Entrance to the Wieliczka Salt Mine
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Elevator down into the mine - very small cage and very crowded |
Salt deposition
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Sculptures of miners - all carved out of salt |
Area called the Salt Cathedral because of all of the religious-themed carvings
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Salt Cathedral |
Salt Cathedral
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Mushroom soup bread bowl - very good!
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Today's trip to Auschwitz concentration camps #1 and #2 (also called Birkenau) was a very somber experience. Six million Jews and 5 million others - Gypsies, homosexuals, political adversaries, etc. were systematically murdered by the Nazis in death camps. There were more than 300 concentration camps and most were in Poland. Prisoners came from 24 different countries including a citizen from Chicago who was on vacation in Poland and had a Polish surname.
Photographs were allowed outside and inside some of the buildings, but not all.
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Entrance gate
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Guarded perimeter |
A few of the cell blocks |
Dogs patrolled between the fences
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Country of origin of people sent to Auschwitz
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Cell block 11 - Death Block
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Execution wall outside Cell Block 11 |
More cell blocks |
Plan of a gas chamber
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Model of a gas chamber |
The one remaining gas chamber
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Interior of the gas chamber
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Empty cans - from the Zyklon B used in the gas chambers |
Among the things we were not allowed to photograph were several large displays (probably at least 15 x 6 x 8 ft.) at least half or more filled with human hair, prosthetic devices, and other things taken from the prisoners. Really sobering.
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Auschwitz Camp #2 - also known as Birkenau
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Railroad entrance to the camp
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In the distance, the platform where prisoners were unloaded from the trains |
A unit of the Israeli Army on a pilgramage to Birkenau - something all army units apparently do
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Barracks for the prisoners |
Barracks interior
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Latrine in the barracks |