Wawel castle
Pope's former residence
a small music performance
a beautiful distraction for us from the sad history of Poland
this is Plaszow Concentration Camp site where Polish and Jews were imprisoned
a photo of Schindler 1908-1974"whoever saves one life, saves the world entire."
Schindler's factory 1939-1944 - Schindler, a German trader who saved many Jews' lives by keeping them to work in this factory. in the beginning, his motive of hiring the Jews workers was to make use of the cheap labors offered by the Nazis but as time went by, he went all out to bribe some high officials to stay away from his workers. there was one occasion when he tried to save the Jews from being sent to the gas chambers by making a call to the Nazis saying that his factory needs a few hundred more workers but somehow a few women were mistakenly sent to the gas chambers in Auschwitz.
this Polish, who led us to the wall, was very emotional when he relate to us the sad history and the misdeeds of the Nazis.
here stands the remnants of the wall of the Krakow ghetto from 1941 to 1943. during the genoicide, the jews were deported to this place and they lived in the ghetto behind this restored wall. the ghetto can no longer be seen now.
before the end of war was near, the SS removed the evidence of the atrocities committed here. they dismantled the gas chambers, crematoria, and other buildings, burned documents and evacuated all the prisoners who could walk to the interior of Germany. those who were not evacuated were liberated by the Red Army on january 27, 1945.
bunk beds in Birkenau
the isolation barrack
the railway siding and unloading platform constructed in Auschwitz II-Birkenau in May 1944.
the Jews deported here were mainly from Hungary. Polish Jews were also brought here when the SS liquidated the ghettos the Germans had established in Poland. the SS doctors carried out selections to identify Jews fit for slave labour. most of the jews were considered unfit and sent immediately to their deaths in the gas chambers shortly after arriving here.
Auschwitz II-Birkenau - the mass majority of Jews (men, women and children) who were deported to Auschwitz were sent immediately upon arrival to death in the gas chamber here.
Schindler's factory 1939-1944 - Schindler, a German trader who saved many Jews' lives by keeping them to work in this factory. in the beginning, his motive of hiring the Jews workers was to make use of the cheap labors offered by the Nazis but as time went by, he went all out to bribe some high officials to stay away from his workers. there was one occasion when he tried to save the Jews from being sent to the gas chambers by making a call to the Nazis saying that his factory needs a few hundred more workers but somehow a few women were mistakenly sent to the gas chambers in Auschwitz.there was a famous movie made about him called "Schindler's List".
this Polish, who led us to the wall, was very emotional when he relate to us the sad history and the misdeeds of the Nazis.
here stands the remnants of the wall of the Krakow ghetto from 1941 to 1943. during the genoicide, the jews were deported to this place and they lived in the ghetto behind this restored wall. the ghetto can no longer be seen now.
before the end of war was near, the SS removed the evidence of the atrocities committed here. they dismantled the gas chambers, crematoria, and other buildings, burned documents and evacuated all the prisoners who could walk to the interior of Germany. those who were not evacuated were liberated by the Red Army on january 27, 1945.
bunk beds in Birkenau
the isolation barrack
the railway siding and unloading platform constructed in Auschwitz II-Birkenau in May 1944.the Jews deported here were mainly from Hungary. Polish Jews were also brought here when the SS liquidated the ghettos the Germans had established in Poland. the SS doctors carried out selections to identify Jews fit for slave labour. most of the jews were considered unfit and sent immediately to their deaths in the gas chambers shortly after arriving here.
Auschwitz II-Birkenau - the mass majority of Jews (men, women and children) who were deported to Auschwitz were sent immediately upon arrival to death in the gas chamber here. the Jews were deceived that they will be taking a shower together to clean up themselves. that was when they all stripped naked of their clothes and possessions before entering the gas chamber which had a fake shower head on the ceiling.
very secured fence as they were all powered with electricity. some prisoners could not stand the daily torture and they committed suicide by jumping onto these fence.
hair brushes left behind by the victims... the german forces recycled everything at that time... there were other large showcases of cut hair, suitcases and clothes left behind by the dead. no photographing allowed so we only get to take 2 silent shots...
millions of shoes were left behind by those who were murdered or sent to the gas chambers. one can easily see many tiny children shoes amongst them.
beds - about 4 to 5 people were sleeping in each section. it was possible because they were all very skinny due to regular lack of food.
when 1 turns his sleeping position, the rest have to turn together.
the execution wall (next to block 11) - prisoners were shot to death here.
see the figures of terror
don't go beyond this marker... otherwise, face death
one of the cruel punishment carried out here was that the prisoners were told to remove their clothes and shoes while standing in the snow. they were either freezed to death or suffered frost bites on their legs.
the german forces occupied poland during the 2nd world war established a concentration camp on the outskirts of the town of Oswiecim. in 1940, the germans called the town Auschwitz and that is the name by the camp was known. over the next years, it was expanded into 3 main camps: Auschwitz I, Auschwitz II-Birkenau, and Auschwitz III-Monowitz and more than 40 subcamps. the first people to be brought here as prisoners and murdered were Poles, followed by Soviet prisoners of war, Gypsies and deportees of many other nationalities. beginning in 1942, Auschwitz became the settling for the most massive murder campaign in history, when the nazis destroy the entire jewish population of europe. in the course of this operation, 1 to 1.5 million people were murdered in these death factories.
pigeon hole
the 16th century Renaissance Cloth Hall housing a large souvenir market
Rynek Glowny - the main market square
very secured fence as they were all powered with electricity. some prisoners could not stand the daily torture and they committed suicide by jumping onto these fence.
hang to death
hair brushes left behind by the victims... the german forces recycled everything at that time... there were other large showcases of cut hair, suitcases and clothes left behind by the dead. no photographing allowed so we only get to take 2 silent shots...
millions of shoes were left behind by those who were murdered or sent to the gas chambers. one can easily see many tiny children shoes amongst them.
beds - about 4 to 5 people were sleeping in each section. it was possible because they were all very skinny due to regular lack of food.when 1 turns his sleeping position, the rest have to turn together.
the execution wall (next to block 11) - prisoners were shot to death here.those who were sent to block 11 (aka the death block) were either used as medical experiment or murdered.
see the figures of terrorDuring the occupation, Hitler passed down a memo to all the schools which dictated that "children only has to learn how to write their name and the counting from 1 to 500. i don't think that learning how to read is necessary."
don't go beyond this marker... otherwise, face death
one of the cruel punishment carried out here was that the prisoners were told to remove their clothes and shoes while standing in the snow. they were either freezed to death or suffered frost bites on their legs.
the german forces occupied poland during the 2nd world war established a concentration camp on the outskirts of the town of Oswiecim. in 1940, the germans called the town Auschwitz and that is the name by the camp was known. over the next years, it was expanded into 3 main camps: Auschwitz I, Auschwitz II-Birkenau, and Auschwitz III-Monowitz and more than 40 subcamps. the first people to be brought here as prisoners and murdered were Poles, followed by Soviet prisoners of war, Gypsies and deportees of many other nationalities. beginning in 1942, Auschwitz became the settling for the most massive murder campaign in history, when the nazis destroy the entire jewish population of europe. in the course of this operation, 1 to 1.5 million people were murdered in these death factories.
pigeon hole
the 16th century Renaissance Cloth Hall housing a large souvenir market
Rynek Glowny - the main market square
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