καιρός remembered

Oswiecim

Having come into being at the end of the war and been born in a Netherlands that had regained its freedom, the horrors of the Second World War have been etched into my consciousness through harrowing images and stories.
One morning in 2007, on the train from Kraków to Prague, we made a stopover in Oświęcim. For us, it was merely a stopover; for 1.5 million people – between 1941 and 1945 – it was the final destination.

A visit to Auschwitz is not something you simply forget. Images of buildings, barracks, the railway line, the ruins of the gas chambers, the green grass … they blend with the images and testimonies I have seen and read in photographs, films and books, and which have lingered in my memory over the years.

In the evening, we walk back to the station in silence to continue our journey.
I have never seen a station as sinister as the one in Oswiecim.

Photo of the week: Station at Oswiecim, Poland 2007