A Deep and Dark Day in Kraków, Poland

Today we visited a salt mine, not something I would regularly do….. first up, a 40 flight stair decent.

Deep!

This former working salt mine has been converted into a tourist attraction….. y’all know how much I love those!

Salt carvings of all kinds.

Evidence of water leaks, “Don’t be concerned with those”.

More carvings, don’t ask me about that horse statue or the life of a horse down here.

Oh, let’s descend farther!

A small chapel for the miners.

A big chapel for the tourists.

Da Popa, JP II, the only Polish Popa.

Salt Lake.

Some kind of chamber with a wooden structure.

Just when you thought things couldn’t get deeper and darker, we took a 1.5 hour bus ride to the Auschwitz Concentration camp. At this point, I really struggled with what I saw and some of what I photographed and especially how I was going to present it in my blog. After some reflection I decided to present a very limited number of photos without commentary, just the facts. In the end, I ask you to do more research on this site and if at all possible to visit it. The horror of its subject and vastness of its scale can only be absorbed with an in person visit. Shown above, the main gate.

Electrified double fences.

Rows and Rows of “Blocks”.

Many of the Blocks had been converted to house displays which depicted life and death here. In one it displayed piles and piles of the victims items including hair, shoes, suit cases, glasses, etc. (Out of respect, those items and displays were not photographed by this photographer, Im guessing you can find that information on line.)