Braeden in Germany: Krakow/Auschwitz

This past weekend I took a trip to Poland. My friends and I took this trip to see the Auschwitz concentration camp, which was very sad and even morbid at times, but also super interesting, and I'm very glad I had the chance to go. We had a late flight back to Germany on Sunday so we were able to do some sightseeing as well. Planning this trip was really easy, and also relatively cheap compared to other trips I've been on so far. Airfare, the hostel, and a guided tour around Auschwitz only cost $154 per person. The food is also really cheap in Poland, which was a plus (: My friends and I walked into this buffet style restaurant that had authentic Polish food, and it was easily one of the best meals I've had in Europe yet.

My friends and I arrived in Krakow on Friday evening, and since we had to get up early for our tour, we just went to dinner, and then went back to the hostel to get some sleep. The next morning we were up and ready at 9:30am for our tour. The company we booked with was SeeKrakow, and I would definitely recommend them. Our guides picked us up right from our hostel, and they were very informative. We got to Auschwitz in little under an hour, and it wasn't really what I expected. The camp was relatively small. It was then that our guide told us there was more than one camp. We were in Auschwitz I, and would be going to Auschwitz-Birkenau later in the day.

We spent about two hours in the first camp. We walked through one building that was dedicated to explaining the selection process, and then the extermination process of the prisoners. People would arrive by train directly into the camp. The people were asked to leave their luggage on the platform, and were told they would receive it later. They were then placed into lines by gender, and doctors would determine whether or not a person was fit to work. If they weren't fit to work they were sent to the line that would go to gas chambers. Almost all the children were exterminated as well. Our guide told us that the gassing process took around 15-20 minutes, so the prisoners suffered. We had the opportunity to walk into the crematorium, and it was truly awful, because there were scratches on the walls from the prisoners' fingernails.

After, we went into a building that held personal items of the prisoners. There was a long corridor I walked through, and on each side of me there were thousands of shoes piled to the ceiling. Another room had an abundant amount of luggage, some with names on them, because the people had intended to get their suitcases back. Another room had the hair of the prisoners, since their heads would be shaved when they arrived to Auschwitz. That room was probably the hardest to see. It contained about 15,000 pounds of hair, and our guide told us the hair was sold to textile industries in Germany. There was also a room dedicated solely to children shoes and clothing. While we were going through all the rooms, it was really hard for me not to cry. I had talked with people that had visited Auschwitz so I knew what to expect, but it really is different once you are there witnessing everything.

After seeing Auschwitz I, we headed to Auschwitz-Birkenau. This camp was massive. I felt like it kept going on forever, because I couldn't even see the end of the camp. We walked along the train tracks where the prisoners arrived, and also walked into the barracks that were still standing. I couldn't even fathom how people could have slept in them. Our guide said during the winter the people on the top bunks would wake up with frost and snow on themselves.

I don't really know how to say how I felt about visiting Auschwitz. I can't say it was a "great" experience, because how can seeing such horrible things be classified as great? It was really interesting, and I'm glad I went, but it was also very depressing. My friends and I got back to our hostel, and none of us even talked to one another. I think we were all still processing what we had just seen.

Sunday was a lot better. We did some sightseeing and saw the Wawel Royal Castle. It was a very different dynamic than Saturday, which was nice. Krakow is actually a really pretty city. It had a lot of cute restaurants and bars, which we hadn't expected. There was this really cool main square as well. We also got to see a 5k taking place throughout the city. My friends and I enjoyed our time in Krakow, but as always, we were very happy to travel back to Lüneburg.