Yesterday I went to Auschwitz for my second time. I took a small bus from the main bus station in Krakow through the snow and ice covered country side, past farm houses, run down parts of towns to the Polish town of Oświęcim. I was dropped off in the parking lot of the museum and from there I got my ticket for the tour and watched a fifteen minuet film on a brief history of Auschwitz. I left the theater and went to go find my tour guide. She turned out to be a blond Polish woman who reminded me a lot of one of my Polish friends from back home and it made me want to give her a hug a bit. The tour started with us going through Auschwitz One which was the first camp that was built. We went through different old barracks and had the history of the camp explained to us and what happened there. It took about two hours for this and after we went over to Auschwitz-Birkenau which is the bigger of the two camps (there was also a third called Monowitz that was an industrial work camp) and was the one where also most of the killing of innocent people took place.
The grounds of the camp are massive and seem to stretch on into the mist forever. All that is left for the most part is the main entrance building, rail way tracks, some barracks, a memorial, twisted ruins, and rows and rows of crumbling chimneys. The place has an eery calm about it.
Since it was my second time visiting it wasn't nearly as emotional as the last time, but the thing with Auschwitz is that it messes with your mind for a bit. It may not completely hit you right away. It needs time to sink in...
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