Date: 16-17th August 2022
Travelled: 250 kms from Wrocลaw to Oลwiฤcim in Poland
Visited: Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum
Stayed: Oลwiฤcim CDIM Stellplatz, โฌ28, N50.02360, E19.19880ย ย
Budget: 84 days @ โฌ108 per day
We roll out of Wrocลaw wishing we had another day here. The old city was just amazing and a campsite with plenty of shade is just what you want on a 29ยฐ afternoon. We do another quick Lidl shop on our way to the E45. Itโs a toll road unfortunately.
Once on the tollway itโs a beautiful piece of EU engineering, the traffic is light eastbound but westbound is very heavy, never seen so many trucks. A tail ender pictured between two truck has the traffic at a standstill for more than 20 kms.
We turn for Oลwiฤcim just past Katowice. The local roads here are poor, so the last 30 kms is very slow. It suddenly starts to rain heavily which is good to cool everything down, but the potholes are now full of water, so impossible to avoid.
Oลwiฤcim, wojewรณdztwo maลopolskie, Poland
There are three parking places in Oลwiฤcim for campers, but two are little more than a large carpark with a security guard. As we plan on being here for two nights we opt for the CDIM, itโs a hotel and conference centre with expansive grassed surrounds. Thereโs plenty of parking for campers with shade with all the usual facilities. So we book in and get to chatting with our mostly Dutch neighbours.
The rest of the day is resting, reading and relaxing. We have tickets for the museum tomorrow at midday so we just veg.
Next morning is much of the same as yesterday afternoon other than we start planning our return to the UK. At 11.30 we walk up to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum show our tickets and join the queue.
Visiting somewhere like Auschwitz-Birkenau is not for everyone, itโs not a visit your likely to come away thinking I really enjoyed that or wasnโt it fun. Itโs challenging to imagine how a group of individuals let alone a nation of people could go along with facilitating murder on an industrial scale.
The following are some images I captured at Auschwitz #1.
Just to expand a little as it helps explain the history and geography. Auschwitz is the German name for the Polish town of Oลwiฤcim. There was a large Polish Army Camp here before the war and the majority of buildings here were originally part of that army barracks. Those barracks became Auschwitz Concentration Camp.
Birkenau is the German name of second camp, 2 kms west of Auschwitz. It was open farmland. The German SS or lets say the National Socialist (Nazi) regime purpose built an extermination camp here. This was extermination at an industrial level, 80% of those who arrived by train from all over Europe where murdered within a day of arriving. The remainder would die within a few weeks or months, from malnutrition, disease or brutal treatment. .
Our tour includes a short bus ride to Birkenauโฆand the following images were captured there.
So thatโs Auschwitz-Birkenau done. Where tired, hungry, dehydrated, a little sunburnt and slightly emotional. A cool shower a glass of cold beer and wine seem to be a cure all. Lucky we have some leftovers in the fridgeโฆ
Michael+Pam
2 thoughts on “Oลwiฤcim, Poland ๐ต๐ฑ 2022”
I’m afraid we just couldn’t get there ,we went to Bergen Belsen which gave me very bad dreams for many days I could never visit a place like this again but mankind never learns it still happens. Sad safe travels
I can imagine the emotion. I have just finished a book about 3 sister who managed to survive. Their mother sbd Grandfather were murdered.