Tuesday 12th July - Wisla to Krakow
Having been to Poland last month for the rowing, we knew that with Poland’s weather you can expect anything and everything. After arriving in extreme heat, we awoke to a mild rain which by time we hit the road developed into a full scale storm with thunder and lightning. It did take a while to get going after our long drive yesterday and after trying to work out how to pay the campground fees as the office only had Polish notice boards and doesn’t appear to open until 10.00am. We found the restaurant next door kindly took our money and gave us a receipt. The Polish give us receipts for everything, you don’t need to ask, they just produce them, even for an ice cream.
We headed into Wisla township to get some zlotys (cash) and fuel but ended up souvenir shopping, because that is what tourists do in Wisla according to the bus loads of people who are here for something.
Today’s agenda for us is to visit Auschwitz Concentration Camp and the neighbouring Auschwitz II - Birkenau Camp. Even after seeing so many films and documentaries on the camps, and after visiting Dachau, nothing can prepare you for the imagies and thoughts of the atrocities that occurred here 70 odd years ago. Having researched beforehand the touring options of both Concentration Camps we decided the self guided tour was best for us as as we could go at our own pace as a guided tour in English also dictated the time and date which isn’t always flexible enough for us. We arrived at one of the car parks and saw parking charges of 10 zlotys for a campervan, with an option to camp overnight with power, and thought that was a pretty good deal. Unfortunately, when you leave (after being there for some time) the entrance is closed and the cunning guy on the other exit wanted 20 to let us out. After a bit of “no Polish” and discussion about our van size we relented, because we were only talking about a difference of NZ$4 and we did park all day hogging four parks for a tourist attraction that was free to us.
Just like Dachau, Auschwitz is free if you are doing a self guided tour, although I still bought the brochure guide for 5 zloty. However self guided tours can’t be done at Auschwitz until after 3.00pm and then it is only by reservation, which Roger cleverly got us for 3.00pm on the dot. In the meantime, we could catch the free bus to Auschwitz II - Birkenau, which we did. We arrived in the rain, crammed in a bus and warily strolled our way into the camp along the train lines that once brought in excess of a million people, from all around Europe, here. They arrived jammed in train carriages, no light, no food, no idea that they were either going to be abused physically, medically or marched straight, into a gas chamber, to their death. They were stripped of their possessions, their hair, their pride; they lost their families and later their life, all because they did not meet the genetic ideals of one man, Adolf Hitler.
We walked around the very depressing site of Auschwitz II - Birkenau for over two hours. The sun came out after 30 minutes and it became so hot that we had to head back to the motor home to cool down, rest and take some time out from the sights we had seen, before going back to Auschwitz I. Again, we queued to go in with tourists pushing and shoving in the heat, to see the rooms, displays and buildings whereas 70 years ago people were reluctant and unsure what was happening; they were forced to enter the camps.
Although the two camps conjure up more disturbing imagies and thoughts of what went on here, the buildings are more of a memorial/museum to the different nationalities drastically affected by the Holocaust, specifically at Auschwitz. Compared to Dachau, which provided an overall detailed account of the events leading up to Hitler's getting into power; pre, during and post World War II events and the history of all the concentration camps. I’m pleased we went to both Dach & Auschwitz, Anne Frank’s house and Hitler’s Eagles nest to get an overall view of the effects of one demented man and his power to convince the German people that his Nazi Party plans were positive progress for the country.
After such a sombre day we headed off to Krakow where we are parking in a RV workshop's yard, with several others, under the watchful eye of a security guard who speaks no English. The fact that he shouts at everybody to communicate leads me to assume he doesn’t speak Dutch, Italian or German either. It is interesting that most Germans and Austrians know some English, but the Polish know very little, if any. Maybe that is because they were under Russian rule until only recently, relatively speaking.
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Auschwitz l
Aschwitz
Wisla, before the crowds arrived
Wisla, before the shops open