The visit to Auschwitz was the highlight of my Easter escapade. I have always been deeply interested in WW2 and especially the Holocaust: I always wonder how perfectly nice young men could perform such atrocities to their fellow neighbours and men. I have read/researched extensively on this subject since young, and I have always wanted to visit the concentration camp sites. So since I was already in Berlin, I just had to go to Auschwitz, the largest concentration and extermination camp site of the Nazi regime.
6 couchette polish cabin: brought back memories of MongoliaI arrived at Auschwitz on a gloomy Saturday afternoon. I think the dreariness of the weather just made the entire atmosphere even more melancholic and sad. As I stepped through the gates of Auschwitz 1, I felt the shackles of the past weighing me down. It is impossible to tour the camp without feeling a sense of emptiness: This was the very place where Jews, Poles, Gypsies, political opponents of the Nazis were interned, incarcerated and tortured in the not so distant past.
main gate of Auschwitz 1 with the famous "Arbeit Macht Frei" inscription
double electrified prison wiresAuschwitz-Birkenau was even worse than Auschwitz 1. The Germans certainly did not hide their intentions by calling it an extermination camp instead of a concentration camp! The wretchedness and despair of the place just gets you when you see the infamous railway line leading to the main gate looming on the horizon. You wonder what the prisoners must have felt as they were cattle-loaded onto the trains and carted off in the darkness of the night, to arrive at an unfamiliar place only to be immediately sorted and separated from friends and family, then depending on their group, sent off either for labour, or simply to die by gassing. Remnants of the hastily destroyed (by the Germans) gas chambers and incinerators were still very much visible, along with numerous mass graves conveniently just sited beside them. Yes, Auschwitz-Birkenau is one very huge cemetery.
For those sent off to labour, a worse fate awaited them. Many were forced to work in the most difficult conditions with little or even no food. Needless to say, many died of disease and starvation, which was the goal of Hitler's Final Solution anyway.
Although the snow had already melted, it was still very much winter with the wind and cold. Looking back, I think it just added to the amazement how some people could survive the entire Holocaust in the camps. I mean, I was already freezing in my North Face jacket while touring the camp grounds; How could people actually make it though the entire winter with so little food and clothing? Sometimes, you really have to admire the indomitableness of the human spirit. As Steinlauf, one of the prison inmates said,
After Auschwitz we met up with Bern and Lucien who had also come to Krakow for the Easter holidays. Actually they bumped into Jianhui at the airport by coincidence and its just amazing how we are all studying in France, but it took us almost 6 months and a trip to Poland to meet up!
dinner and drinks @ la scandale
Similar to day 2 in Berlin, I walked and walked and walked around Krakow on Easter Sunday. Most of the shops were closed anyway, and we just did a lot of sightseeing of the city. The sun had finally come out so it was pretty nice to be walking outdoors. =)
polish BBQ!
my HUGE trotter!
After dinner it was a night of extreme tastes: First up was a string ensemble Easter concert. It was not too bad, and the lineup included a couple of traditional crowd favourites like Bach's Air in D major and Mozart's Allegro. However, after a long day of walking about and a couple of beers throughout the day, they sounded more like lullabies rather than musical movements to me. =P
Then we went clubbing at ProZac, quite a famous club in Krakow. Unfortunately there was no DJ for that night and we had just to be content with Top 40 hits. The night before I walked by and they were still playing trance mixes! Bleah.. Pure bad luck! Nonetheless, we still enjoyed ourselves and it was still quite a great way to end my Easter escapade. =P
talented musicians
[L-R] me, Trina, Bern, Lucien, Jianhui
As usual, more photos can be found at my facebook album
here. =)
Pain is the body's natural alarm system to warn us of overexertion, over-training, and of course, to instruct us to rest before something goes wrong. However, there is good pain, and there is bad pain. When we exercise, it is natural for us to feel pain - Unless you are Norman Stadler. The pain is there because basically we are tearing our muscles when we swim, bike, run, or performing any athletic activity. Then when we rest, the muscles rebuild and we get stronger.
