Going to Poland in August for a long weekend. Always wanted to go to Auschwitz as I'm fascinated with WW2 stuff. Mum's side of the family in Hungarian and I am sure some relatives passed through its gates at some point.

 

There are a few tour operators in Krakow that arranged trips out there.

 

Just wondering if any one's been?

Not been yet, but i am going at the beginning of July.

 

Should be really fascinating if not very eery!

 

Will let you know what i think ;)

I haven't been there but at my last visit to France I visited a site with similar history where the Nazis wiped out a full unarmed village. It had a visitor centre etc. For fear of sounding a bit pathetic I found it very, very upsetting. Really not nice at all and it amazed me how humans could do this kind of thing.

What amazes me more is that the human race doesn't learn and is still doing things like this all over the world.

I haven't been there but at my last visit to France I visited a site with similar history where the Nazis wiped out a full unarmed village. It had a visitor centre etc. For fear of sounding a bit pathetic I found it very, very upsetting. Really not nice at all and it amazed me how humans could do this kind of thing.

What amazes me more is that the human race doesn't learn and is still doing things like this all over the world.

 

 

Sad but true .

I went there a few years ago when i was in Krakow and I think it's one of those things that everyone should see. It won't be an easy day and you will leave the place with a real chill down your spine but it's something that you will remember forever and go some way to getting a real sense of the loss and the suffering that went on at that time in a way that a book or TV program never can.

 

I won't tell you about anything that you're going to see but at the start of the tour everyone is chatting amongst themselves and by the end everyone is silent.

 

Dave

me and my misses went about 2 years ago! only becuase she is polish and there has been records that 2 generations of her family was took there! was a really good eye opener to the world and what is really out there, god rest there souls

This is one place I'd love to visit, I'd love to see for my self if the rumours are true, that Birds neither fly over the place or sing near the camp.

 

This is a part of our history that should never be forgotten

I haven't been there but at my last visit to France I visited a site with similar history where the Nazis wiped out a full unarmed village. It had a visitor centre etc. For fear of sounding a bit pathetic I found it very, very upsetting. Really not nice at all and it amazed me how humans could do this kind of thing.

What amazes me more is that the human race doesn't learn and is still doing things like this all over the world.

Was that Oradour-sur-Glane?

Well i'm off to bed now cos i gotta get up at 4am to get my arse to Krakow. My opinion/feelings and a few pics to follow hopefully :)

 

Isaac :cool:

Take plenty of photos mate and have a good time!

enjoy bud, i want to know everything lol

If you are interested in WW2 stuff,

check this out....

 

http://www.thewarandpeaceshow.com/

 

Takes place in Kent from 22nd to 26th of July. Just under 3 weeks away....

 

It's the biggest gathering of privately owned military vehicles in Europe.

They usually have over 2000 vehicles on show.

 

You will find europeans from many countries dressed up in genuine military uniforms, camping on the site in military tents / dug-outs / trucks / command posts etc...

 

 

They stage some fantastic re-enactments as well. Even some of the tanks fire blanks, as they charge around the huge arena....lots of thunder flashes, smoke grenades, rifles and machine guns........ flippin deafening !

 

There are huge marquees and stalls selling lots of memorabilia as well.

 

I think it was last year, or the year before that a Spitfire was flying overhead.

The pilot was waving down at us as he banked steeply. The sound of the Merlin engine tearing along was just magical....

 

Well worth a visit.....

 

Cheers

Glen

Was that Oradour-sur-Glane?

 

Thats it, its not far from my house over there.

I went with my folks when I was a young'un but I can't remember anything unfortunately. I'm in plenty of photos from the place though...would like to go again.

I visited Belsen when I was in the forces.Very interesting and sadley upsetting.Will live in my mind forever.RIP to all the poor souls who perished there. :cry:

I went on a school history trip....

 

very quiet, not birds sing there at all even though tere are loads of tree's all over.. rooms filled with glasses and wigs and all manor of personal belonging... was an experiance, one i will never forget... its worht going so you can try to understand what thy went through.... very chilling experiance.....

Well i am back from Krakow and i went to see Auchswitz and disturbing it is.

 

We took a guided tour with an english speaking tour guide who walked us round and explained what the pictures and exhibits showed etc.... My advice for anyone wanting to go see this place is take the guided tour for the wealth of info you will recieve and then IMO it is worth having a wonder round my yourself to give you the extra time for it all to sink in without being rushed. We were'nt rushed per say but certain things you need more time to take in tbh. Its free to view btw - its only the guide that costs - and its worth every penny of the £22 (at the current rate).

 

When you pull in, it appears to be very normal but it is merely a nice front to some horrific stuff. It all seems quite light to start but sooner or later you find something out that you did not know and it will shock you to your very core and then it just seems to get heavier and heavier and really weighs on your heart.

 

I will not go into great detail as its something you need to see/experience for yourself. The thing that most surprised me was the amount of genuine stuff they have that belonged to victims - when you see it its disturbing to think it is merely a fraction of what should be there. And seeing the first exhibit was what got to me and made me realise the gravity of what happened there.

 

The saddest thing for me as we finished the tour, and still now was a thought that occurred to me. The thought was ‘the people that got pulled straight off the train and into the gas chambers to be killed straight away, were infact the lucky ones’ - its so incredibly sad but I firmly believe that is the truth!

 

Also I never did any real research into it as I wanted to go see it all first hand as it were, so I did not know that Auschwitz was infact based on 3 separate sites. The first was an existing military base that had further buildings built upon it. The second (Birkenau) site was purpose built for mass extermination and is 25 times larger than the original site - that fact horrified me as the first is massive - the second your eyes cant see how far it reaches. The third site was made next to the chemical plant that made the stuff for gassing them and they made the victims make it. So the victims made the poison aswell as burning the bodies etc….

 

Anyway like I said I wont go into detail, you really need to see it for yourself - I strongly recommend you do this at some point in your life. Indoor photography is a mega no no I’m afraid - I believe it is out of respect, but it is a shame as I would really of liked some pics of what I saw inside. The pics I took are all of outside and do not show a fraction of what you see really.

 

If you have any questions that I may be able to answer I don’t mind - I’ll try my best etc…..

 

The prisoners entrance.

 

Building after building.....

 

The shotting gallery - where parents watched their children being shot before them. This includes babies in their mothers arms!!!!!

 

Open hanging gallows - for everyone to see people being hung.

 

Commanders shelter when the weather was bad for conducting the roll call - fvck the thousands of people stood in lines for hours!

 

 

Birkenau site - the gate of death! This is where the train entered full of new people to either die or work till they die!

 

Train tracks leading to the platform were they were unloaded.

 

Bunks in which up to 12 people per level of bunk had to sleep with no matress etc.... Also it was mud at the bottom, so the people at the bottom were literally sleeping in mud with rats as big as cats eating them alive and devouring the fresh dead!!

 

 

Open toilets/washrooms - no privacy and no hot water most of the time.

 

 

 

 

I cannot describe the vastness of this site - most of the buildings where destroyed, but you can see the posts were they used to be. Your brain struggles to comprehend the size of what was there!!!

 

 

 

 

Birkenau entrance.

 

 

These are but a few pics i took - but tbh its the inside that is most interesting and the info you find out from your tour guide. These pictures just do not explain or help you understand any of it i'm afraid. You need to see this for yourself!

Great photos and writeup mate! Thanks for sharing. Can you actually wander in any of the other buildings?

 

Reminds me of Schindler's List, for obvious reasons. Probably the only film I've ever shed a tear to.

Yeah you can wander in alot of buildings. The only buildings you can't are just duplicate ones with nothing in them. You can wonder round just about every example of building there is. And that is by far the most interesting bit but alas photography is not allowed, i am not too sure why, i assume it is out of respect but i could be wrong. I did'nt have time to have a wander without the guide, otherwise i would of taken pictures.

 

There is so much to see inside the buildings i can't even begin to describe it. Original photos blown up to fill a wall, tonnes of information that will astound you. And most disturbing of the lot - actual things that belonged to the victims - tonnes of human hair, thousands of shoes, peoples clothes, suitcases etc etc..... And it amazes you at the quantity of it and then you find out it is only less that 1% of what there would of been!

 

It was the exhibit of human hair that stunned me into disbelief - as you walk into the room the stentch hits you and you simply cannot believe that the amount there only accounts for 1% of what there should of been!! Not only that but it was used to make fabric etc.... Which could still be being used/found now - its a very real possibility!

 

In all honesty it took till the last few minutes of the tour for the thought to occur to me that people who were killed immediately were more fortunate than those who were made to work. People where experimented on without pain relief - children literally tortured, young women used as guinea pigs to discover a quick way to sterilise them. People were literally worked to death - they were like walking skeletons.

 

I cannot describe everything i saw and learned - its so much to take it and i can't get it out. It has to be seen first hand!

Edited July 5, 200916 yr by zx-eyes

Also Si in case you are interested, Krakow is a beautiful, vibrant city with loads to do and lots to see. Well worth a trip if only to visit the city itself. :)

 

Isaac :cool: