A Week In Poland

In late April, I had the opportunity to travel with a group of 25 students to Poland (half were German high school students and the other half were international students studying abroad, so we all just spoke German during the week in Poland). I spent a night in Hamburg, Germany while we did the orientation for the trip. I stayed with a German family and got to see a bit around the city.

Hamburg City Hall - In the center of Hamburg, which is the second largest city in Germany

Port of Hamburg

After staying in Hamburg, we all drove to Oświęcim (Auschwitz), Poland. We stayed at a youth hostel for five nights that was only a few minutes away from the Auschwitz I Concentration Camp by foot. The first day was spent touring the city and seeing the Jewish Synagogue in the city. Despite being infamous for what happened during the Holocaust, the city has a fairly large population of 40,000 that currently live a normal life within the city. The actual concentration camps are pretty close to the center of the city, so many people drive past it while on their way to the store or to work.

Memorial in front of the Jewish Synagogue

Within the Synagogue - Half of it is a museum, while the other half is still a used room for prayer

Within the city of Auschwitz

In the main square - Information panels can be seen which tell about the history of the city before, during, and after WWII

The next day was entirely spent at the first of the two concentration camps within the city - Auschwitz I.

[The difference between Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II Birkenau is that the first one has been preserved as a museum. The buildings have certain exhibits within them and have been changed to being more of a modern museum. Auschwitz II Birkenau is in the same condition as the SS left in when the concentration camp was liberated.]

The gate to Auschwitz I - “Work will make you free”

The buildings are numbered blocks to which prisoners of the camp were assigned to live in

Block 15 - Within is an exhibit that focuses on the prisoners from Poland

Chemical containers within one of the blocks that contains the evidence of crimes

The most emotionally impactful sight for me, personally, was seeing the exhibit with all of the personal possessions of the victims of Auschwitz. There are entire rooms that are full of shoes, briefcases, glasses, artificial limbs, etc. One extremely large room is full of the hair that was shaved from tens of thousands of women. The hair had been found after the liberation of the camp in large bags. The SS sold the hair of victims to various companies to be used in textiles.

Shoes of the victims of Auschwitz

In front of one of the guard towers

Day three was spent at Auschwitz II Birkenau, where the majority of the prisoners arrived. The majority were selected for the gas chambers upon arrival, being deemed unfit to work. Others were selected by Dr. Mengele for human experiments and were brought to a separate area of the camp.

The main gate where the trains would arrive with the prisoners

From the central guard tower only a small part of the concentration camp is visible. Eerie sight to see all of the smokestacks still standing. Many of the building were burned during the liberation of the camp, so the bricks are all that are still visible.

The remains of one of the four gas chambers

Area of planned expansion for an Auschwitz III concentration camp

On the end of each row of buildings was a bathroom - no privacy was available with the toilets which were concrete slabs with holes carved closely together

I spent my final day speaking to a survivor of the Holocaust and hearing his story about surviving Auschwitz, and how it has affected his life in the seventy years since the liberation of the concentration camps. I also spent some more time at Auschwitz I with a German tour guide and had workshops about the children of Auschwitz and the medical experiments performed in the concentration camps.

My last day in Germany was then spent in Kraków, Poland. It was mostly spent sightseeing and learning about the Jewish quarter of the city.

The main square of the city - was a rainy day but there was a market later in the day

About fifteen countries all together!

Wawel Castle

Had to try a fresh pączki at a Polish bakery!

Overall, it was amazing to have the opportunity to be able to visit Poland and specifically see and learn about the Auschwitz concentration camp which is the symbol of the Holocaust. It’s one thing to learn about World War II and the Holocaust in school, but it’s an entirely different experience to see the place where it actually happened and talk to historians from the time period. It’s been seventy years since the liberation, but more important than ever to remember what happened so that we don’t repeat what happened in the future.

As for Poland itself, it was amazing to experience the culture of a country that people seem to know so little about. Personally, I didn't know anything about Poland before hearing about the opportunity that I had to visit. I never would have imagined a year ago that I would ever visit Poland during my lifetime, but I'm so glad that I did. I would love to revisit the country and see the capital when I eventually return to Europe again someday!