Auschwitz | The Life of All Sorts

The end of January marks the end of the winter semester at our university. During this break, my boyfriend and I decided to take a short trip to Krakow. I visited Krakow a couple years ago with my sister, but it was my boyfriend’s first time in this beautiful city.

This, my second visit to Krakow, was a funny combination of familiar and new. I recognized most of the attractions in Old Town including the main square and Wawel Castle. This time we also discovered the Jewish quarters of town called Kazimierz, a hip and historical area which I somehow overlooked last time. Despite exploring a larger area of the city, I was surprised to find how much smaller Krakow felt this time.

When I traveled to Krakow the first time, I had only lived in Poland for a year and had not seen much of Europe yet. Krakow had a grand appearance and felt massive compared to Gdansk. Not only that, but my sister and I spent the majority of our time being lost. My sense of direction is abysmal, and my sister’s is no better. A city feels huge when you have no idea where you are! I’ve improved considerably in my way, but luckily my boyfriend plays the role of navigator when we travel. That first time in Krakow, the feeling of being lost was also amplified by the torrential downpour of rain which soaked us daily as we sprinted between churches and castles and cafes. With my boyfriend leading the way, I was astonished by how little time it took to walk from Wawel Royal Castle to the Main Square (Rynek Główny).

This walk might have taken me about an hour or so with my sister

My sister and I fondly remember Krakow as bewildering and beautiful. With my boyfriend this time, Krakow was once again a lovely city to visit. It is one of the few parts of Poland which was spared destruction during WWII.

On our first day we went on a free walking tour of Old Town where we learned a bit about Krakow’s history. This city used to be Poland’s capital (Wawel Castle had been destroyed by a fire one too many times, so the king, frustrated, decided to move to Warsaw). We saw the cloth hall and the main square where merchants used to trade fabric, food, jewelry, tools, and more. The punishment for thievery at the market at the time was having one’s ear cut off; the knife serving this purpose still hangs over the archway.

We enjoyed this free walking tour so much that the next day we joined the same company for a free walking tour of Kazimierz. Our guide showed us the Old Synagogue, the old bath house, cemeteries, and the old slaughterhouse in this Jewish community. This area used to be its own town, independent from Krakow. Krakow and its surroundings were diverse in religion and nationalities at the time. Many buildings in Kazimierz survived WWII simply by luck, as the Nazis found the synagogues useful for storage of weapons and ammunition.

It was uplifting to see the revival of Jewish culture in Krakow today, to serve as a contrast to our guided tour of Auschwitz-Birkenau the following day. I think it is very important for everyone to go there and witness firsthand the remaining gas chambers and crematoriums. It is uncomfortable, disturbing, upsetting, and unfathomable to face the reality of this dark part of our past. Despite this– or perhaps, because of this– it is essential that we learn about it to prevent history from repeating itself.

The following day we ended our stay in Krakow at an Israeli hummus restaurant. With our minds full of new experiences and our stomachs full of food, our train took us back home to Gdansk. Do widzenia, Kraków!

St. Mary’s church and the cloth hall in the Main Square (Rynek Glowny)

St. Mary’s church

The north gate and the remaining part of the wall which surround old town of Krakow

Behind Wawel Royal Castle. I like this photo because of the contrast of the main road right next to a 700 year old castle– no big deal in Europe, but something you would never see in Canada!