This morning our friends at the church in Palowice gave us a warm send-off with yet another delicious meal. We spent 2 nights there and Mr. Marian and his team fed us well, blessing us as much as or more than we blessed them. 

Today was a day off from programs. Some of the group took the train to Krakow while the majority of us rode our bus to Auschwitz I. Our guided tour began with a silent walk between stark concrete walls where the only words being spoken were the names of a fraction of the many prisoners who suffered & died in this death camp. Once outside in the bright sunlight, we passed through the gate with the arch above it proclaiming “Work Sets You Free.” Our guide shared many facts with us, some of which were hard to comprehend and process. We visited gas chambers, crematoriums, & rooms containing personal belongings confiscated from or left behind by the prisoners: crutches & casts, children’s clothing, cups & bowls, mounds of shoes, briefcases & baskets, and perhaps the most personal and most touching of all: bundles of hair. It was troubling to stand in front of the Death Wall and contemplate what the men & women who walked that path must’ve wrestled with. 

A short bus trip later we arrived at Auschwitz II – Birkenau. Leading into the camp is a single train track. One can imagine the lines of loaded cattle cars chugging through the gate and the anguish and fear that must’ve accompanied many of them. This place is vast. Hundreds of thousands of people have passed through these gates, never to leave again. Many original buildings still stand, although the Germans also frantically destroyed many of them before the Soviets liberated the camp in early 1945. Guard houses, high barbed wire fences, dusty roads, rows and rows of barracks, ruined remains of crematoriums… How can the sun still shine so brightly in this place of suffering and evil?

Next destination: Hotel Wyspianski in Krakow. After finding our rooms and unloading our luggage, we dispersed, many of us to Old Town for a few hours. After being served a delicious dinner at our hotel, the charm of Old Town lured us back for the evening. Cafes with rows of beautiful flower boxes, cobblestone streets, street musicians… Oh the delights of an old European city! Singing under the arches of Cloth Hall was a wonderful ending to a profitable day.