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Started our journey from Warsaw to Krakow at 8:15 am. We stopped at Czestochowa to view the 'Black Madonna' painting at the Jasna Gora Pauline monastery (a place of pilgrimage). Crazy crowded here as we arrived in the middle of mass.
Next stop was Auschwitz concentration camp, specifically Auschwitz I (the original camp, ex-army barracks) - a very sobering experience. We went through the barracks, learnt about the selection process, roll call, the gas chambers, the starvation cells, the standing cells, the death wall, the public hangings, the medical experiments, and the crematorium. On display were some of the ashes, tonnes of human hair, shoes, pots and pans, suitcases and other belongings of the prisoners. Very sad.
Next stop was Birkenau (Auschwitz II, ex-horse stables). These were wooden barracks, with separate ones for sleeping and washing. Prisoners entered on the railway wagons, those not selected for the labour force were often exterminated immediately. Many died due to lack of sanitation or starvation. There were up to 300 barracks on this site (with up to 1000 crammed in to each one). A very eerie place.
We were then late getting into Krakow due to traffic. Dinner was at the hotel and the waitress ripped everyone off when they ordered drinks. Not happy Jan!
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