Hey there my Hive friends and followers!
This post has been long overdue. Two years to be exact. It was in March 2021 when I visited the site of what used to be a Nazi concentration camp in Plaszow, the southern suburban neighborhood of the Polish city of Krakow. Why it took me so long to get to working on this post you wonder? Because the place is so overwhelmingly gloomy and depressive that I put the pictures that I took there deep in my Krakow photo file and haven´t really dared to look them again. But I couldn´t forget about my visit of this tragic place and I knew that sooner or later, I should and I would write a post about it because we need to commemorate these events, no matter how hard it is, to make sure that such a bleak history won´t repeat itself.
So finally, here I´m today, presenting what must have been the most difficult post for me to ever write. It will probably be also one of my longest posts as it comes with as many as 45 photos that I took at the site. I decided to put all of them into monochrome since it felt like it was more appropriate to the commemorative character of the post.
When it comes to former concentration camps in Poland, people usually tend to think of the well known sites like those in Oswiecim (Auschwitz), Treblinka or Sobibor but in fact, there was one right in Krakow as well. Originally built as a forced labor camp, the Plaszow Concentration Camp was in operation from October 1942 until January 1945. These days, the site is accessible to the public and there are many different memorials, monuments and educational signs remembering the atrocities that happened there and paying tribute to the victims.
At the entrance, visitors are asked to respect the grievous history of the site.
Here is a sign with some general information about the concentration camp. I did my best to capture the signs in a way that the texts on them can be visible in the pictures so please excuse the unusual and sometimes also uncomfortable angles and perspectives. You may also need to zoom in a bit to read the captions in some cases...
The Plaszow Concentration Camp was built on the site of old Jewish cemeteries and the ruins of the cemeteries are still visible in the eastern part of the camp.
Now, you will see a series of photos of memorials, tombstones and signs with authentic testimonies of some of the prisoners. Please be warned that reading the testimonies may be very disturbing and uncomfortable. They all include an English version of the text too so I will leave them without any further comments...
Very difficult to read and watch, I know. But in fact, there are many more of these signs at the site, I took photos of just some of them. As you might have noticed on one of the signs, a large and magnificent pre-burial hall was a part of one of the old Jewish cemeteries that the camp was built on. The Nazis used this architectural jewel as a barn for the cattle and shortly before the evacuation of the camp when the Red Army was about to liberate it, they destroyed the hall with a great pleasure. The remnants are still there...
Close to the ruins of the hall, there is the Grey House. Originally home to the employees of the old Jewish cemetery, the house was inhabited by the concentration camp staff. Many prisoners were tortured and killed in the basement of the house. It was also where Amon Goth, the notorious commandant of camp had his office. The Grey House hasn´t been altered much since the war, it´s still there but it may be turned into a museum at some point in future.
Talking about Amon Goth, he probably was the most hated, feared, evil and sadistic person in the camp. According to eye witnesses: "he would never start his breakfast without killing at least one prisoner". Goth found perverted pleasure in beating, torturing and killing the prisoners, no matter if they were men, women or children. He was quite accurately depicted in the 1993 Steven Spielberg´s epic historical drama the Schindler´s List. The house where Goth lived was called the Red House and just like the Grey House, it´s still there too. It took me some time to find the Red House in the camp though, I even had to ask some locals for directions but then, I spotted it. It looks almost exactly the same as it does in the actual historical photos...
The balcony that you can see in the picture was Goth´s favorite place to shoot randomly picked prisoners from. Those scenes are depicted in the Schindler´s List movie as well. I was shocked when I found out that the house was bought by a private developer, turned into a luxury villa and now, some people actually live there...
Talking about the Schindler´s List movie, most people don´t know that the camp scenes from the movie were actually shot in the Liban Quarry, a huge limestone quarry which is located just a few minutes walk from the camp. As you might have noticed on one of the signs above, the prisoners of the camp used to work in the quarry. The remnants of the stage set from 1993 are actually still there in the quarry and they are accessible to the public. You can still see the actual watch towers from the movie there...
I think that the Krakow authorities purposely don´t promote this location as a tourist attraction (for understandable reasons of course) because every time that I was there (I actually used to go to the quarry quite often before I learned what happened there), there always were just very few to no people around. I believe that a vast majority of tourists and visitors on Krakow simply don´t know that some famous scenes from the iconic movie were shot in the quarry and the locals who do know may avoid the place to respect its tormented past. With just a very limited human presence, nature has been taking over the quarry and from what I have heard, it´s possible that the place will be turned into a nature reserve as some very rare and fragile ecosystems have been forming on the limestone background.
Let me wrap up this post with a few landscape pictures taken at the site. That will also give you a better idea of the size of the camp.
As you can see, a great part of the former Plaszow Concentration Camp bears no marks of the tragic past anymore. It´s overgrown by vegetation, there are trails and paths in there where people can go for walking and jogging. If you stay away from the parts with the memorials and signs informing about what happened there, you would have probably never guessed that at that very site, thousands of people were exposed to some of the worst atrocities that the human race is capable of.
As I already mentioned in the perex, this post was very difficult for me to write but I think we should never forget what happened in Plaszow and in many other similar places around the world. As one famous saying goes: "Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it." and I think that these days, unfortunately, remembering the past is more important than ever.
Thank you for your attention.
Česky / Czech:
Zdravím do #cesky. Tenhle post se mi opravdu nepsal lehce, ale když už jsem si s ním dal tu práci, tak jsem se rozhodl dodatečně přidat i český tag a dopsat pár vět v naší mateřštině. Mnozí z vás už asi byli na exkurzi v Osvětimi, ale málokdo ví, že jeden koncentrační tábor byl za války i přímo v Krakowě. Jmenoval se Plaszow a dnes naleznete to, co po něm zbylo, ve stejnojmenné krakowské čtvrti. Co se zde za války dělo, se dočtete na speciálních informačních tabulích s autentickými výpovědi svědků a přeživších. Některé z těch tabulí jsem vyfotil, texty na nich jsou v angličtině a polštině, tak snad si s tím nějak poradíte. Ještě dodám, že hned vedle plaszowského koncentráku je velký vápencový lom, kde vězni z tábora v nelidských podmínkách dřeli a umírali. V tomto lomu byla také natočena velká část slavného Spielbergova velkofilmu "Schindlerův seznam" a dodnes jsou tam k vidění kulisy (např. strážní věže), které tam po sobě filmaři zanechali... O Plaszowě a přilehlém lomu ale drtivá většina turistů a návštěvníků Krakowa nemá nejmenší tušení, takže tam nikdy nepotkáte masy lidí jako třeba v Osvětimi nebo v Treblince. Mimochodem, z pietních důvodů jsem všechny fotky upravil do černobílého provedení, pestré barvy se k tomuto místo opravdu nehodí...
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Nikdy som v koncentracnom tabore nebola, kedze by som to nezvladla. Uz len z dokumentarnych filmov je citit strach a bolest a ani si neviem predstavit ako by som sa citila, keby som bola tam.
Tvoje fotky vystihuju atmosferu toho miesta a uplne chapem, ze toto bol tvoj najtazsi clanok. Neviem, ci by som sa ja k tomu odhodlana.
A tiez rozumiem, ze si bol sokovany tym, ze tam niekto byva. Ja si ani nechcem predstavit, co su to za ludia..
Velmi dolezity clanok, ako vravis, ludom treba pripominat historiu, aby sa nezopakovala.
Máš pravdu, tyhle místa opravdu nejsou pro každého. Já se tam ocitl vlastně náhodou... Když jsme žili v Krakowě, tak jsme nějakou dobu dobu bydleli i v židovské čtvrti Kazimierz, odkud jsem často chodíval na procházky k tomu lomu. Nevěděl jsem, co je to za lom, opuštěných lomů je v Krakowě a jeho okolí více... Až jednou jsem se vydal trochu dál a ke svému úžasu se ocitl uprostřed bývalého koncentráku... Na základce jsme byli se školou na exkurzi v Osvětimi, ale jako dítě ještě ty souvislosti moc nepobereš. Teďka jsem to vnímal úplně jinak a musím říct, že ty emoce byly fakt silné... No, jsem rád, že se mi to konečně podařilo sepsat a publikovat, často jsem na to myslel a fakt se mi do toho nechtělo. Díky za zpětnou vazbu ;)
Ja som bola v Krakove len raz a strasne sa mi tam pacilo. Boli sme sa pozriet aj v Zidovskej casti a dokonca som bola prvy krat v Synagoge prave tam. Ale pravdu povediac nebolo mi vsetko jedno. Mne je naozaj tazko, ked rozmyslam nad holokaustom, takze aj navsteva zidovskej casti mi nie je velmi prijemna.
Vidim, ze aj ty mas tie super komenty uplne od temy 🙂 Paci sa mi, ze si im takto odpovedal. Ja to vacsinou ignorujem, lebo neviem ako reagovat 🙂
Tak to rád slyším, že jste tenkrát stihli i židovskou čtvrť, i když jste asi viděli jen malou část, protože je fakt obrovská, mnohem větší než třeba židovské město tady v Praze. My v Krakowě strávili podstatnou část covidového období, kdy bylo ve městě logicky mnohem méně turistů než obvykle, takže jsme si díky tomu mohli dovolit bydlet přímo v srdci Kazimierzu na centrálním náměstí, kterému se říká "Plac Nowy" :) Tam jsme strávili něco přes půl roku, takže můžu říct, že Kazimierz máme opravdu prochozený a hodně jsme si to tam oblíbili. Ta čtvrť má naprosto unikátní atmosféru. Doufám, že ještě někdy do Krakowa zavítáte a budete si to tam moct projít pořádně ;) Ty dva kláštery, o kterých jsme se nedávno bavili, taky rozhodně stojí za návštěvu ;) Podobně jako třeba papežský komplex ve čtvrti Lagiewniki apod...
Joo, pokusy o "comment farming" mívám pod svými články celkem často, zvlášť u těch, které se dostanou na trending page a jsou tak víc vidět... Většinou si jich taky nevšímám, ale když si to někdo dovolí i u takového tématu, tak to se ozvu. I kdyby ten post nečetli (což s největší pravděpodobností nečetli), tak už ten titulek sám o sobě přece jasně vypovídá, o čem se tu bavíme a že spam-komenty typu "beautiful photos", "cool post", "funny" apod. jsou fakt hodně mimo... Zvažoval jsem i pár výchovných downvotů za ignoranství, ale nakonec jsem to neudělal, není to můj styl ;)
It's hard to imagine all those people trying to be physically and mentally strong to be able to withstand all that horror that was happening around them, the hunger, the evil constantly walking among them and seeing how life has no value. There must be a very strong and heavy energy in that place, it´s a sad memory of a part of humanity's past, however, and despite being the most publicized holocaust, it´s not the only one nor has it been the most extensive and cruel. It's a horrible place but at least it exists as a reminder so that something like this will never happen again. I wish there were also places like this to remember the millions of Indians of the American continent who were tortured, enslaved, raped and murdered to extinction by the Spanish, Portuguese, English and French conquerors, or the millions of black people who were separated from their families. enslaved and sold as merchandise to the colonizers.
It´s true that whoever forgets the past runs the risk of repeating it, our politicians use that phrase a lot, but the truth is that the world is far from being a beautiful and fair place for everyone. I think we live a daily holocaust but the distractions of the metaverse, technology and everything else make us forget or perhaps not want to see the number of atrocities that human beings continue to commit against themselves and against nature.
Thank you very much for this thoughtful comment @gatubela. Some very wise and very true words here. I admit I had to google out the total number of victims of the European colonization in the Americas and I was shocked to find out that it´s estimated at some 55 million Indians, which represented 90% of their entire population back then. I didn´t realize this genocide was so enormous... It was in a different era when people thought and acted differently but still, the numbers are just heartbreaking :( Thank you for raising these points again, definitely something to reflect and contemplate on...
You´re welcome @phortun, that´s true, it´s a very deep and complicated theme and you know, indians and black people unlike some, don´t have the power in Hollywood toshow and make massive the holocaust stories they suffered as others have had the opportunity to do. I don't want to get into controversy but just think about this, why are so many Hollywood movies about the Jewish Holocaust and none or and none or very few about the holocaust of the colonizers against the native peoples of the American continent, that of the Turks against the Armenians, that of the English, French and Portuguese against the Africans, or that of the United States against the whole world? I think that the the answer is obvious, so sad but true.
I can only agree. As sad as it is, the history of mankind has witnessed so many genocides (or genocide attempts) but their coverage in movies, books and culture in general varies greatly. Some of them have got a lot of attention while others have got just a little or none... Unfortunately :(
😔😥
In this world there are two realities, that of the visible ones (the powerful) and that of the invisible ones (those who are not) 😶
I can imagine how hard it was to write it, you took the time you needed and now you can close the cycle and conclude your experience in that place, showing what you saw and felt.
Thank you very much for your effort, for honoring the memory of those people who suffered so much, coincidentally yesterday I published a movie review about the photographer of Mauthausen, thanks to him we could see what they did and because of his evidence and testimonies many people were judged, giving a little justice to those souls.
Beautiful publication, I think that I could not step on a place like that because I would not stop crying.
Thank you for your feedback. You are right, it´s hard not to get overwhelmed by emotions at places like this one. I haven´t seen the movie you mentioned yet, I will check it out, thanks for the tip. Have you seen Schindler´s List? Or The Pianist? These are really great movies that tell a lot about what happened in Poland during the World War II...
Yes, I saw both of them very good, Schindler's List touched my heart with gratitude and admiration.
Thanks to you, it is necessary to make this kind of publications that make us more sensitive to the pain of others. 🤗
I know the feeling... before writing about Auschwitz, I kept on trying to find the words to depict how it felt to be there. It's impossible. Only visitors can feel that dense energy around these camps.
Well said my friend. I remember you visited Oswiecim (Auschwitz) during your Eurotrip back in 2018... Difficult topic to right about indeed.
Another reminiscent of the movie are prepared movie prop tombstones on the bottom of query, they just didn't care enough to take them out aftet shooting sceenes.
I really like this place, I used to take my friends there while they visited me in Krakow during my student times. Something different.
Yeah, I know, I have been to the bottom of the quarry several times too. Back then though, I didn´t know what those things were. I know about your fondness for abandoned quarries so no surprise that you know this place well, especially if you studied in Krakow. Thanks for stopping by mate.
Wow, what places, what a bloody history, can't say anything, wish we never knew such moments.
I visited Poland a few years ago and I went to Auschwitz and Birkenau concentration camp, honestly I left with tears in my eyes.
I don't know about visiting these places again.
I didn't know about the place you presented here, we probably visit it too.
Have a wonderful Sunday.
I think we all should visit a place like this at least once in a lifetime so I´m glad you made it to Oswiecim. It´s difficult, it´s painful, it´s emotionally strenuous, I know, but we must never forget...
You are right, we need to know the dark history, we need to see how they planned the extermination of certain people especially Jews.
My experience was an emotional one, I spent enough time there to see almost all the horrors the people brought there by train went through.
And the fact that I had a guide made me understand perfectly how things worked, point by point, yet such cruelty (mental insanity I say) I have never met in other places.
We had some concentration camps in Romania but at a much lower level.
Well said, I´m glad you had the opportunity to take such a tour. Very unsettling but also very enlightening. There were some concentration camps in my country too but not as "famous" as those in Poland or Germany...
You are right, the concentration camp in Poland is the most well known, and the atrocities here are just as well known, when I went there from a souvenir shop I also bought a book, honestly I didn't have the courage to read it because I know I will remember again what I saw there.
That was one of the most tragic events of the past that I have read so far. I somehow understand the reason why it took you a long time to write and post the history of this place because surely, it was never easy to write such kind of event where things are not doing just right.
Still, I am proud of you for the courage. And thanks to you sir, I have an idea about this place and its history because of what you have shared with us in this blog of yours. :-)
Thanks for checking out the post. Usually, I say "it was a pleasure" but I cannot say it this time. Still glad that you took the time to read it and watch the photos though, I appreciate it.
I don't think there are words to describe what's happened there. I saw the movie, had a headache for a whole day. I wanted to watch it again, but after so many years, I still can't get myself together to do it. I was in Poland when I was 9 and my parents decided on not to visit Auschwitz as we were too young. So I'm planning to go back one day.
Thanks for this post. Choosing monochrome was the right decision.
Thank you Erika. I think I watched the movie (Schindler´s List) as a kid or teenager but I didn´t remember it much so when I found out that the movie was actually shot so close to where we lived in Krakow, we watched it again. It´s even more emotional when you actually recognize the locations of the movie scenes... Soon after that, we watched The Pianist too. The Polish people were through so much pain and suffering during the war... I hope you will make it to Oswiecim one day but be warned, it´s really hard for sensitive people.
I hope that the world will never see such ideologies in the future and we humans, all over from the world, have not let them to begin to develop anywhere anytime.
We can do as Nazım said;
To live like a tree alone and free, like a forest in brotherhood, this yearning is ours.
Well said my friend. Nazim was a wise man. Thanks for stopping by.
You know he lived in Prague for a while.
No, I didn´t know that :)
Hiya, @lizanomadsoul here, just swinging by to let you know that this post made it into our Top 3 in Daily Travel Digest #1816.
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Thank you so much Liza and the Pinmapple team! Always a great honor to be featured in the Top of 3 of your daily digest. Really means a lot, thanks.
Men have done and are doing great evil with the powers they suppose they have. I hope the world will come together to uproot such evil as soon as it is detected
Right. Let´s hope and do whatever we can to make sure that such kind of history will never ever repeat itself... Thanks for stopping by.
Pro sebe považuju za nejcennější, že jsem ještě stačil mluvit s několika lidmi, kteří nacistické vyhlazovací tábory přežili. Pak se na všechno další díváš trochu jinak.
To věřím. Předpokládám, že jsi některé bývalé koncentrační tábory i navštívil...
Byl jsem "jenom" v Terezíně. Ve Varšavě a v Kaziměři. Koncem 90.let. To jsem se jako dějepisář účastnil nějakých seminářů v rámci programů pro učitele pořádaných Pražskou židovskou náboženskou obcí a muzeem. Prolezl jsem si pražské ghetto, Terezín... A prováděli nás pamětníci a pamětnice. Měli jsme hodně času na diskusi i na neformální rozhovory u piva. To se nedá popsat... Kolik jsem tam slyšel třeba nekorektních dobových vtipů!
Tak to se divím, že tě kolegové nevzali i do Plaszowa, když už jste byli v Kazimierzu... Z tama je to už jen kousek, přejde se přes Wislu do Podgorze a jsi tam. Ale jestli to bylo v devadesátkách, tak se tam možná zrovna natáčel ten Schindlerův seznam a mohlo to být uzavřené. Kazimierz je velmi zajímavá čtvrť. Bydleli jsme v ní půl roku a moc jsme si to tam oblíbili...
V Krakově jsem byl asi dvakrát v životě. (Což je na mě výkon.) Solné doly Wieliczka a tak. Zajímavé město s výjimečným osudem. Polsko mám procestovanější než třeba Slovensko. Zaímco ve Varšavě jsem byl, tak v Bratislavě a třeba Berlíně ne...
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That´s a lot of replies! Thank you guys :)
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Despite the very long time that has passed there are still some stones that remain intact.
What intact stones are you talking about?
I mean, of course the monuments. How did you not understand that? Does it seem to you that they are made of wood for example?
If you are commenting on the quality of the materials that the monuments were made from, then I have a strong suspicion that you didn´t read the post at all and only came here to farm comment votes. Don´t comment on posts that you don´t read. This will get you nowhere...
You want to find an excuse not to follow me, but it doesn't matter I told you from the beginning You are the ones with the big voting power. You despise the owners of the small accounts I just wasted my time talking to you.😡
The post was about a place where the tragedies of the war happened, where thousands of innocent people died. You obviously didn´t read the post and commented some random unrelated ignorant bullshit only to get the upvote. If you ever do something like this under my post again, I will downvote you. And your accusation is totally wrong as well, I have supported hundreds of small accounts over the years. It doesn´t matter to me if an account is big or small. I consider other things when upvoting. Now try your comment farming efforts somewhere else, you are not welcome on my blog anymore.
The pictures were really good, and I think there's a lot of history in there.
A lot of history indeed. But tragic history. I hope you read the post and are not just commenting for the sake of commenting...
The story is full of history and some tragic moments. The funniest thing is that I love to read but I have never read about this.
I will check it out. Thanks for sharing
If you love to read, you can read the whole post and maybe then, you will find nothing funny about it...
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Thank you @phortun for your sharing.
I guess that visit wasn't easy at all, despite their importance as human beings. One day I would certainly like to visit one of the concentration camps, not as a visit to get a stamp on my "passport", but as a reminder of the atrocities that a government manages to inflict on so many peoples, and even on its own people... In a true spiral of madness, terror, and death. Certainly, in the middle of the 21st century, none of us would think that such a remote memory was something that was so close to our reality.
My great thanks for the content and for the mental reflection that you make possible for each one of us to do.
Great points my friend. Although you haven´t been to a place like Plaszow yet, you obviously have a very good idea of what these places feel like, even after all those decades, and you are also right that nobody from our generation would have ever expected to see similar things happening in Europe in 2020s... So sad :( Thanks for swinging by and sharing your opinions with us, much appreciated.