I'm back!

I got back from Poland late last night and I’ve had the most amazing time ever. The weather was absolutely beautiful both in Germany and Poland and we didn’t have one rainy day. Travelling down to Heathrow and then waiting around for ages in the airport to fly to Berlin was awful I must admit, I was so tired. After we’d unpacked at the hostel we went on a 3 - 4 hour walk and bloody hell, my feet and legs were killing me. While we were in Germany we went on a bus tour round Berlin and we saw things like the Brandenburg gate, the place where Hitler killed himself, Checkpoint Charlie, the Berlin wall and the Reichstag. The next day we went to Sachsenhausen concentration camp. It wasn’t very nice and I did shed a slight tear as it was commemoration day there so we saw loads of survivors walking around. The next day we went to this massive indoor rainforest and it was amazing! There were man-made beaches and everything. Then on Tuesday we traveled to Poland by coach which took 12 hours, so it was a long day. When we got there the hotel was lovely and then we went to look around the market and town square and my God, it was beautiful. I’ve totally fell in love with the place and I want to go back so bad. When you’d sit down at restaurants and stuff during free time, the waiters would always ask if you wanted something alcoholic because the age limit was 16 I think so that was a bit odd. The amount of pervs in that place was unreal though. I bought loads of gorgeous jewelery whilst being there from the markets too. While being in Poland we went to a salt mine, which I feel guilty about because me and my mates were just constantly taking the piss, we went on a tour round Krakow where we went inside this beautiful cathedral and castles and stuff, we went out for a Jewish meal and then on the last full day, we went to Auschwitz concentration camp. That place has got to be the most devastating place I’ve ever had the experience of going to. I’ve always had an interest of the Holocaust since year 9 and I’d get quite emotional about it but I’d never cried or anything. Actually going there was so much more different. I was the first to cry in my group and I didn’t stop until 3 hours afterwards. When I started I was stood at the front of the group and I saw a picture that an SS officer had taken of dead bodies on the floor and I just burst into tears. Then we saw peoples hair and belongings, including little childrens stuff and that set off my friends. Then I saw one of my lad mates just start sobbing and it just broke my heart to see so many people getting upset about it. Just thinking about it makes me want to cry! We looked around the barracks and everything and my eyes and face were just red and streaked from crying so much haha. We even saw the execution board and I was just stood staring at it in a daze. I’d finally calmed down near the end and then we walked into the gas chamber. Me and my mate Laura-Jane were in hysterics. It was horrible the stories they told you, like how they’d make them stand out in the snow for 18 hours with bare feet, starve them, make them run around the barracks and stand there with bats and just swing at them and laugh, take guns to them and shoot them for fun. Then I heard that one of the girls in the year below who’s half Jewish saw a picture of a family member on the wall of photos of people who’d been killed. I felt so so sorry for her. I even felt so guilty about it all that on the way back on the bus when we were eating packed lunches, I actually ate the apple I’d been given. I had such a headache from all the crying it was unreal haha. It was horrible and disturbing but I think everyone should have to go and see it in real life because it’s a real eye opener standing where all of it went on. While we were there we were told about how if one person attempted to escape, then a Nazi officer would choose 10 random people from their barrack and either kill or torture them so that people wouldn’t attempt it anymore. We were told a story about how there was an incident where a man tried to escape so they went into the barrack and chose 10 men, one being a man named Franciszek Gajowniczek. The man was on his hands and knees begging and screaming at the officer “My poor wife! My poor children! What will they do?” A priest called Father Kolbe who was also a prisoner heard and stepped forward and asked to take his place instead. The officer agreed and replaced him as he was older and wouldn’t be as much use. The 10 men, including Father Kolbe, were put into the starvation blocks for 2 weeks. One after another the other victims would die until he was the only one left. The SS wanted to use the blocks for other prisoners so they decided to kill him off by giving him a lethal injection. Franciszek Gajowniczek and his wife survived the Holocaust thanks to the priest. There is a shrine for Father Kolbe in the cell that he died in, which I saw while I was there. This story really touched me because of the courage of that man, I was more than likely crying whilst it was getting told haha.

Overall though I really enjoyed myself on the trip, it was amazing and I made some new friends and everything. I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so much than I did whilst being there. I want to be back so bad, I even got a slight tan which never happens!