Day 8

Spending the night in Krakow finest hostel is really quite fun. First we left this morning at 2:10 AM for Krakow. When we arrived, it started to rain and it continued to rain for our mournful viewing of Auschwitz and Birkenau. It was actually quite fitting. The somber day leaves me feeling the same. I will now attempt to reflect.

The museum had pictures in many of the blockhouses. There were displays of bundles of glasses, pots & pans, brushes, clothes and shoes. A striking fact was the 7 tons of human hair which was stained brown and white by the Zyklon B gas. This was startling to see, but the two most disturbing facts were when I read some of the names on the suitcases. Before that, I had not let the hair, pots or any other artifacts affect me, but when I read the their names, it was too real. It made it personal. It not only put a name with a face, but a history with an individual. Each display represented a life which was destroyed by a fanatic leading a glory blinded country. All perished. Now we must remember so that their death will not be in vain.

When visiting Birkenau, I looked at the blockhouses, but did not go see the cremetoriams II - IV or the monument which I intended to see. I will go back later to see them and pay my lasting respects to those who died of no crime.