#7 – This was a heavy one. Spent the weekend in Krakow and used Saturday to visit Auschwitz Birkenau Concentration and Death Camp. Incredibly powerful and moving stuff. It certainly makes me thankful for every single opportunity and luxury this world has given me.

Auschwitz

While the majority of my Saturdays up until this point have been spent partying and chasing thrills, this Saturday was much more sobering. A gloomy morning in Poland set the tone for the day as a group of us ventured to Auschwitz for a tour.

They pull absolutely no punches with this tour and show you everything. Certain areas are off limits for photography simply out of respect for the victims. Entire rooms, I mean massive showcases, are filled with shoes, luggage and even hair of the 1.3 million people who were murdered here.

We walked into gas chambers where up to 3,000 prisoners could be killed all at once. Prisoners were often tricked into these upon arrival. When they arrived on the train they were inspected, given a towel and told they were going into the showers for their decontamination.

We stood in front of “The Death Wall” where prisoners were often removed from their bunkhouses and shot and killed on the spot.

I could go on, but I think you get the idea. It’s hard to wrap your head around something like this happening in our world less than 100 years ago. It’s even harder to believe that similar conditions exist elsewhere in the world as we speak.

A pretty sobering day and a friendly reminder to think twice before you complain.