20th Sept
2015
Very
interesting……….
We woke up this
morning in Auschwitz - Birkenau, and
there was an eerie mist hanging over us.
No one around – Just us, the mist, and 100 yards away over the road, more
than a million ghosts………..
We had our
breakfast and as we packed up, it was 8.30 am and the tour buses were already
arriving. By the time we drove away down
the road past the entrance, the queues were already forming. And as we drove out, we realized that we were
driving for some distance along side the border fences of the Camp, with the
prisoner buildings right there, just beside the road. I wonder if this road was there in 1943, and
people were able to walk or cycle down the road, right outside the camp ? It was certainly an odd feeling. And then, right at the end of the compound,
we passed a house that we believe was the infamous Commandant’s house, Rudolf Höss, where
he lived with his wife and children throughout his time at Auschwitz.
We had had enough
of Auschwitz – We needed to see Oswiecim.
Oswiecim was the Polish name for this town before the Germans took it
over and renamed it, and I prefer to call the town Oswiecim, but call the
concentration camp Auschwitz.
The village of
Oswiecim has a long history, long before WW II.
As we drove in, we passed the 13th century castle tower, an
old Catholic Church, past the old square, and then we found a car park and,
with help from a local who advised us that as it was Sunday we did not have to
pay, we set off to explore the town.
We wandered into
the main square, the Stare Miasto, and it was all set up for a concert with a
big stage in front of the town hall. We
didn’t know it yet but today, 20th September, is officially the
first day of Autumn in Poland, and there were celebrations to be had. From the old town square we walked on and
came to an enormous church, but one which had no tower or spire. I had never really thought about it, but
surely all churches have either a tower or a spire, even if they are small ones
? Anyway, this one turned out to be a
monastery, we later found out, which may have explained the lack of a
tower. We later saw old photos of it
from the turn of the century and it was much smaller, so it has apparently
grown recently. It seems to be dedicated
to Jana Bosko, who we believe died in 1888 and has been sanctified. As I have no wifi as I write this in the
deepest countryside of the Czech Republic, I cannot check up on my facts –
Later !!
We then walked
along the river, and up to the Castle.
Winding up the short drive we found a few stalls set up, and wandering
into the castle itself, where we were advised that today, entry was free ! All
to do with it being the first day of Autumn, we found out. We went up the tower, where we had views over
the countryside, and the forests around Auschwitz – Birkenau. We then explored
the museum, which was really just the history of Oswiecim. Hard to follow, as mostly in Polish, but very
interesting, regardless. As we left
there was a rapidly increasing number of locals (rather than tourists) enjoying
the stalls and the free entry to the museum.
From the castle
we headed back into town, through the square, brought some milk we needed, and
then headed off down the road. Our next destination was Prague, and we could
have chosen to go to there on the autoroutes, of which some are toll roads, and
been there tonight. But we don’t like
the big highways, nor the tolls, so, as usual, we opted for the less-trodden
paths. And right from the beginning our
decision was justified. We travelled
along some delightful country roads and tree lined boulevards, through places
like Jastrzebie-Zdroj, Wodzislow Slaski, and Opava. It rained, it was sunny, we were continually
slowing down to 50 kmh through little villages and speeding up again to 90 kmh,
and somewhere along the way we crossed into Czech Republic – I think it was
near Bohumin. As usual, no signs, no
“Welcome to CZ” or “Thank you for visiting Poland” - we just crossed an invisible line on the
ground and suddenly, as if by magic, all the car number plates changed from PL
to CZ ! I mean, 5 mins earlier we were driving along and all the plates were
PL, and suddenly, they are all CZ – What did the Polish cars do ? All suddenly turn round at the (unmarked)
border and all go back home ? I just
don’t quite understand how the car plates change instantly !!
Once in CZ, and I
am trying very hard not to say Czecholsovakia because of course it isn’t – It
is the Czech Republic, we found an almost immediate change in scenery. Seemingly lots more forest, and rolling
hills, and, un-noticed by us, an increase in altitude. It got colder quite quickly, and when I
checked the altitude, we were at 600 metres.
The temps dropped to about 9 deg C, and the highest we reached on the
road was about 900 metres, but I understand there are some hills here around
1400 metres.
First thoughts of
CZ – LOTS of apple trees everywhere beside the road, absolutely covered in
apples, and lots of seemingly deserted factories all with tall chimneys to mark
them. Are these from Soviet occupation
times ? Why are they all idle with
broken windows ? Why did they shut down
? And very few people seem to speak
English, although, as we were advised in Poland, if you need help, ask a young
person – They mostly speak English.
By about 5.30 pm
we arrived in Sumperk, still about 190 kms from Prague. It had been quite a long day, so we decided
to see if a potential camp site marked on our map really existed, and set off
down a side road with no camping signs at until, right where it was supposed to
be, beside a big lake, was an “Autocampink” sign ! I think the people there were a bit surprised
by our request to camp there, and certainly no English was spoken. But there
were many locals there fishing and enjoying the sunshine, and after filling out
several forms and having to produce passports for the first time in weeks, we were finally allowed to camp right beside
the lake. What a beautiful spot. There were a lot of fishermen around the
lake, and as we walked round the lake and found a couple to talk to (still no
English !) we worked out that they catch carp, they don’t eat or keep them,
just measure them and throw them back, and they seem to spend most of their
time sitting in chairs waiting for some kind of alarm to ring that tells them
when they have a fish on their line ! No
way could I sit there and do that, but they seemed to be enjoying themselves !!
We were too. It is a lovely camp site for the first in CZ,
and tomorrow we will head towards Prague, still sticking to the minor
roads. Going to be cold tonight though,
since we are still at about 300 metres.
Actually we are
beside a lake that seems to be called Vodni Nadrz Krasne tonight, but as you
cannot pronounce it, I use the name of the nearest village – Sumperk !! Whatever, we are in Czech Republic, a place I
have wanted to visit for many years. I
met someone from Prague years ago in Dubrovnik when on holiday, and she got
separated from her family due to the August 1968, and I always wondered about
them and CZ. Now I am here and am having
a chance to see it first hand, thus scratching an old itch of
inquisitiveness.
Pics are here :- Will annotate later
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