Krakow Poland

Krakow, Poland was nothing as I expected it. The city itself is so beautiful but if you look closely, you see all the horrific history that went on not too long ago. While we were in Krakow, we went to Schindler’s Factory as well as Auschwitz and Birkenau. These three places were very humbling and made me take a step back and view Krakow in another light. 

Schindler’s Factory: I’ve seen Schindler’s List, the movie and heard about how he is a controversial character within WWII, so going into Schindler’s Factory I had no idea what to expect. Once we were in, I realized the Factory is more about Holocaust as a whole and the history leading up to the events. You were taken from room to room where there were photos and war paraphernalia all around. Some of it was very hard to look at, such as the room with three Nazi flags hanging up. A particular room that upset me was a room with journal entries. One of them was from a little boy, I believe 9 years old talking about how Nazi soldiers would throw children out of the windows to get them down to the trucks and how sometimes they would miss. This made me realize how inhumane people can be. At the very end, there was a lot more about Schindler and how he aided over 1,100 Jews and helped them escape death camps. 

Auschwitz I: Walking through the gate reading “Arbeit macht frei” which can translate to “work sets you free”. Seeing this is a haunting image reminds you how evil this place is. Going through block 4 where there were rooms with pictures, articles, and stories was very hard. See the human hair they cut off to dehumanize them made everything so real to me. Another thing that was hard to see was the Prison where they were held before their trial which they almost always were found guilty. This is where a lot of torture was done. Outside there was the “death” were thousands of lives were lost. Lastly, we were taken into one of the “showers” that the Nazis would pack full then drop Zyklon B in and wait for about 30 minutes until everyone was dead. Going in and seeing where thousands of people were killed was haunting. Through this whole time in the camp, it was eerie and it was hard to breathe. All the stories, torture, hurt, loss, pain, evil and so many other things were overwhelming.

Birkenau: After the tour of the concentration camp we drove about five minutes to Birkenau which was connected to Auschwitz, but Birkenau was primarily a death camp. This means everyone who entered was to be killed almost immediately. When the Nazis realized they would be defeated they destroyed all of their “showers” so you can only see the ruins. Other than that, there are chimneys and wooden and brick blocks where people stayed. We were able to go into the children’s block where the living conditions were terrible. It makes me reflect on the little kids I know and realize that they could have been in that place and it breaks my heart. 

Overall, the trip was very personal for me and made me reflect on so many different things. I am glad I was able to go to these places because you don’t realize how horrific it was unless you actually go and see first hand the places and hear the stories. This trip definitely wasn’t very happy like the others, but I’m so glad we all went.