Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Category: Poland

  • Krakow – Płaszów Concentration Camp

    There’s not much left of Płaszów concentration camp now, although it remains today almost in the same state as the Soviets found it in when they entered the city in January 1945. Many visitors to Krakow travel some distance to Auschwitz Birkenau when they visit the city, but this camp is located within walking distance of Krakow city centre.

    I’ve been to this site before in 2016, although it was pouring with rain when I got there and so I didn’t spend as much time as I’d wanted. Since my last visit a number of large information boards have been placed around the site and these have made it easier to interpret what remains.

    The Germans led most of the camp’s occupants on a death march to concentration camps in mid-1944, although the last prisoners left in early January 1945. Panicked by what the Soviets might find the Nazis quickly destroyed as much evidence as they could in the time they had, meaning that the Soviets found just empty fields.

    I think the two photos above are taken from around the same place.

    The scale of the camp.

    Halina Nelken was born in Krakow in September 1943 and spent time at Płaszów, Auschwitz and Ravensbrück concentration camps amongst numerous others. She, somehow, managed to survive the war and wrote an account of her time in the camps.

    An overhead plan of the site.

    There were no gas chambers at the camp but a large number of inmates died due to illness and many were also summarily executed. Many people were killed and buried nearby, but the Nazis had to quickly exhume and burn the bodies in January 1945 before they fled.

    The remains of the funeral building used by the Jews for preparing bodies before burial.

    This is the headstone of Sarah Schenirer, a Krakow lady who established a network of schools. Her original burial stone was destroyed when the Nazis wrecked the cemetery, but this replacement was added to the site in 2005.

    This is the grey house which was originally the administrative office for the Jewish cemetery, which the Germans destroyed when they built the camp. It was from here that the infamous camp commandant Amon Goeth fired shots from his balcony at Jewish prisoners. The house was fitted out with cells and there are plans to turn the property into a museum.

    The site as it is now, which is primarily a nature reserve. There’s something quite raw about visiting such a barren site, but personally I think that a proper museum and even more signs around the site would be useful to help visitors interpret the camp.

     

  • Wieliczka – World War Two Photo

    There was an external display in Wieliczka about the Second World War, and this photo was shown on it. I’ve seen this photo of a boy in the Warsaw ghetto in numerous places and I think it is one of the most harrowing taken during the conflict.

    The photo was presented proudly by Jürgen Stroop as part of a book length report, now known as the Stroop Report, he wrote of how he had liquidated the Warsaw ghetto. Stroop was confused about how bravely the Jews in the ghetto had fought back, it didn’t meet his prejudices about how the Jews wouldn’t fight.

    Stroop destroyed nearly every part of the Warsaw ghetto after the liquidation, a process that killed 50,000 people. He then ensured nearly every building was demolished and he personally oversaw the demolition by explosives of the Great Synagogue of Warsaw.

    Stroop was sentenced to death in the war crimes trials but he hoped that he would be able to get his sentence commuted to life imprisonment, despite his crimes. He was handed over to Poland who commenced a new trial in July 1951, which led to his execution on 6 March 1952. His execution took place in Warsaw, the city which he had tried to destroy.

    Anyway, back to the photo. The man of the right of the photo is Josef Blösche and he managed to get away with his crimes because he went unidentified after the war. He was able to settle down and he had two children, but when the photos of him came to light in the 1960s he was identified. He was sent to trial and was executed in Leipzig on 29 July 1969.

    Despite some false identifications, the scared boy in the photo with his hands in the air has never been identified. Given no-one has been able to identify him, it’s likely that he died at a concentration camp, probably Majdanek or Treblinka. The boy will likely never be identified, but the image represents the horror that hundreds of thousands of children went through.

    The photo of this boy was originally taken proudly by a German officer, but instead it now remains as one of the abiding and enduring images of the horror that was the Holocaust.

  • Wieliczka – Independence Memorial

    The tablet on the memorial was mostly covered by wreathes, but I think that this is a memorial to those who died in fighting for Polish independence. Poland regained its independence on 11 November 1918 with the advent of the Second Polish Republic.

    Marking eighty years since independence, this tablet on the reverse of the memorial dates to 11/11/1998. It’s all nicely looked after and I do like the country’s national symbol of the eagle.

  • Krakow – Train to Wieliczka Salt Mine

    There are a lot of companies offering tours to the salt mines at Wieliczka and some of them appear to be rather expensive. I opted to go by train and the ticket cost the grand total of 3.50zl (which is about 75p) to get there, which puts into perspective how much more expensive the tour companies are.

    The train takes forty minutes and it’s the service which comes from (and to) Krakow airport. It’s nice and shiny both internally and externally.

    The train was modern inside and there were power points available at the seats. I bought my ticket at the ticket office at Krakow’s main railway station, although you can buy the ticket at machines at both Krakow and Wieliczka. There’s also a ticket machine inside the train carriage, making this one of the smoothest ticket purchasing options possible, with cards and cash both accepted. It certainly puts some cities, not least Turin, to shame.

    There are also numerous bus services which go to the mines, but for sheer convenience and low fares, I personally think that the train is the most efficient and comfortable way to go.

  • Krakow – Ghetto Wall

    There are, to my knowledge, two intact sections of ghetto wall left in Krakow, and this is the longest section which is located at ulica Limanowskiego. Looking at this remnant now, it is a sobering juxtaposition having a children’s playground located next to the wall.

    The wall was deliberately built to look like Jewish tombstones, and effectively the ghetto was established as a holding area to use people as free labour before their transportation to concentration camps. The ghetto was deliberately packed, so that there were four families placed in every apartment, with some not even fortunate enough to be able to live inside.

  • Krakow – Cytat Cafe

    This cafe is located in the Jewish area of Krakow and I was attracted by the tempting signage offering coffee in an environment full of books. It sounded rather lovely.

    Internally the cafe looked welcoming, the book arch was an interesting feature, although I fear that at some point someone will take a book away from a key structural position.

    So many books…. There are also inspirational messages of various sorts which have been placed on walls around the cafe.

    The cafe was relatively large in size and there were numerous different areas. I opted for the seat by the window which looked out onto a border collie, my most favourite breed of dog.

    The latte and cake, all of a perfectly good quality. The service in the cafe was polite, although at times it seemed slightly confused, although I normally add to the chaos on such occasions. Cleanliness wasn’t great, the cafe’s toilet probably needed cleaning a matter of hours before my visit rather than minutes, and the staff didn’t seem particularly pro-active in cleaning away empty plates on tables.

    However, the environment was comfortable and welcoming, with the interior perhaps bigger than it looks from the outside. There was a decent choice of cakes for customers and the coffees were clearly written up on a large board behind the counter area. The prices weren’t unreasonable and there were also some cooked food options available for those who wanted that.

  • Katowice – Katowice Airport Business Lounge (Terminal A)

    I arrived several hours before my flight (this isn’t unusual) and was unsure what to expect from the airport’s lounge in Katowice. I used my Priority Pass card and I was allowed in straight away as there doesn’t seem to be a minimum length of stay.

    It’s a pleasant lounge area as it’s clean and tidy, with views over the runway. The welcome was friendly and the staff didn’t need to see my boarding card as they do in some lounges. When I entered I was the only person in the lounge, and at its peak there were four of us in there.

    That’s a much better drinks selection than in many other lounges around the world. A range of beers, sodas, fruit juices, non-alcoholic beers and all well presented. There’s more choices of drinks alone than in BA Galleries lounges or any UK pay per visit lounge that I’ve been to.

    A fine array of chocolates and sweets, and the selection on the right were really tasty. This is the best sweets selection that I’ve seen since the popcorn and sweets counter at the American Airlines Lounge at Heathrow T3.

    Wine on tap.

    There was a selection of teas on the right, in addition to the already mentioned sweets.

    Sausage roll, shrimp pasta and salmon open sandwiches. All very lovely.

    One of the food fridges, with chicken salads, cakes, cold sandwiches and the like.

    The hot food selection, which had dumplings, the aforementioned sausage rolls (they were excellent) and there was also a wide range of spirits available at the top as well.

    There’s only one toilet in the lounge and the lock is broken, so that probably needs fixing. If the lounge was busier then this would likely be an irritation, but being so quiet, it didn’t really present any obstacle to my lounge enjoyment. There were plenty of power points around the lounge and there were sufficient display screen to show when flights were departing.

    Overall, I’d say this is one of the best lounges that I’ve visited where passengers can pay to access it. It felt quiet and peaceful, so a real improvement on the hustle and bustle of the airport terminal. If I were to visit Katowice again, I’d certainly look forwards to coming here again before my flight.

  • Krakow – Space Craft Beer Bar

    Craft beer bars are becoming more common across Poland, and this in my view is a wonderful step in the right direction. This craft beer bar has a modern feel to it, and a slightly confused space theme which I never quite understood, although they use the line “in a galaxy of bars of pubs, Space is in a world of its own”.

    This is the Stoutyskaf from Browar Wehikul, a small operation located towards the south-west of Warsaw. The drink is an Irish dry stout, at 4.6%, and it had a decent taste and a depth of flavour including some notes of coffee and caramel.

    There was a sign saying that fish and chips was available for 20zl, which is around £4, so I accidentally ordered it. And this was much better than I expected, the fish itself tasted fresh and had a pleasant flavour to it. The batter also had a richness of taste, although was perhaps slightly over-cooked. The peas were a little cold, but were proper mushy peas and the tartare sauce also added nicely to the whole arrangement. The chips were also just as I like them, French fries with an element of crispiness.

    The service was warm and engaging, the surroundings were comfortable and this was the sort of bar that I could happily linger in. One slight downside was that a British stag group came marching in half-way through my visit, demanding (and I think that’s a fair word) lager. The barman was professional, but one of the stag group proudly announced “they don’t serve proper beer here lads, let’s go”. Look at the list of beers at the top of this post, there are some fantastic sounding choices there, but since there’s no Stella it clearly wasn’t suitable for that group…..

    Reasonably priced, welcoming environment, excellent choice of beers, proper chalked up selection, just what I like.

  • Krakow – Polish Legions Statue

    The Polish Legions Statue, or the Four Legionnaires statue.

    Józef Piłsudski founded the Polish Legions in 1914 and they were established as he believed that Polish independence would only be secured by military action. The first assembly of men to fight met at Blonie Park in the city and were formed on 3 August 1914, being seen as the base of the future Polish army.

    The base of the sculpture. Piłsudski incidentally has become something of a national hero, he’s seen as one of the founders of modern Poland and he went on to be Prime Minister of the newly independent Poland twice, from 1926 until 1928 and again for a brief period in 1930.

  • Krakow – Ibis Centrum

    I got to spend one more day than anticipated in Krakow, so I moved after three days in the Ibis Stare Miasto to the Ibis Centrum. They’re about 30 minutes walk apart, but they’re on opposite sides of the city, so neither are more than a 15-minute walk from the city centre.

    A clean and comfortable room, one of the more modern Ibis designs. There are a decent number of plug sockets, the lighting is sufficient and it feels a welcoming room environment.

    Talking of a welcoming room environment, this made it much more inviting. This is the acknowledgement of my Accor status, and it’s the perfect way of acknowledging it as far as I’m concerned. Four cakes and also a pack of apple flavoured and sugar coated biscuits. Very lovely. I’ll stick with Accor because they give me free cake, it’s not the most sophisticated of concepts but it works for me.

    Collecting my free drink of white wine at the bar, I was also given these biscuits, which were much appreciated. What a most lovely welcome to a hotel, all this free food and drink. The only slight downside was that there was an enormous party of school children in the downstairs restaurant, although I confined myself to just sitting at the bar out of their way. I noticed a couple of other diners weren’t impressed, but I suppose that there’s not much that the hotel can do about it without turning large groups away. They were also pretty well behaved, albeit a little loud.

    Conscious that the school party might take up most of the breakfast room and get in my way of selecting what food I wanted to eat too much of, I went down to breakfast early. One complaint I have is that I had no idea what time breakfast started, it was never mentioned at reception and there was no room information folder or similar to help me ascertain how early I could go down. 06:30 seems to be the standard time for Ibis, so I went down at 06:45 hoping it was open, and it was and there were already quite a few guests there. But no school children, so breakfast was peaceful.

    Some of the breakfast selection, which mainly revolved around hot dogs, cold meats, cheeses, salad items and there were also pastries, cakes and cereals available. In addition to the food, there was tea, coffee, juices and the like to choose from as well. It was a perfectly acceptable breakfast and it was all well presented.

    Despite seemingly having half of a school staying at the hotel, I didn’t notice any noise disturbance internally, so my sleep was uninterrupted. The staff at the hotel were all helpful (although it’s rare in Poland for them not to be) and everything was clean and well maintained. I think on balance that I prefer this hotel to the Ibis Stare Miasto though…