Touring Auschwitz/Birkenau
Entering Auschwitz "arbeit macht frei." The cruel lie that "work will set you free" which lead to approximately 1.3 million people dying there. This was the main extermination camp in all of Europe because of its central location.
Birkenau
Krakow
Wawel Cathedral & Castle
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Wieliczka Salt Mines
- Built in the 13th Century,
- Is a UNESCO World Heritage Site
- Produced table salt until 2007
Food & Beer...
Jewish Quarter in Kazimierz District
Ghetto Heroes Square is a memorial to victims of the Krakow ghetto in the form of over-sized bronze chairs. We learned that the chairs symbolize that the Jewish people had to carry their belongings into the ghetto, or their absence, or that anyone can be a victim.
This square was also where they waited before they were transferred to extermination camps. Another connection to Eastern Europe! What a surprise to see the sign commemorating Oskar Schindler's Factory was donated and erected by a local college in our state of Michigan in conjunction with the Jewish Council of Krakow.
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Poland was home to the largest Jewish community in Europe, 90% of its population was killed in the Holocaust.