Krakow Trip

[Clunegapyears]

There have been many holocausts Terry and some did not involve war or violence against the victims going back millennia. You could argue what happened in Ireland during the potato famine when we exported what little they had over here whilst letting around a million Irish peasants starve to death, whist millions immigrated to the new world to escape the famine, was a form of holocaust. But the depravity and the scale of the depravity meted out by the Nazis is what puts it right up there with the very worst. And sadly it goes on today and in more recent past. Sadly holocausts of varying size and levels of depravity seem to be a feature of human history. It’s ironic that those who themselves were sub human, reckoned that those they murdered and persecuted were sub human. But with regards to the Armenian brutality, the Turks to this day deny what happened. And sometimes holocaust’s are carried out against your own; people such as what Stalin did in the USSR, and Paul Pot in Cambodia.

Just back from a trip in Turkey and Georgia ... massive ethnic cleansing by Greek and Turks of each other before the population exchange in 1923. Then more recently when Abkhazia ceeded from Georgia in 1991 ... many Georgians slaughter, many refugees.
It just never stops.

 

[campervanannie]

Try not to go to Auschwitz over the weekend queues are off the scale and it does spoil the experience.You have little time to ponder and reflect.

Yes my son and his girlfriend ( she is from the area ) are just back from Krakow and did not manage to visit Auschwitz he said the queues were so long they decided to give it a miss this time.

 

[alcam]

Poland is a great country to tour in a van . Spent a week there recently. Should have stayed longer

 

[mark61]

Tho

Poland is a great country to tour in a van . Spent a week there recently. Should have stayed longer

Thoroughly enjoyed Poland too. Definitely needs to be visited again.

 

[AnniePhoo]

Having a meaningful visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau is all about timing. When we were there, they had introduced booking online for the free tickets and restricted the times on these. We were not aware of this change and the online tkts both free and tours, were sold out, book 4 weeks ahead or join the queue on the day for the limited number of guided tours tkts released each day. It was extremely busy (21 May) and we were herded around like cattle not being given time to take it in. Waiting at each point for the group in front to move on before we got in and others waiting behind. Not a great experience at all. So book well in advance from 1st May and try to avoid busy times. If you can go before April/May and after September the better. The rest of our 5 week trip around Poland was fabulous.

 

[RoaminRog]

From Krakow Bus Terminal we were advised that we could catch a Coach Tour or go on the Bus, for a tenth of the cost. So we went on the bus, same journey, same views, just a lot cheaper.
We were met by an English speaking guide, who took us round for as long as we wanted, and explained everything in great detail, with some very harrowing descriptions.
I find it difficult to accept that the nearby villagers knew nothing of what was going on, more likely they didn’t want to suffer the same fate.
We found it very distressing that humans could treat other humans to such a level of unimaginable degradation.

 

[Fisherman]

From Krakow Bus Terminal we were advised that we could catch a Coach Tour or go on the Bus, for a tenth of the cost. So we went on the bus, same journey, same views, just a lot cheaper.
We were met by an English speaking guide, who took us round for as long as we wanted, and explained everything in great detail, with some very harrowing descriptions.
I find it difficult to accept that the nearby villagers knew nothing of what was going on, more likely they didn’t want to suffer the same fate.
We found it very distressing that humans could treat other humans to such a level of unimaginable degradation.

There were no nearby villagers every home within several kilometres of the camps were demolished. If the Nazis suspected any Poles knew what was happening they would have shot them.The only house left standing was the one used by the camp commander just outside the camp which stands to this day. It has recently been bought by an American company who intend to open it up as a museum.

Generally speaking the vast majority of civilians including German civilians were unaware of what was going on. The Jews had no idea what awaited them, this made life much easier for the Nazis. Soldiers on leave which was rare from 1944 were forbidden to discus military matters. If they informed their families or friends it could lead them all being sent to concentration camps.