Where Terror Began

We had a couple of hours this morning to take a walking tour of Berlin. We had a chance to see the remnants of the Berlin Wall (image below).

Berlin Wall

But the more relevant sites to my Poland visit included the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, also known simply as the Holocaust Memorial (photo below). It was designed by architect Peter Eisenman and consists of 2,711 concrete slabs arranged in a grid pattern on a sloping field.  When you walk through it, you feel uneasy and claustrophobic, which is the intention.  It is located near the Brandenburg gate (photo below too).

Letter Written by 12 Year Old Girl to Her Father
Inside Holocaust Memorial Museum

Letters Written by Holocaust Victims to Family
Shared by Family Members or Discovered

Holocaust Memorial in Berlin
Museum is Below Ground

Brandenburg Gate in Berlin - a former city gate and
one of the man symbols of Berlin.

We visited the Topography of Terror site and museum, which is where the headquarters of the Gestapo and SS was during the Nazi era. The buildings were destroyed when the allies invaded in 1945 and all that's left is a site dedicated to remembering what once stood there.

Topography of Terror Site

Finally, the most surprising of all, was Hitler's Bunker.  The ruins of the bunker, were completely leveled by the Russians in 1945 and later filled in with earth.  What's left is basically a grassy area in an apartment complex.  Rumour has it, this is a popular place for people to take their dogs....really!

Seriously - This was Hitler's Bunker

Reading the Signs

Just arrived in Berlin, where I will be for a conference this week...pre-Poland.  On the plane, passengers were all asking to read this German magazine called Der Spiegel. I said Danke and took one, only to find inside a story about Eichmann. The title was "Triumph de Gerechtigkeit", translated that means "Triumph of Justice".

Interesting considering my trip ahead, that this 

article was about the Holocaust

Food Glorious Food

Now that most of the tours are lined up...

Finalized Schindler's Factory on the morning of April 6th followed by an afternoon of Auschwitz and Birekenau...8 hours total. Also confirmed the Wieliczka salt mine on the 7th morning followed by Krakow guided tour in the afternoon.

...it's time to start booking restaurants. Highly rated online is Wierzynek in Krakow.

My concierge at the Sheraton Krakow wrote me today and said it "is the best and the most recommended restaurant in Krakow, it is one of the symbols of our city. I would also highly recommend restaurant on Grodzka Street: Miod Malina (also very popular), Marmolada, Wesele – they all serve traditional polish cusine. Also the restaurant “Pod Aniolami” and “Ancora” are very good."

Too much food...too little time!

It's a Small World After All

Last week I emailed my colleagues at Roche in Poland and I just received an amazing offer. My counterpart, who lives in Warsaw, Anna Karska-Szymańska, who is a Business Unit Manager, has offered to take us personally on April 5th to Szydlow, Potok and Rakow, which are all in the Kielce Province. My Grandfather was born in Szydlow, and my Grandmother was born in Potok and lived in Rakow.

What a great opportunity to have a local person show us around and see what life is really like.

This IS a small small world!

Great News!

Today I found out that my Uncle Myer will be joining me on the Poland trip.  This is great news on many levels, and I am really looking forward to spending some time together.

Now, having a travel companion, it makes sense to take the private tour through the hotel concierge connection. So, at least for the Auschwitz/Birkenau day we will have a really detailed, personal tour and opportunity to learn.

Connections Help!

Last night I decided to try something different.  I wrote to the Sheraton Hotel in Krakow and asked them for help with regard to the Auschwitz, Birkenau and Salt Mine tours.

The Hotel Concierge wrote me back and gave me 3 options.

Here is her email:

Dear Mr Betel,

 

Thank you very much for your email. I will be more than happy to assist you with setting the toursJ Please be kindly informed that regarding the tours to Auschwitz – Birkenau and Salt Mine, there are 3 options:

1. for both tours you can go with company called Cracow Tours and to Auschwitz they come to the hotel and pick our guests up every day at 9:15am. The tour lasts about 6hours and the cost for a ticket is 120PLN per person and the guide and transport is already included in this price. Tour to Salt Mine they do twice a day, 9:15am and 2:55pm and it is exactly the same situation as with Auschwitz . Ticket costs 125PLN per person and tour lasts about 4hours. If you decide to go on the tour with Cracow Tours, you do not need to book it in advance, you just need to be in our hotel lobby about 5min before departure and you will have to have polish money to buy the tickets and you buy them at the bus driver.
2. we can book our hotel car to take you to Auschwitz, it costs 380PLN both ways including waiting and up there you can join one for the regular tours in English and will have to pay admission, which costs 38PLN per person. Or I can book a private English speaking guide for you, the cost is 250PLN including admission.

The cost for a hotel car to Salt Mine and back including waiting, is 250PLN. And again the same situation as with Auschwitz, you can either join on of the regular tours and pay the admission, 68PLN per person or I can book a private English speaking guide for you, the cost is 268PLN + admission 68PLN per person.

3. We also cooperate with private English speaking guide here in Krakow, who can take you and look after you all the way from the hotel till the very last end when you are back to the hotelJ If you decide to take the tour with that guide, the cost is as follows:

Auschwitz – 850PLN in total for both persons and the guide has got his own car so you don’t need to pay extra for transport

Salt Mine + Schindler’s Factory – about 752PLN including transport and admissions

I would also recommend you to go on Krakow sightseeing tour including Jewish Quarter and it costs about 350PLN + possible admissions

So here's the funny part. I'm back to Crakow Tours again, the people who said they were all booked and couldn't accommodate me!  

For me, I'm thinking option 1 is the best choice. Part of the experience is mingling with other people and who wants to pay that much more just for a driver?  The costs above are divided by 3 to convert to Canadian/US, so you can see for example, a day at Auschwitz can range from the group tour price of $80 to the private tour with guide price of almost $300.

I also found out who the General Manager is at The Sheraton where I'm staying and sent her a note through Facebook letting her know how much I was looking forward to my visit and staying at her hotel.  I'm hoping she looks me up in the registry and offers me a nice upgrade....stay tuned.....

Hey - who said traveling is easy?

Tour Guide Success!

Great news to wake up to this morning!

One of the routes I took to try and identify a guide was to contact the Jewish Community of Krakow.

http://krakow.jewish.org.pl/index.php?lang=e

I wrote an email asking for assistance with my trip, and a couple of weeks later, just when I had given up hope, I received a response from a woman named Ruth.  She lives in Krakow and generously agreed to take me around Krakow the day I arrive (April 4th), and drive with me to Szydlow, Rakow and Potok, the towns where my Grandparents were born and lived. This is fantastic because Ruth can translate and act as a guide - exactly what I need.  One of my goals is to visit the Civic Offices and try to get the original birth records for my Great Grandparents, my Grandmother, and maybe even property deed records if at all possible.

Ruth did recommend taking a guided tour to Auschwitz and Birkenau as well as the Salt Mine - safer and easier with regard to entrance and travel.

Coincidentally, I also heard from the #2 Tour Company , Krakow Tours telling me they were completely booked the days I wanted to have them. Oh well!  Fate????

So now I'm booked now for :

April 4th to see Krakow, Old Town and the Jewish District of Kazimierz - Hey I have half a day!
April 5th: Szydlow, Rakow and Potok

Still to plan:
April 6th: Auschwitz, Birkenau (this is a whole day)
April 7th: Wieliczka Salt Mines (2 hours here) and Oskar Schindler's Factory (3 hours needed here)

Somehow need time to see Main Market Square (Rynek Glowny), and Cloth Hall (Sukiennice) in Krakow, which are supposed to be really great.

It's going to be a very busy 4 days!!!!

Finding the Right Tour Company

Ok getting closer!  After a lot of online searching I thought of TripAdvisor! I found Krakow Tours (ok not the most original name) who are rated #2 of 15 Tour companies in Krakow.  Hey, who's #1?  I can't seem to identify them using the site.

Anyway, I've requested the Auschwitz, Birkenau and the Wieliczka Salt Mine 1 day tour for April 6th.  This looks like a really full day starting at 8:00am and returning to the hotel at 6:30pm. Yikes!!!!  The price seems amazing at 185 PLN, which is like $65USD... I'm thinking it must be a small group versus an individual tour which is fine.

Here's the write up from their site: http://www.krakowtours.co.uk/sightseeing.html

"It may sound like a lot to fit into 1 day, but we make it extremely comfortable for you. An 8.00am collection from your hotel gets you to Auschwitz well before 10.00am so you can visit at your own pace without having to join a large guided group, you can watch the DVD 'The liberation of Auschwitz' during the journey, saving time at the museum. When you're ready we'll travel the short distance to Birkenhau, where again you can visit at your own pace. Then, if required, you can enjoy one of our packed lunches on the journey to the Wieliczka Salt Mine where you'll join an English speaking guide for the tour. Finally returning to your hotel for approximately 6.30pm."

Stay tuned as I plan the remaining days of my quickly approaching trip.  I may use the same company for a walking tour of Krakow....waiting to hear back from them with more details.

Setting up the tours

Ever try to find a tour group using Google? OMG there are literally hundreds that pop up.  Who can you trust? I emailed one very professional looking company and they want $600 USD for a one day private tour.

Does this sound like a lot to you? It does to me....

I did get a referral for my trip last year, but communication has been...well...sporadic at best.  When the volcano hit last year, this guy never responded to me when I wrote that I had to cancel because I couldn't get to Krakow, Poland.  Later he responded saying he ended up driving stranded travelers to London - and he never told me. Had I actually made it there, he wouldn't have even been there.

I've emailed the Jewish Centre in Poland, the Toronto chapter of the Jewish Genealogical Society, and even tried writing to colleagues at my company working in Poland.
My trip is in 19 days!!!  Between now and then I have 10 days of work related travel!
Lots to do.....