April 4th: Krakow - Auschwitz-Birkenau

Julian dictated today’s post after visiting one of the biggest Nazi Germany’s extermination camps in Europe, the only one that is also a UNESCO World Heritage site. It opened in 1940, constructed by appropriating nearby factories and expropriating residents of Oswiecim in Southern Poland.

Originally it was conceived as a detention centre for Polish citizens where teachers, civil servants, priests, artists, politicians and intellectuals and members of the resistance were imprisoned.

Only after Hitler’s Final Solution became official did Auschwitz become the centre of the mass destruction of European Jews as well as the slave labour that became unfit to work and was immediately exterminated. The vast area that is divided into three camps and includes Auschwitz 1 & 2 and Birkenau covers 40 square kilometers.

Gas chambers, crematoriums, the infamous Barrack10 where the SS physicians carried out pseudo medical experiments are part of Auschwitz 1 and Birkenau housed the main area for extermination of Jews with the most gas chambers and crematoriums and also the slave labour camps. Most of the deaths at Auschwitz occurred in Birkenau.

I received a few messages during the day, pictures of the camp and surrounding areas and Julian’s thoughts and feelings as they walked around on their tour.

The bus ride home for them was filled with an eerie silence as they and the other visitors processed what the day had handed to them, as they relived a piece of history.

Through the preservation of the quarters, the piles of discarded shoes, tones of hair behind glass, piles of personal belongings and hundreds upon hundreds of photos of dead Jewish people who suffered an agonizing torturous death, endured suffering at the hands of the SS and lived in inhumane conditions, their perspective on the depravity and possible cruelty of humankind was laid bare.

“Auschwitz. I never ever want to come back here again. The views of the wooden stables, the crematorium chimneys, concrete floor bases and decimated gas chambers and all we saw today, made me feel disgusted and sad.

How could people ever have this level of hatred towards others or want to do this to another race of people because of what they believe or how they look? People should never have to endure anything like this -the torture, the pain. There were children, old people, young people – all suffered the same fate.

I am truly scared of how one man had the power to kill over 8 million people like this.

This place has truly changed my perspective on humankind and the way that things have changed but, in many ways, have stayed the same.” -Julian, 15 years old

My belief has always been that Hitler didn’t have the power – people gave it to him with their silence and complicity.

Life changing experiences for our Crazybikeguys as they cycle across Europe advocating for those who cannot speak for themselves.

Tomorrow a tough day of cycling awaits as temperatures drop again and a 180km ride is on the cards

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So it’s Goodbye to beautiful Krakow. Your energy and vibe has been a highlight of our Polish trip!

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