Auschwitz

This page is slightly out of chronological order, but for obvious reasons it really ought to be on it's own and not buried in the midst of Krakow. 

On the final full day of the holiday, most of the group wanted to pay a visit to the site of the World War II concentration camps of Auschwitz, Birkenau and Monowitz, just over an hours drive from Krakow.

This was a very moving day.  To be at the sites were so many were murdered, simply because of their ancestry, is a sobering experience.  The sheer size and scale of the camps was unexpected, and the overall atmosphere was sombre.  The guides who take you around and explain exactly what happened in each section of the site also manage to reduce it from the sheer unimaginable weight of numbers to individuals, which further increases the atmosphere.  Having said that, I would say that it is a place that most people, of whatever background, should visit once in their lives.