Experiencing Auschwitz

The extreme heat settled one question for us - we took a hired car with AC instead of the train or bus.

George, our driver has lived in Krakow all his life and he saw first hand the destruction at Auschwitz. His parents took him to the camp when it was first liberated [he was eight] and he has vivid memories of the chaos, especially in the barracks.

I think the most noticeable thing about Auschwitz was the eerie silence - even the tour guides spoke in subdued voices. Some areas asked for complete silence.

In Birkenau, we walked the tracks where the hundreds of thousands of Jews were brought to the death camp. We also walked the road to the gas chambers where they led the Jewish people to their death. George told us 1.1 million people were put to death at this camp and the Auschwitz camp.

We saw huge displays of women's hair, children's shoes, hair brushes and eyeglasses, all taken from the Jewish prisoners.

Pictures are not allowed in many areas so our memories will have to suffice. Taking pictures of some of the displays somehow seemed wrong!

It was an exhausting day, partially due to the heat and partially due to the emotional impact it had on all the visitors.