We arrived in Krakow at 5.40am in the morning. From there, we walked to our hostel at Hostel Bling Bling Hostel. After resting for a while, we departed by a bus to the Panstwowe museum of Auschuitz - Birkenau. The bus arrived at 10.15am after a 2 hours 15mins journey.
Visit to the camp is only via guided tour. The tour started at 11am with a show of Auschuitz - Birkenau. This is a large concentration camp used during World War II by the Nazis.
The guided tour starts at 11.30am. We were led into the camp.
In the many houses, there are 7 tonnes of hair, the shoes left by the prisoners and photos of the prisoners.
This chart shows the origin of the prisoners. They were brought from all over Europe to this camp.
The prisoners were categorized into the following types.
After visiting the first camp, we were led to the second one. People were brought here via railway. The death railway.
The prisoners were deceived into believing they were working here as there were chimneys at the top of the buildings. The buildings with the chimneys were actually gas chambers.
They lived in cramp and harsh conditions.
Here are the gas chambers. When they were led into the building, the Nazi officers told them to leave their shoes outside and to remember where they left it as they are coming out. But they are never came out once they went in.
There are plaques in the camp which remember the tragedy of the day. There were no English plaque before the collapse of Communist Russia. This is a newly added plaque.
19th June (Saturday)
The plan for the day is to visit Krakow city centre - Rynek Glowny (Large Plaza). On the way there, we came upon a military procession.
Markets and shops line the street and it is bustling with life.
At the main plaza, there is a large cathedral - Mary's Church. Two boys were playing the violin just next to the church.
The interior of the cathedral.
When we came back out and noticed a procession of people dressed in traditional european garb.
This is Krakow main university, Uniwersytel Jagiellonski. Pope John Paul II studied here.
The palace and museum of Krakow.
Our group photo.
We got back to the square and notice people performing in the main square.
