Weekly Photo Challenge: Rare

Location: Auschwitz Concentration Camp, Poland

It caught my eye while visiting the notorious Auschwitz concentration camp in the German-occupied Poland where thousands of Jews and Non-Jews alike were exterminated by the Nazis in World War II.

Unintended or by design, this set of flowers, surrounded by barbed wires, indicated that beauty could bloom even in the most dire of situations.

Right there and then, I decided to take its picture. I thought that was the least I could do to preserve its memory long after it was gone.

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Remembering Elza

For Friday Fictioneers 100-Word Challenge 30 January 2015

Photo Credit: Ted Strutz

Nathan flicked on the switch as he entered the old brick barrack. It was almost empty, but in his mind, it was still populated by the ghosts of the past.

He remembered Elza, the woman he fell in love with. Despite dire conditions in the camp, he remembered her positive attitude. He remembered her toughness trading sex for bread to feed her sick mother. Shortly before liberation, she died in the gas chamber.

Surviving the holocaust, Nathan searched for her in the many relationships he had. Only in death months later that he found her waiting on the other side.

Note:I wrote this story in commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz on Jan. 27th. We must continue to remember what happened in the past so that it won’t ever happen again.

70th anniversary of auschwitz liberation

location: auschwitz, oswiecim, poland

in remembrance cut into pieces the ailing heart bled no more because it was dead

 

weekly photo challenge: renewal

 
i took this photo at the auschwitz concentration camp in poland where millions of jews were exterminated by the germans during world war ii. no one who has visited the place can leave without feeing the pain and grief of the victims and the enormous loss of human lives.

it was on a spring morning when i went. walking around the concentration camp, i saw these blooming flowers surrounded by a crown of rusty thorns. they seemed to signify hope of renewal amidst the ruins, that all is not lost, if we don’t forget the lessons of the past.

A Taste of Poland

Location: Krakow, Poland
 
I never thought crossing the border into Poland from the Czech Republic would be a non-event. We went straight through without showing our passport.

It wasn’t hard adjusting to the Polish language either as it shares the same Slavic heritage with the Czech. I didn’t have to struggle as much to learn the key phrases to survive. For example, if I want to say “Hello” in Czech, i’d say “Dobrý Den.” In Polish, it’s “Dzien Dobry.” If I want to say “Please” in Czech, I’d say “Prosim“. In polish, it’s “Prosze“. If I want to say “Thank you” in Czech, I’d say “Dekuji“. In Polish, it’s “Dziekuje.” And so on.

We stayed for four days and three nights in Poland.

It included a visit to Auschwitz and Birkenau Concentration Camps where millions of jews were exterminated during World War II.

Walking around the sites surrounded by barbed wires and guard towers brought back memories of the holocaust.

Some of the barracks have been converted into exhibits. There are thousands of personal artifacts belonging to the prisoners: shoes, eyeglasses, kitchen utensils. There’s a mountain of shorn hair from female prisoners destined for textile mills (yes, the Nazis used human hair for manufacturing clothing materials). There’s even a collection of salvaged canisters of cyanide used in the mass gassing of the Jews. These exhibits left a chilling and lasting impression on me, especially when we entered the actual gas chamber in Birkenau and heard the squeaking door closed behind us.