Poland: Auschwitz and Saltmines

After hearing/reading/studying/watching so much about the Holocaust it was surreal to be there. As the guide said, the whole complex should be treated as a cemetery, and it really felt like it. Auschwitz I was small, the Arbeit Macht Frei sign was small, and the day we were there was an anniversary so it was packed out with tour groups which helped to imagine the numbers of people they had in there. What affected me the most was the rooms full of shoes; kids and adults, most of them were faded brown boots but there were red sandals, little heels, slippers with pompoms on the end which made it personal seeing these individual choices of shoes. Same with the named suitcases.

Birkenau (Aushwitz II) was 30 times bigger, it's the one with the train track running down the middle where the selections took place, and fences and shacks as far as you can see, either side of the rails. It was massive. We were there on such a hot day, blue sky and green grass. Kept remembering images out of 'Auschwitz and After' by Charlotte Delbo which is my favourite (??) Holocaust literature.

Another day we went to the Wieliczka salt mines.. in which there are enough tunnels and caverns to walk through for 2 months straight... we only went around 3 levels and walked 3 kms! That's less that 1% of the total mines! I hated that horses were kept down there so long that they went blind in the darkness, but the caverns were amazing. Imagine an underground chapel carved entirely from salt, even the floor is patterned to look like tiles but it is salt. And the crystals on the chandeliers are salt. And murals carved into the walls, religious statues with lights inside them so it looks like they are glowing, etc. There was also a huge ballroom where events take place, weddings and concerts down there. Underground rivers and lakes (think Harry Potter) which are at saturation point full of salt so would be really easy to float in. Didn't take any photos as it wouldn't have done justice to it, so you'll have to use your imagination!