Friday, 20 February 2009

Auschwitz - Our Polish trip....

The outside of crematoria 1
The door that leads inside.........out of respect for the dead you cant take any pictures inside this terrible building, but the atmosphere inside is one of the strangest ive ever felt, and as you look through and see the 2 ovens in the next room leaves an unimaginble impression on you.
An ss watchtower

The barbedwire fencing prisoners used to have to walk between on their way to work or the gas chambers..


Me and Hannah have talked about going to poland ever since we first met....mainly to go and visit Auschwitz, but also to go and have a look around Krakow as well.
Like so many Ive read an awful lot on the subject before I went there, But even with the masses of crowds that are attracted to this terrible place, nothing can quite prepere you for the sight of mountains of hair, glasses, shoes and false limbs piled up behind glass cabinets.
We went on a snowy febuary sunday, possibly one of the worst days to go weather wise, but a perfect chance to experience what a hell it must have been to have been impriosoned there in the depths of winter.

1 comment:

Jessica Martiele said...

Why are we as human beings so fascinatd by this horrible time in our history? I too have been interested in visiting such places, though I've never had the opportunity. Perhaps it reminds us that we must be ever-vigilant. Perhaps it makes us feel better about ourselves "knowing" we could never do such things. Or maybe it's that we want to feel more connected to the rest of humanity by somehow sharing in its suffering. I don't know. Either way, though, I appreciate your photos...again, I'm able to live vicariously through you, and I confess, as you described the shoes and whatnot, the bile rose in my throat and suddenly I felt like I'd been there with you.

LOVE your blog, have I mentioned that?