May Day in Poland

Mi scusi!
Park in Krakow

Main plaza of Krakow Old Town
MAY DAY!!!!!!!!!!!
Fences at Auschwitz I camp double fencd and electrified (three camps total)

Auschwitz Birkenau (second camp)

Railway Entrance to Auschwitz Birkenau Camp
(large camp where 3 largest gas champers were and most of the killing happened)

Entance to Auschwitz I Camp "Work Brings Freedom" (part of the Nazi deception tool)

Happy May Day Everyone!

Have no fear, the end is not coming and we are not proverbially "going down! Mayday, Mayday!" Here in Poland the 1st of May is a day to celebrate Spring and the end of the frigid Polish winter, May Day!

We spent a few days in Krakow, Poland. The city streets were hung with flags and masses of people strolled the streets enjoying the beautiful weather for the holiday weekend. Our hostel was located in Old Town so we were not to far from the action. We wandered through the streets, mainly in search of Pierogies, and would come across open plazas where outdoor concerts had been set up. So we would sit and enjoy the orchestra playing or an opera singer belting out some Polish tunes all the while basking under the warm sun and surrounded by a quaint medieval surrounding of tall churches with high steeples and horse drawn carriages.

In spite of the good times, the music and Pierogies will not be what we remember most from Poland. Our main purpose of going to Krakow was to see the Concentration Camp at Auschwitz. It was an experience that is really difficult to explain to anyone who has not been there. We took a guided tour of the place and heard so many stories of the awful things that happened there. Our guide was very informed and when I asked him why he chooses to do such a job he confided in me that his great grandfather was imprisoned there and that it is their family duty and privilege to get to inform people of what truly happened.

It was such an emotional place. The mood of the fellow tourists so somber and quiet. Most people walking with a look of utter disgust and shame at how negative humans can be. Many people walked with tears in their eyes as they walked past the heaps of shoes, glasses, human hair, luggage, pictures and kids toys all pilled so high that each one fills an entire room and our guide told us that this was all less that 3% of the total. Again, words cannot explain what we experienced and it is something we should all see and learn from. We did not take to many pictures here, mostly out of respect but also out of a lack of desire to see the sights again. It is also forbidden to take any pictures of the gas chambers, crematoriums, or inside any of the buildings. Over 1,000,000 people were killed at Auschwitz, including 200,000 children, the largest of all the camps. It really is the black eye of the human civilization.

All in all we are very glad we saw the camp and overall had a great time in Krakow, it really is a beautiful city with a rich history. We are now in Prague and eager to explore the city that has been recommended to us by every traveler we have encountered!