Wroclaw, Poland

Soo ... as I said ... we went to Wroclaw for the Veterns day break ... We had no idea what we would find when we got there, but were excited for the break. We arrived LATE Thursday night, and stayed in an apartment that we rented for 5 days. It was about 2 blocks from the Rynek (town square), and close to alot of what we would see and do while we were there. Monday was spent at Auschwitz. Tuesday, we drove to Boleslawiec (above) - where they have the "Polish Pottery" ... well ... apparently, November 11th is Polish Independence day (19 years independent from the communists) ... so, most of the stores were closed. But, we had a fabulous lunch, and on the way back to the airport found an old monestary that we wandered around ... (below, two pictures)

On Sunday, we visited the University. It had some neat rooms in it... (2 pictures below)

On Saturday, we found a botanical garden. We had a nice walk through there, and even found another gnome. (above 1 picture, below 2 pictures)

We found these random statues on a street corner .... they looked so cool, like they are walking down into the sidewalk - and on the other side of the street, there are more walking up from the side walk ....

We discovered that Wroclaw is famous for its bronz gnomes that can be found throughout the city ... We spent much of Friday evening gnome searching, and managed to find several others on Saturday and Sunday as well ...

(above) this is papa gnome, and papa Shirley ...

We spent Friday going to the Wroclaw National Museum (below), and the Panarama museum (above). I had never heard of a panaramic museum - but apparently there are several throughout Europe. It is a round building with a HUGE painting inside -- in a circle ... a panarama. The painting itself was cool enough, but there is 3-D landscape leading up to the edge of the painting. So, you can't tell where the scenery ends and the painting begins - and it's all in a circle around you ... VERY cool ... one of my favorite things from the trip.

education continued ...

So, I learned that Auschwitz was a "small" camp ... It is the first camp that they began exterminating people. The first trial of poisonous gas was used in the basement of one of the buildings we walked through. Auschwitz is also the only camp that used tattoos to number the prisoners (another new thing I learned - I thought all the camps did that)... But, Auschwitz was too small to accomendate the mass extermination that the Nazis wanted to accomplish... So, just down the street (about 3 Kilometers), Birkeneau was built ... This is the "gate of death" at Birkeneau. The trains came through the gate. Further up the tracks was the "sorting platform". Here prisoners were selected for immediate extermination, or sent to a barrack (to await extermination later).

This is the view from the platform, looking back at the gate ...

Where Auschwitz was overwhelming and depressing enough ... When you get to Birkeneau, you see the enormity of it all ... Rows, and rows of barracks, foundations of old barracks, and foundations of warehouses that stored the sorted possessions confiscated from the prisoners.

This is one of 4 (or 5?) cremetoriums that the Nazis destroyed and dynamited at the end of the war, to hide their crimes ... (below) .... They are currently working on reconstructing the cremetorium for historical reference. A rabbi is overseeing and blessing the grounds, because of the human remains present ....

The cremetoriums were all set back and hidden in the trees. You couldn't see them from the main gate - not even up in the guard tower on top. Often the prisoners were led from the train platform to the cremetorium. They would stand in groups among the trees, waiting for their turn for the "shower". There are photographs among the trees near the cremetoriums of the families waiting among the trees ... near by is a pond that has human ashes from the cremetoriums ...

A view (above) into one of the many barracks ... Rows of bunks, three high ... (below) - a veiw through the barbed wire of the rows of some of the barracks knocked down. The smoke stacks are the one firplace in each Huge barrack to give heat to the thousands that slept in each barrack.

(Below) - a view at sunset from the gaurd tower on top of the "gate of death" ... rows of empty foundations from the barracks ... Birkeneau was HUGE ... incredible that there are still those who deny that it ever happened ...

Real World Education ...

We decided to take a trip over the Veterns day holiday. The kids had the previous Friday off for parent conferences, and the next Tuesday (so, they missed school on Monday). We checked Ryan Air to see what was available, and Wroclaw, Poland was cheap, so that's where we went. I'm starting out of order of our trip because I don't want these pictures to be the first ones I see when I open my blog ... We rented a car Sunday night, and drove to Auschwitz on Monday morning (about 2 hours away). I don't think our time in Germany would be complete without a trip to a concentration camp, but wow ... what an experience ... This is a veiw on our way out of the camp. ..

One of (many) disturbing things was the layout of the buildings ... It reminded me of visiting colonial museums in the states. But, instead of seeing the charming way the first settlers of America lived and cooked, they were full of gruesom evidence of the horrible crimes committed here. One building had some of the hair cut off the prisoners, to be sold in 10 kilo bags - used to make cloth. Another had a display of a mountain of luggage, eye glasses, combs, brushes, toothbrushes, clothes, etc. Shelby was visiable shook by it all. Devin had studied it last year, so he was more prepared, but still impressed (not in a good way). Spencer couldn't grasp it all... He understood that the Nazi's took all the possessions of the people, kept them in the camp, and killed many of them. But, that information is disturbing enough, then to have to realize that it was people of all ages ... He saw one display of childrens and infant clothes and asked me why "the people" (Nazis) would want baby clothes. I told him that everyone had their things taken from them, even the children. He turned and said, "you can't bring your children here!" I think that is when it sunk in a little more for him - he pretty much stopped reading signs and looking at the photos after that.

One of the gaurd gates surrounding the grounds ...

"Work sets you free" sign as you enter the camp ...