Krakow, Poland

Krakow is known as the "next Prague" with many medieval style churches and buildings. It was a beautiful city and I had a great time with a group of travelers I met at my hostel in Wroslaw. Since we were traveling to Krakow on the same day they invited me along with their group so I bought a train ticket for the same time and a booked myself a bed at the same hostel they were staying at.

This was a lot of fun as they were a very diverse group of 8 friends coming from Spain, Scotland and Poland. They defiantly knew how to have a good time. It was also very nice having someone in the group from Poland as he was our tour guide and translator. Everyone was so much fun, it was very exciting hanging out with them, especially because I have traveled by myself for most the trip. We explored the city and some great pubs and restaurants together and pretty much had the hostel to ourselves as there was only a couple of other travelers booked there as well.

We took a day trip to Auschwitz which is the largest concentration camp from the Nazis during WWII. It was very intense and emotional for me especially having German heritage but I am so glad I went. I learned a lot about the devastation and impact the Nazis had on the Jews as well as other countries and cultures throughout Europe. I left very upset not only about what I saw but also very mad about the deficient education system of America. When we are taught about the war we are told it from an American perspective about the United States role against Germany and the devastation against the Jews in a general sense but it mainly focuses only on Pearl Harbor. I felt so ignorant not knowing the wide spread devastation the war had on all the countries in Europe, about what exactly happened to the prisoners at the camps, quotes from Hitler and other political figures or the protests against the Nazis.

When I was taught about the war it only emphasized the Nazis being against the Jewish race but they were also against the Polish, Hungarians, Czechs, Romanians and so on. It was an eye opener for me and I learned more than I could have imagined. I was very sick to my stomach seeing the camp where millions died a brutal death from gas chambers, disease, starvation, hard labor, torture, gun fire and overall inhumane treatment. It becomes very overwhelming and real seeing everything in front of you rather than reading about it and looking at pictures from a book. Not only did I see the prisons, unsanitary living conditions, crematories and gas chambers but I also saw displays of millions of shoes piled in mountains, thousands of glasses, brushes, combs and suite cases which belonged to the prisoners. There were also piles of hair that were cut from the women which were used to create textile and sold. I also saw pictures of many of the prisoners who were so full of anger, sadness and some even had a glimmer of hope in there eyes. As I looked at the faces of men, women and children each one had a story, family and friends. Each had a life which they were deprived of and I felt so empty and sad.

What got me the most was seeing the pictures of the women and children who had brutal medical experiments conducted on them and to hear about how the doctors performed sterilization treatments on the women.

I just cannot imagine how anyone could have the mentality to inflict the kind of harm that these prisoners went through. How any one could think their race was superior to all and any one not of their race should be brutally annihilated. I just do not understand it.

I wish I was traveling for another couple of weeks so I could stay in Poland longer and I am very sad my trip is coming to an end so fast. I would have loved to explore the capital and some of the other cities in Poland but with less than a week left I took a night train to Germany to explore the west part of the country before catching my plane home from Frankfurt.