Being in Poland it would be a crime to not experience Auschwitz. So that’s exactly what I did and it’ll be an experience that I’ll never forget. The atrocities may have happened 60 years ago you still get a strong feeling of what happened there. Which left me feeling a little emotional at times reading and looking at the exhibits. Some of the things that the Nazi’s did is unbelievable, it’s hard to believe that people could be that evil. Things like making women strip naked before being lined up and shot. The way the Nazi’s cut people hair off to send back to Germany to make clothes from. The way that people were made to lay in pits and were machine gunned to death. It’s hard to imagine just how horrific it was back during the war on a sunny summers day. The exhibitions paint a really grim picture especially seeing the thousands of faces of the people that were murdered at Auschwitz. But the most intense feeling of sadness came while walking around the gas chambers knowing that’s where thousands were put to death. Over a million was exterminated was Auschwitz and a further three million at the sister camp of Birkenau which we also went to see. There’s pictures of the trip in the galleries, but the pictures don’t convey the true horror of the death camp.
In the evening I went out to watch Poland versus Croatia which Poland lost but unlike Brits they were still proud of their team despite losing and exiting the Euro’s at the group stage. I was surprised that I actually got into it just as much as the Poles. It’s something about the atmosphere of a pub during a big match even if you are a neutral, it’s hard to not get drawn into the game. Afterwards I went to a local rock club called Jazz Rock which was actually really nice, its underground and very dark with red mood lighting and they bar staff all spoke English which made things much easier. They played some good music as well as some Polish rock tunes, it was a good mix of music that you don’t really get in Plymouth! Myself and Stephen even met some nice Polish girls who we got talking to, they both spoke a little English, one more than the other. We were invited back to their place but I didn’t really feel up to it, I was exhausted after the day and it was 4am. Stephen wasn’t very happy with me because I didn’t want to go back to their apartment. Not that I think they would have actually taken us back as they wanted to drink in the park after the club, which I find a little odd really. I did buy myself a couple of bottles of Tyskie but realised very quickly that I had a problem. I didn’t take my keys (which had my bottle opener attached so I couldn’t drink in the park with them) as I didn’t need them as I’m not home, although I didn’t really want to, I simply wanted to come back and go to bed! I wasn’t really interested in pulling!