Night 4 Evening Meal 29th April – Wierzynek

Address: Main Market Square, 15

Web: www.wierzynek.pl

In 1364 the king of Poland – Casimir the Great held a sumptuous feast to celebrate the wedding of his granddaughter Elisabeth with Charles IV, the holy Roman Emperor. Mikolaj Wierzynek a wealthy merchant and councillor of Krakow was asked by the king to host the event.

He handled the task with great care and sincerely overwhelmed his noble guests with a lavish welcome. According to the chronicles the tables were groaning with food and drinks and the guests celebrated for 20 days and nights without pause, while debating the current political issues of Europe.

At Wierzynek Restaurant the great medieval tradition of feasting is continued, with cuisine based on old polish courtly recipes including local delicacies such as: game, mushrooms and fish from polish streams.

Decor (8/10) – highly traditional for Palace decor from Polish region, with high painted ceilings, notable art on the walls and silver wear presented on the tables.

Atmosphere (8/10) – seated at a window table over-looking the main square and treated as individual you would not be able to tell this was one of the hardest restaurants in Poland to get a booking for.

Food (9/10) – Traditional Polish with the highest quality food we have had. Starter consisted of lightly fried sheep’s cheese; main was lamb and dumplings served in a traditional manner

Service (8/10) – gave time between courses and were very professional and very attentive

Value for money (7/10) – Only here in Poland could you eat at the most expensive and famous of restaurants and still end with a reasonable bill at the end of the day.  We had wine with this meal which did double the price but still only to a value of £30 per person for meal and wine.

Overall 40/50 = 80%

Krakow day 4 – 29th April 2011: Auschwitz – Birkenau tour PART II

PART B – Auschwitz II – Birkenau 

Hell gate – in 1944 the numbers arriving begun to increase dramatically. A rail line was extended in to the camp. The entrance gate through which the trains past was known as hells gate

Remains of the wooden barracks – for those not selected for extermination they were sent in to the work camp, the building were burnt by the Nazi during liberation to hide the evidence of what had occurred.  

Interior of barracks – hundreds of prisoners were crowded into each of these barracks, an average of five people shared one bunk

Entrance to the camp – for those selected for the concentration camp

The ruins of the gas chambers – in late 1944, the camp authorities ordered the dismantling of the gas chambers as a campaign to erase the evidence of crime at the end of the war

The railways spur – the full length of the area where SS officers carried out the selection of the Jews

Memorial to the victims of the death camp – unveiled in 1967 as a reminder and warning to future generations of humanity

Krakow day 4 – 29th April 2011: Auschwitz – Birkenau tour PART I

Auschwitz – Birkenau is the world’s biggest concentration camp established by the Nazis during World War II in Poland. Currently, the site it the world-known symbol of the Holocaust, and the erected museum enables the visitor to encounter the former site of mass extermination. 

Auschwitz Camp was established in 1940. It initially served as a concentration camp and as a place of deportation of Poles, alongside Soviet prisoners. In 1942 it also became the biggest camp of immediate and mass extermination of Jews, Poles, Roma people and representatives of other nations and ethnic groups.

As a result of rapid expansion of Auschwitz, new camp were introduced into the complex. In 1941, the Nazis created a camp in Brzexinka, a village situated close to Auschwitz. It was supposed to be a place of detention of war prisoners but gas chambers were erected as soon as 1942. Auschwitz II Birkenau, soon became the place of the biggest mass murder, its is estimated that 90% of Auschwitz victims were exterminated in this camp only.

The plan of liberating the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp by the Red army was devised in 1944, and its ultimate liberation took place in January 27, 1945. The number of Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp victims is estimated at 1.1 million, including 960,000 Jews, p to 75,000 Poles, 21,000 Roma people, 15,000 Soviet war prisoners and up to 15,000 people of other nations and ethnicities.

In 1947, the National Museum was established on the area of the liberated camp, and in 1979, the facility was included in the UNESCO world Heritage site as the only concentration camp in the world. In 1999, the museum changed its name to Auschwitz – Birkenau state museum, and is currently a place visited by 600,000 people a year.

PART A – Auschwitz I

Entrance gate to Auschwitz I – with the inscription “work will make you free”, before the war the Polish Army barracks stood here. The SS decided to set up a concentration camp for Polish political prisoners here in the mid-1940 because the buildings could be used to house the growing number of Poles being detained.

 

Double layer electric fence – on the entrance to the camp and surrounding the whole area

Camp buildings – around 26 blocks were present to hold the prisoners.

Exhibitions – the daily horror of life in the camp are today displayed in some of the barracks, as well as belongs left at the day of liberation

 

Empty Zyklon-B canisters – found on the grounds of the camp after liberation, usedas a regular mean of mass extermination.

The “wall of death” – this is a reconstruction of the wall near block 11 used for the summary executions carried out by the firing squad. Usually covered in flowers, it now serves as a place of remberance.

Roll call square – roll call took place up to three times a day and could last for hours. Eventually, due to the increasing number of prisoners, roll call was taken in front of individual barracks.

Gas chamber – the entire Auschwitz complex had seven gas chambers, and five crematoria, the first and only remaining one is located at Auschwitz I.

Night 3 Meal – Miod Malina

Address: ul. Grodzka 40

Web: www.minodmalina.pl

Decor (8/10) – traditional rustic with open fire and log piles, this restaurant has been around since 1927. We sat in the secret garden which continued the theme.  

Atmosphere (7/10) – very cosy, never over packed, very easy to relax into your meal

Food (8/10) – Starter consisted of lightly fried sheep’s cheese; main was lamb and dumplings served in a traditional manner

Service (6/10) – gave time between courses and were very professional

Value for money (9/10) – Excellent vale for money on the food for the quality, as with other places, beer was the option to drink as wine would double the bill

Overall 38/50 = 76%

Evening cocktail drink – the Piano rouge; a bar located in the cellar along the main square, themed in red with a piano bar.  

Krakow day 3 – Oskar Schindler’s factory

Located at 4 Lipowa St in Krakow 

The permanent exhibition titles Krakow under Nazi occupation 1939-1945 is now housed within the factory offering the visitor a time travel through the city’s history. It presents the history of Krakow’s inhabitants, both Polish and Jewish, and of the prisoners of the concentration camp that Oskar Schindler managed to save by having work at his factory.   

Factory front – the factory is now part of the Holocaust memorial  

Fragments of the exhibition – pictures showing Krakow under Nazi occupation

Stamping machine – used for official documentations

Oskar Schindler’s office – containing sample pots left over from when the factory was in production

Memorial to the loss of Polish and Jewish life –

 

Outside the factory – remains of the work done at the factory –