May 28th- Auschwitz and Salt Mines, Poland

I don't have anything to say on the outside but on the inside thousands of words are rushing through my head. I can't imagine it. I can't imagine a world where this cruelty and inhumanity exist on a scale of this magnitude. I am disgusted. I have a fire in the pit of my stomach that makes me want to hurt the people who did this. Fight fire with fire. I admire the strength of the prisoners. To live in those conditions and try to fight through it. I am insired by the prisoners' hope- hope that they would make it through; hope that they would be reunited with their families; hope that they really were going to bathe and not actuallu going to the gas chambers. We learned that the camp was an addition to a military base and that prisoners were kept in barracks where there were 9+ people to each bunk. There were 1000 prisoners kept in each dorm where there was only room for around 30 to clean or relieve themselves in the 15 minutes allotted. Impossible, subjecting prisoners to disease and hygiene deficiencies.  Their meals were meager and provided them maybe 500 calories a day. There were in fact 3 hospital building but surviving prisoners said that victims who went in, never came back out. There was also a building where women were used as test subjects for advancements in medical technology. Next to that was an execution wall where prisoners were lined up and shot point blank. Grotesquely disgusting. Walking up and down the streets the prisoners walked was tough. Trying to put mysef there or put myself in that time was difficult. I will never be able to imagine what these people had to live. Knowing that they wouldn't make it out alive. Knowing that everyday they walked those paths could be their last; probably wishing it was their last. I can't image their hope that it would get better. In the last remaining gas chamber at Auschwitz and Birkenau you could see the endless nail markings in the concrete walls where people grasped for salvation with their last breath. I could almost hear the cries in this dark cemetery reverberating off of each wall as the gas poured into the crowded chamber. I lost it. 

The survivors of the camps refer to the camps as cemeteries and I felt the chill of lost souls there as we made our way through. My surprise came at the others on our tour who either didn't feel this or didn't regard that others may. There was an inordinate amount of disrespect from other tourists. There was a particular family who was laughing the entire tour of Auschwitz and Birkenau. They were speaking loudly in rooms where silence was requested and reverence was expected. They were snaking their arms around each other and kissing and touching their partners asses. Like are you kidding me? I wanted to reach around and thump the shit out of their ears. How embarrassing. Do you not understand where you are? Do you understand that the people imprisoned here never got to laugh? To smile? To LIVE again? Take the time to wrap your small brains around that please. 

Auschwitz had 5 crematoriums which some have been destroyed because ss wanted to cover their full actions up before the liberation. When allied forces came in they found 3 buildings still in tact and plans for construction,  leaving them able to figure out on what scale this horrific genocide was taking place. 

We went to Birkenau after and toured the grounds. This camps was built from the ground up by the prisoners and was almost completely destroyed before the Germans retreated in late 1944. There is a memorial standing where 2 gas chambers once stood. 

We bused back to Krakow to grab some (no such thing as) free lunch and then got back on the bus to head towards the salt mines. Soaked. It was pouring. I forgot to mention that. The mood picked up a little but I am still thoughful about this mornings events. 

Kopalnia Soli Wieliczka is the name of the oldest constantly producing salt mine in the world. There are over 250 miles of tunnel going down over 1000 feet. There are 3 trains underground used to transport salt and workers, but a lot of transport was done by cart pushing and horses in the old days of record salt production. The oldest records found for the mine date back to 1291, but seeing as how the mine already existed at that point, we know that it is older than that even. It is the most visited mine in the world and the biggest tourist attraction in Poland. The floors, ceilings, walls and all statues are made of salt. 

The two salts produced today solely from pumping the water out of the mine is table salt and cosmetic salt. In the old days, the salt was produced for preservation purposes only. The statues throughout the cave were carved by actually miners, not artisits. There are a number of chapels down there and even the chandelieirs feature salt crystals. The mine consists of green salt which looks grey but is actually white or translucent in the light. 

One of the statues features Princess Kinga from Hungary. She threw her engagement ring down a mine in Hungary as an offereing to the Polish people, two weeks later she had a dream about digging in Poland and discovering a salt mine. She and a few miners found the mine and legend says her engagement ring was in the first rock of salt they found. Myth obviously. In reality, the mine is said to be a sea salt mine from 14 million years ago.

Miners were very wealthy during that time because salt was more valuable than silver. They were allowed to take one handful of salt up a day. Many also stole salt making them very rich! The word salary actually comes from the word 'sal' which means salt. Also, the hand motion depiicting "give me money" means, "show me the salt and I will give you the goods." The miners could afford to hire people to work for them even! However, it came at a cost: 10% died a year because of dangerous gas method of collecting salt. The miners in this mine were the first to use the British invented Davy lamp which detected monoxide and carbon oxide based on the size of the flame burning in the lamp. 

Gnomes were said to be good ghosts that come at night and work, misplace tools, fiddle with stuff and also warn miners of coming danger.  

There are 3 lakes throughout the mines made up of 32% salt. You can't sink or dive in these lakes. The biggest is 28 feet deep and 6 degrees celcius. 

Very informative. Very beautiful. Very cool.