Majdanek Wolfschanze Auschwitz & Birkenau -

Majdanek Wolfschanze Auschwitz & Birkenau

Poland, we knew there was going to be a lot of education for Miss B and I on war, concentration camps and history. Not favourite topics by any stretch, what humans are prepared to do to other humans will always astound me. We are fortunate to have Brett who has been great at helping us try and make sense (?) understand (?) follow the events that transpired all those years ago.

In learning more about their history it helps you understand the more reserved, hard exterior you are often met with.

Polands roads are less than satisfactory, their driving worse. One of the least English speaking countries we have been to, which is fine, that’s travelling!

This weeks youtube weekly wrap which shares a lot more photos and videos of our roadtrip can be seen by clicking here.

August 7

A quick stop off at an Antiques shed saw a beautiful old high chair I just had to share with you!

They know how to charge and even at local markets where anything brass or brown for that matter is classified old and rare and therefore antique and priced accordingly.

Spotted full sun flower heads in a supermarket which was a pretty unique way to buy sunflower seeds.

Wolfschanze or Wolf’s Lair

We made our way to Wilczy Szaniec, Wolfschanze or the Wolf’s Lair. This was Hitlers Headquarters where he spent a lot of time during the war. Before World War 1 the forest of Gorlitz was used as a recreation area.

The construction of Wolfschanze begun in Autumn of 1940 and continued to 20 November 1944 when headquarters were moved to Bad Neuheim. The headquarters of Wolfschanze covered 2.5 square kilometres in the forest of 8 square kilometres.

Walking through the forest amongst these huge concrete structures with up to 8m thick walls or ceilings it is hard to believe what was planned from this location. On the 20th July 1944 an attempt was made to assassinate Hitler by Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg who arrived here with a bomb activated by a chemical fuse, the bomb exploded killing four others but not Hitler.

The bunker this took place in was extraordinary, the actual room of the meeting was 2m high, underneath 7.10m of concrete!! (Obviously they were not claustrophobic!)

Even though Colonel von Stauffenberg made it out, flew back to Germany, he of course was assassinated about midnight.

The size of these bunkers and walls within them, the many steel reinforcement rods sticking out made it very clear when trying to explain to Miss B how strong, or how much protection was required in the event of a bomb raid.

Along the route there is an air vent camouflaged so well I had to take a photo for you.

On the 25 January 1945 the complex was blown up and abandoned 48hrs before the arrival of the Soviet forces.

August 8

Driving into Warsaw, we parked not far from the city centre, Brett had already set up the days sites on maps.me app and off we went. The first stop was to visit the Citadel Museum, unfortunately it closed on 4 July until further notice. We did see the cobblestone path which was the execution path along which prisoners were taken to the execution site on the slopes of the Citadel.

Walked into the city, beautiful Department of Special Collections of the National Library building and gardens surrounding.

Lots of construction going on everywhere.

Found our way to the old town, visited an amazing antiques store, noted on trip advisor so everyone else was there too and prices to match.

Was nice to bump into an Australian couple and have a chat there. Icecream, refill water bottles in main square and back to Betsy!

August 9

First visit – The State Museum at Majdanek established in 1944 on the grounds of the former German concentration camp Konzentrationslager Lublin operating 1941 – 1944.

Free entry unless you want a guide which are at specific times. You can walk around the grounds, go inside various buildings, numerous information boards. Enter the museum exhibition free which was a must do. Stories of men and women who survived are incredible, incredibly sad but powerful. Camp conditions, the lies they were told, the suffering, the roll calls. The separation of families it can not possibly, not affect you.

Cages of shoes from all the occupants of the concentration camp is powerful in its own right.

Roll Call

The stories of standing at roll call, for two hours, in one old mans shoe and one stiletto if that is what you were given on arrival. Shower time, naked groups marched to the showers to have freezing water, then boiling water then freezing water again poured in gushes then your done.

We walked around the entire grounds and made our way back to Betsy, all processing what we had seen differently I suspect. History is important but in most cases it can be pretty brutal.

Continuing on with what I am now declaring War week, we drove out to Sobibor train station.

At this station during the period 1942 -1943 tens of thousands of people arrived at this station bound for gas chambers of the Sobibor extermination camp. The museum has been closed while they build a new one, which we found out when we got there.

No one at the site spoke English so we could not get any further information at that time.

We headed off towards another camp, Belzec, which we knew would be closed for the night but we stayed there and waited till morning.

August 10

Brett went into Belzec, Miss B did some school work and I caught up on some work. We now set off towards Auschwitz, a long drive and a camp site already pegged within walking distance of the Auschwitz Memorial & Museum.

On arrival the reception advised us that as the next day was a Saturday we would have to be very lucky to get tickets to get in (even lining up from 7:30am). So, we decided we would walk down and enquire if we could buy tickets for the next day. No you can’t. But, as it was after 4pm we could get a free ticket in for 5:20pm (it is open till 10pm) so we waited and went in.

Auschwitz

The museum and memorial opened in 1947. Auschwitz I was 49 acres and Aschwitz II was

423 acres. It is the largest extermination centre and the only camp to be preserved in such original condition.

There is a LOT to take in, firstly, how large scale this was. How could any human being think that this was acceptable? How did it go on for so long?

We did a separate blog post and youtube video on Auschwitz due to the intensity and history involved with our visits. Click the links noted here to view.

You enter under the sign Arbeit Macht Frei – ‘Work will set you free’ the gates where thousands of prisoners walked through every day.

The next few hours are spent entrenched in history in a time, we are most fortunate to have not been part of, but your heart aches for those that were.

It is the small things (?) 1,950kg of hair had been cut off and woven into hair cloth or sold to German companies who used it in production of textiles and felt.

The suitcase, spectacles and shoes, mountains of shoes belonging to those that were sent to the gas chambers.

I am fortunate to have visited with Brett who has a large understanding of what happened. He could explain to Miss B and I in simple terms when we had questions. We were very proud of Miss B’s maturity with the information she was confronted with on top of our previous days discussions from the previous sites visited.

It is important to have an understanding of history, especially as a world traveller, as parents it is our job to provide the education or information and discuss at a level suitable for our children.

It certainly got you thinking.

August 11

Sleep in with rain on the roof of the van. It was just what we needed. Late checkout of 5pm to allow for all visitors to Auschwitz to be back. We walked down to Auschwitz I which from 10am you can catch a FREE shuttle. The shuttle leaves every ten minutes to Auschwitz II, Birkenau Memorial. This is only a 3.5km walk but as it was raining on and off we happily took the shuttle.

I was very glad to split these two visits over two days giving me time to process what I had seen and read from yesterday.

The size of this camp on arrival through the gates is the first thing that hit me. Birkenau was 423 acres! It was the largest centre for the extermination of Jews.

This is included in the separate blog post and youtube video on our visit to Birkenau as it was quite comprehensive. Such an emotional day.

Wooden Barracks

The wooden barracks designed to house 400, the brick barracks which housed 700, the forest where they would sometimes be left waiting, for their turn in the gas chambers.

The main camp bath house – the “Sauna”which from 1943 served as the reception and registration of new arrivals by the SS. This is where their personal effects were confiscated, hair cut off, clothes taken and disinfected, bathed, given camp numbers and uniforms. This is where they were deprived of their individuality and transformed into numbers, an attempt at dehumanization. We walked this path while there and take you on the journey in our youtube video.

The most emotional moment of my visit was when at the end of that walk there is a collection of private photographs, found after liberation in a room. The faces, the stories, the ages of some of the people, you can not, not be affected.

After collecting Betsy we headed for Krakow.

Arriving late we stopped in our wild camp, parking area. Had a few drinks, a lovely port, made the bed and lay talking and singing for hours. Miss B rates it THE BEST night ever. It is the simple things!

August 12

A little bit lighter tone today on waking to a noise outside, it became apparent we were

going to be part of a market setting up!! A quick settle down of inside the van. We took off to our parking area for the day and back to sleep for a couple of hours! All part of wild camping LOL! Always have another co-ordinate punched into GPS in case a relocation is needed!

Excited to explore Krakow, what a BEAUTIFUL city and my favourite in Poland. Architecture, history, cobblestone streets, markets and local food. We walked around for a few hours at least, lapping up the atmosphere of a weekend crowd. There were tourist markets and local markets. We fund ourselves a lovely Christmas decoration. Eventually when we settle and put up our beautiful tree again it will be spectacular!

Local Food

Local food cooked on grill plate in the markets! Yum!! We love trying new foods and this is a polish cheese dish. Cheese, cooked on the grill, one piece wrapped in bacon and served with cranberry sauce. So Yum! Reminded me of fried camembert with cranberry sauce and a great party night many years ago with my bestie!

We visited Schindlers factory. Only outside, but this allowed for a more uplifting story to share with Miss B on humanity and the war, which was great.

We have finished reading The horse and his Boy from the Chronicles of Narnia. Now we started The Magicians nephew. After this weeks exploring, I have now added the Diary of Anne Frank to our reading list. As a way to revisit what we have learnt over this last intense week.

Leaving Krakow we set off to Wroclaw arriving late, cooked dinner and went to bed.

August 13

Off exploring Wroclaw today, we read all about it last night and excited to find some

Gnomes! LOL Not what you would be expecting to hear me say

but yes, GNOMES! A great tourism idea has seen 212 brass Gnomes scattered around the city in various poses.

They are fantastic and we saw heaps of people looking for them. You can buy a map for 8PLN or just keep your eyes open and enjoy finding them dotted about the city.

Wroclaw is beautiful too, really enjoyed this city. The town hall is amazing!

Battle of Raclawice

Visiting the Panorama of the Battle of Raclawice, the painting is the oldest in Poland. The Panorama stands in a circular tower and you climb the inside to a viewing platform. There is an audio guide for languages other than Polish.

The painting was completed in 9 months and amazing. You walk around the Rotunda and can view the battle from many angles. A full 360 is shown in youtube video.

It used to be housed in Stryjski Park in Lviv. After World War II the painting was brought to Wroclaw but as it was considered politically sensitive and was stored until 1985.

Your entry ticket also provides the holder entry into National Museum in Wroclaw. Also, the Ethnographic Museum until the end of the year. Also, the Four Domes Pavilion within 7 days of your visit.

We then went to a campground in Germany. It had goats, donkey, small pony, a very friendly black cat and great playground for the kids. A chance to also catch up on washing!

Until next week!…

What did we take

If you are interested in what we took, electronics, kitchen and all things we needed for the duration of our roadtrip click here. (we are slowly adding each week as we have data/time)

Having done a three and half month roadtrip last year in South Europe we were pretty confident in what we would need’this time. Also, what worked and what we would not bother taking again.

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