Krakow to Auschwitz to Slovakia to Krakow - Wednesday, 22 June 2016

Today was a day filled with emotions. After learning of yet another Pirates' loss we headed down to breakfast. It was an 8:30 departure today for an hour and a half coach ride to Auschwitz. Having been to Dachau a couple of times, I was a bit more prepared to hear of the horrors conducted at this concentration and extermination camp. The Holocaust is something that is beyound my understanding. How can human beings carry out such atrocities to fellow members of the human racek. We had an excellent guide by the name of Carolina. Her family was from the town and she looked at her guide role as a mission to reach as many people as possible with a passionate and emotional accounting of the Holocaust.

As we walked under the Arbeit macht Frei wrought iron greeting, we got a glimpse of row after row of brick block barracks. The buildings are opened as a museum and memorial to the people who died at this camp. There are rooms of wall-sized pictures and cases of those belongings that were confiscated from the victims.

We got into the prison cell blocks (no pictures allowed) and the gas chambers and the crematorium. Much has been said on numerous tours about how the US did nothing to intervene when we knew what was occurring.

It was a short ride to Bierkenau, Auschwitz II. Here we saw the deplorable conditions under which prisoners were kept. One book was mentioned that should be a must read for all is Hope is the Last to Die by Halina Birenbaum. She was a 13 year old survivor of the camp.

Back to the hotel to begin my personal journey of the trip - a drive to Slovakia to find the home villages of my maternal grandparents. We met our driver, Thomas Armatys, and off we went to find Jakubany, Slovakia. It was a pretty straightforward drive through beautiful countryside. We did make a couple of wrong turns, but they were easily corrected. Jakubany is a very small village with a seemingly large gypsy population at one end. I found the house that was indicated on my grandfather's birth registration - #159. We knocked on the door and were greeted by a very elderly lady who was so nice. Thomas translated her Slovakin to his Polish to our English. She was a bit confused and said that those people didn't live there any longer.  She felt that the family still had a presence in the village and that the mayor may be part of it. We were directed to the shopkeeper, whom we found, finally, up the street a bit. He concurred and suggested that an old lady may be related to the family. We found her and she agreed, but couldn't offer any more information. I must say that all the people, although they greeted us with skepticism, were incredibly nice and very talkative. We did find the Greek Orthodox church of the baptismal records.

And so we headed to the town of Stotince, which we found out was a street. Thomas opted for following the GPS. This led to an adventure on half-paved roads for about 51k. We weren't sure what we would find at every turn. We finally got to a paved road and found the place in Ihl'fany, Slovakia. It was getting toward dusk and as we drove into a gypsy settlement, we realized that the place must have changed. My grandmother was born in house 105. After talking to a farmer returning from his field, we learned that both the Russians and the Germans occupied the village during the war and changed all the numbers. So we got a couple of pictures and decided to return to Krakow.

On the way we stopped for a hot dog and to stretch our legs before returning to the hotel at midnight. Love the Polish hot dogs. The dog is inserted into a cylindrical bun so you can eat it with one hand.

It was a very long day and drive, but I am so glad I have the perspective now of where my grandparents' came from. It leaves me with many questions as to how and with what means they left their native land. More for me to research, especially with a new name that might provide another clue.