Oswiecim - Auschwitz

There's not much that I want to say on this. Being there is enough and the history is known. What got me the most was home normal Auschwitz I looked. The blocks were red brick and looked nicer than many of the current blocks seen in Warsaw of Krakow (from the communist era). Even the crematorium, built underground and covered with grass, from the outside, looked like a perfect place to have a picnic. The only "minor" details were the barbed wire fencing and the horrendous crimes that took place there. But other than a few pictures, and Block 11, evidence of those crimes almost seemed to have disappeared.



Auschwitz II - Berkinau, was more haunting. Here was the infamous rail line and the massive crematoriums. Only a few barracks remain, most had burned down leaving only the heating chimneys, hah, standing. You can feel the despair in the expanse of the place, with the rows and watch towers, the trees hanging back at the very edges hidden in fog. Auschwitz I was paradise in comparison.

Even the birds don't sing.