Krakow with Riley...Day 3 and then home to Warsaw!

This morning Riley and I split up from the rest of the group...and you will see why. President Nielson, Devin and Scott took a tour to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camps. A tour like this is life changing and helps to understand the history of Poland. Death camps such as these were numerous and scattered throughout this country.

At the entrance of Auschwitz....under the 'infamous' sign: "Work will make you free".

Scott and Devin at the 'firing wall' where over 5000 people were executed.

The men and women were housed in separate barracks....Women on the left and Men on the right.

Electric fences made sure no one left their designated areas.

The Birkenau Death Camp was located a few kilometers away. It was actually at this camp (not Auschwitz), that the torture and murder of over one million people took place. This 'cattle car' was how they would transport the prisoners from the ghettos in the cities to the camps. Sometimes 100 people would live in these cars and it would take 9-11 days to arrive at the camp.

The tracks leading into the camp. Notice the building in the back.

A picture taken in the early 1940's.............. The prisoners got off the "cattle cars" here and these men sized them up and determined if they were "fit" to live and work or immediately sent to the gas chambers. This was the very spot where Scott and Devin were standing in the above photo.

As the German army was leaving Poland at the end of WWII, they blew up the gas chambers and cremetoria used to dispose of the bodies who had been killed here. A very sobering place to visit.

You might ask what Riley and I were doing during this part of her visit.....Well, we were busy picking up a few souvenirs for her to take home to her siblings and cousins. And she found this great box of puzzles that we couldn't resist buying.

After meeting up the others, we headed back to Warsaw on a very busy and slow road! (The construction around the country is getting worse as they are using every bit of daylight to strive to finish the highways for the 2012 Euro Cup.) Upon arriving home, Riley couldn't wait to try out her new puzzles. (Can you guess who slept in the car on the way home?)

Still having more energy, Riley decided that tonight would be a good night to fill all the candy jars in the mission home with the American candy that she and her parents had brought with them. She did a good job deciding which candies would look best in which jars! The missionaries will love this.