boakes.org » Poland

In Your Pocket Guides

Em — Tue, 28 Feb 2006 11:45:55 +0000

A couple of summers ago, Rich and I ventured to Poland for a holiday. Guide book in hand we had a marvellous time in Warsaw and although a clunky paperback is a lot to carry when out for the day, when in Poland it was essential if only for the handy phrases in the back!

When browsing round the hotel reception at the leaflets we saw a small guide on Warsaw itself. Being a general guide to Warsaw we picked it up and had a browse through. This was an In Your Pocket guide book, and it proved to be a fabulous alternative to the heavy-duty country-specific guide books that we’d brought with us. Detailing the local and surrounding attractions to Warsaw, offering contemporary restaurant guides and more off-the-beaten-track local and historical information that never makes it into the more generic guide books. Written in an easy to digest format, it was perfect for the few days we spent in Warsaw.

Heading down to Krakow, we looked out for an In Your Pocket Krakow guide, and found one, again, in the hotel reception; and we were pleased to find that is was as useful as it’s Warsaw counterpart.

The beauty of these guides is that they really live up to their name – a comprehensive guide that really can be folded, rolled and/or wedged into your back pocket.

So you can imagine the first thing I suggested to my mum when she announced that she was off to Gdansk with a few of her mates for a jolly weekend exploring – “Look out for an ‘In your pocket’ guide when you get there”.

Naturally I wondered whether there was anything online, so I visited the In Your Pocket website. A cool website with lots of information on a wealth of cities. “Bingo!” I thought. Unfortunately though, they only had the shorter guides for download, so I thought I’d drop them a line to see where I can buy the longer guide. After a few email exchanges I received two complimentary copies of the full guide book through the post.

I wanted to mention this as it’s so refreshing to find a company that offers a quality product and excellent, friendly customer service. Look out for these guides whenever you’re visiting an unfamiliar European city as you’re bound to find something in them that is useful and interesting, or check out their website before you go.

Poland – Auschwitz – Geographical Locations

Rich — Sun, 17 Oct 2004 19:55:44 +0000

If you have access to a good computer and a little bandwidth, it’s possible to see Auschwitz in aerial photos using NASA’s World Wind application.

Once World Wind is installed clicking the links below will take you directly over the sites named, at the time of writing the best images available are the “Landsat 7 Pseudo Colour” set, in which it is possible to make out distinct shapes, but no detail – as more image sets become available, this will improve.

This picture shows the Pseudo Colour representation of Birkenau as seen from above. The camera is to the east of the camp and looking west.

This map should assist you in interpreting what is visible. The map is arranged with north at the top so you are just off to the right of the page looking left. The crescent that is visible in the top left of the picture here is the location of Crematoria II & III.

WorldWind links

Auschwitz 1 Latitude 50.02829 Longitude 19.20391
Auschwitz 2 – Main Gate Latitude 50.03640 Longitude 19.18092

Google Earth links

Auschwitz 2 – Main Gate

Poland

Rich — Thu, 26 Aug 2004 22:07:12 +0000

I (we) visited Poland last week and must confess that I knew nothing about the place before I went, apart from the fact that it’s just become an EU member, which meant there were no visas needed.

Warsaw

The first three nights were in Warsaw, an interesting place where you can get some very nice food and beer, however, due to repeated bombing and shelling in WW2 there’s not much of a historical nature to see. In terms of the atmosphere and facilities Warsaw is much like London, only smaller.

Krakow

The second four nights were spent in Krakow, a total shift to real old-time Poland. but the price of this originality is the tourist factor. Where warsaw was full of urban chic and locals living the life, Krakow is brimming with non-locals.

That said, it was just outside Krakow that we saw a farmer ploughing his field with only a horse and a wooden plough, so although you get the tourist tat, you’re closer to the real Poland.

Oświęcim / Auschwitz

We also visited three sites related to The Holocaust. Those pictures are available separately here.

We also took a car over to Auschwitz (about two hours from Krakow). If you think you can handle it, or if you’re unsure, go; and pay for the guide. The tour takes around 3-4 hours and is very, very, well presented – it appropriately covers the timeline of the camps, how the purpose of the camps changed over time, and importantly, what the evidence is to support the assertions of mass murder. I cannot quite comprehend what I saw, and I dont’ think I ever can take it all in fully.

Poland – Auschwitz

Rich — Thu, 26 Aug 2004 18:46:05 +0000

Whilst in Poland we visited several of the Nazi Concentration Camps, including Oświęcim (Auschwitz I), Birkenau (Auschwitz II ) and Płasz?w. These are the photos we took at those camps.

Oświęcim / Auschwitz I

Prior to the outbreak of WW2, the Polish town of Oświęcim was home to an army barracks. This barracks became Auschwitz 1, and was used as a concentration camp for Polish citizens for approximately two years before it’s “second phase” when the population shifted to predominantly Jewish prisoners. Prisoners at Auschwitz 1 were used as forced labour in the building of Auschwitz 2, the much larger Birkenau camp.

Zyklon B

It was in the prison barrack of Auschwitz 1 that Zyklon B was first used tested for use as a lethal substance. Auschwitz 1 was also the location of the only gas chamber which the Nazi’s did not destroy as the third reich entered it’s last days. Here, and in the other crematoria, canisters of Zyklon were dropped into the gas chambers through hatches in the roof.

Auschwitz II – Birkenau

Birkenau Crematoria

Four Crematoria operated in Birkenau (2, 3, 4 & 5); below are pictures of crematoria 2 & 3.

Poland – PÅ‚aszÃ³w Concentration Camp

Rich — Tue, 24 Aug 2004 15:18:00 +0000

This is the site of the PÅ‚aszÃ³w concentration camp (phonetically pw-ash-ov) which lies 20 minutes walk south of central Krakow. A set based on the camp’s plans was reconstructed and featured extensively in the movie Schindler’s List. To the right of the panorama is a villa used by the camp’s commander, Amon GÃ¶th.

Oscar Schindler’s factory

Rich — Tue, 24 Aug 2004 15:04:48 +0000

Schindler’s factory still stands today. If you enter through the pedestrian gate (to the left of the main gates which have purposefully not been repainted since he left), you can ascend to a small room with a guest book.

We went on a Saturday, and were the only visitors.

It was very quiet, however, many of the surrounding buildings are in constant commercial use, so it’s not deserted.

The guard (whose name is Piotr) sidled out to greet us and waited until he could tell what language we spoke before starting to chat, and inviting us to walk around inside.

The feeling of wonderment when wandering around the factory, compared to the lack of any comprehensible sensation in Auschwitz, still surprises me months later.

The areas that we had access to can be seen on this map.

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