experience. A real experience. An experience that I’m happy to have had, yet I’m sad that it exists. I’m sad that Auschwitz exists. I’m sad that these atrocities ever took place. I’m happy I went, I’m happy I witnessed this for myself, it truly is eye-opening.
To conclude, a plaque at the end of Birkenau, issued in every language I can think of, a warning for humanity never to try this type of shit again.
I was thinking of Canadians on Remembrance Day while visiting Auschwitz, and I was thinking of Paris while looking at the plaque. There is so much good in the world, evil will never prevail.
Dan.
Studying Abroad in Madrid!! 