Adventures for Anyone: Remember, Jenn asked for this...Auschwitz

At Jenn's behest, I'm discussing a very solemn place today. I've been there. I know what I'm talking about.

I chose now to delve into this one, because Liberation Day is coming on January 27th. It will be 77 years since this place was liberated. Auschwitz was the biggest, most notorious, death camp in Nazi History. The entire place has been preserved so that no one ever forgets what happened in WWII. I've heard ridiculous claims that the Holocaust never happened from uneducated neanderthals throughout my lifetime, and all I can say is that apparently ignorance is bliss.

Work shall make you free. What a thing to put on a sign at the entrance of the place you will die. There are a list of movies and documentaries in the links where you can learn more about the details of life in this horrifying camp. This is an educational voyage, folks. If you leave here with a smile on your face, you didn't get it.

From homes to ghettos to camps, to gas chambers; the Jewish folks were herded like cattle and treated worse. Women were raped, people were tortured, experiments were done on them and they were worked to death or gassed. Fortunately, this place is there as a reminder, and hopefully, no one will ever have such thoughts again.

My recommendation for visiting Auschwitz is simple. I believe that every person in the world should visit this place once. Not for a quick walk. Watch the movie in the educational center. Talk to people who volunteer and work there that help the families of victims reconcile their histories every day to this day. Look at each and every display. Read each and every card, placard, plaque. Stand and think about what you're looking at the whole way through. Visit every building. Walk every street. Stand in the gas chamber. Comprehend the incinerators. Go with a guide who knows all about it. Watch the look on the guides' faces as they tell the horror stories. Truly absorb what humans are capable of. After visiting Auschwitz properly, you should never have to visit again. Once you learn. Once you know. Once you realize how absurd anyone who ever denied the Holocaust is. Then you are good to go and never return. The place will turn your stomach if you are human. It will make you cry, even though you may not know anyone whose family was there, and you certainly had nothing to do with it. The place will affect you deeply. You will come away a changed person.

You will see a magnificent educational center at Auschwitz. If, by some horribly unlucky past, you lost family to this place or in the Holocaust in general, they may be able to help. 77 years, and the good people who work in education centers like that one are still trying to help people reconcile their family's past. It's unbelievable.

You will see displays throughout the camp and the education center and museum that will shock you. There are displays of glasses, shoes, luggage, artificial limbs and even children's toys. You will see examples of lampshades made from human skin and other sick experiments. You will see teeth that were harvested for gold fillings. This is not for the feint of heart. This is hardcore, this is what actually happened in WWII stuff.

The hardest part to fathom is that the people who were incarcerated in this camp didn't save all that macabre stuff. They were gassed to death. They died. The Nazi's saved all that stuff. The military that liberated the camp discovered all that sick stuff. We worry about PTSD now. Imagine if you were one of the liberators. Imagine finding all of that. Imagine finding the acres and acres of mass graves. Imagine finding it all. Imagine listening to people for the rest of your life, who have no knowledge and no brain say that it never happened after you were there. That's PTSD.

We, as humans, need education. We are not like any other animal. We don't live on instinct. We have cognitive thoughts and mental problems. Hate is something that humans excel at. Places like Auschwitz happened because humans hate. Hopefully, this place will help humans remember how wrong hate is. One can only hope.

Recommendation for this experience is to rent a car and drive out early in the morning from Krakow. Arrive at Auschwitz as early as possible, so that you have time to take it all in and learn what you need to know. Make an appointment to tour with a guide, and then wander more on your own after. If you can, make an appointment to speak with a historian on the premises. Ask questions. If you take a bus tour for a trip from the city, you won't have enough time to see it thoroughly. Don't leave until you get it. Learn what you need to know. If you aren't feeling deeply, you haven't learned enough yet. Everyone needs to learn this. Everyone needs to truly try to wrap their minds around it as much as possible. It is a learning experience, and shouldn't be skimped on. If you ever even think about visiting Auschwitz a second time as a tourist, you didn't learn enough the first time.

The professor who took us there, had been there many times. He did not enter. He stayed on our chartered bus and read a book for the entire day while we learned. He'd already learned and didn't need to learn again. It was etched in his brain as it has been in mine since my visit.

And that's all I have to say about that.

Now that we've covered Auschwitz, remember that this will only be one part of your trip to southern Poland. Either before or after your experience with the Holocaust, you will probably have plenty of time to enjoy some of the rest of the area.

Krakow is one of the best preserved cities in Poland. Much of Poland's great cities were leveled during WWII. Krakow has a giant medieval town square, castles, forts, and plenty of things to do. You will find it a great place to shop, go to a casino, try great cuisine and see ancient architecture. You should take a tour of the Wieliczka Salt Mine, one of the most fascinating places in the area. People lived in this mine at one time.

Another place to visit is Czestochowa and the Jasna Gora Monastery. The city is a fabulous place to visit and has some of the best ice cream around. Know that one first hand and highly recommend it. The Monastery is home to the world famous Black Madonna painting. It is believed to be the oldest Madonna painting in the world.

So, if you ever wanted to visit Poland, I recommend the Krakow area. I've been all over Poland, and it was the most amazing part. You will find the people friendly, willing to try and talk across a huge language barrier. Most things in the area are educational. When in the area, you must visit Auschwitz. I stand by my belief that everyone should visit one time. After that, take in a castle, a salt mine, a monastery, some great food and enjoy!

http://www.auschwitz.org/en/

https://www.booking.com/city/pl/oswiecim.html?aid=318760;label=msn-kpJj9w9KlSPvVOa%2As0fZmQ-79852099915026%3Atikwd-16725862023%3Aaud-807859093%3Aloc-190%3Aneo%3Amte%3Alp44736%3Adec%3Aqsauschwitz%20concentration%20camp;sid=2da9f0fae7108bbfb62b7dddfab3a52c

https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/auschwitz

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https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/31

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https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/27/auschwitz-short-history-liberation-concentration-camp-holocaust

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