I went to Poland, it was awesome.

[Paul Murray]

Howdy,

Got back from a uni trip to Poland yesterday. It was amazing.



Read about it here if you're interested: So I went to Poland - Paul Murray, Graphic Designer

Anyone else been?

I managed to get to see Auschwitz which was an incredible if uncomfortable experience.

We also visited a couple of Polish graphic design studios who were producing some great work (I'll probably have a blog post about this up at some point in the near future).

And yes, Comic Sans and Papyrus were used a lot in signage there too!

[Tony Hardy]

And yes, Comic Sans and Papyrus were used a lot in signage there too!

Hahaha. :icon_thumbdown:

I've always wanted to go to Poland, got a friend who lives there and I've always wanted to get out there.

I bet Auschwitz was an excellent experience? Shocking and chilling I bet, but totally one of those things that would have to be done when you're there.

[squeezee]

I've been to Krakow several times, a great city, I'd recommend it to anyone. Auschwitz was OK - it was Birkenau that I found disturbing, the shear scale of it. The salt mines were brilliant, a cathedral carved out of rock salt!

[Tony Hardy]

I thought Birkenau and Auschwitz were the same thing?

[Paul Murray]

They are, Birkenau is the 2nd main area of the camp where the train would arrive carrying Jewish prisoners.

[squeezee]

Auschwitz 1 was the 'nice' camp that they showed to the Red Cross, it's where all the medical experiments were carried out, it houses the museum, banks of shoes, cases, hair etc. Auschwitz 2 was Birkenau, basically a railway siding with some chimneys at the end, that was the 'not nice' camp. Auschwitz 3 was a factory complex for slave labour, I'm not sure that it has survived.
Nice & not nice are relative terms.
I found that I hadn't taken many photos when there, it does that to you.

[Paul Murray]

I found that I hadn't taken many photos when there, it does that to you.

Yeah, I felt a bit strange taking pictures at times. It's important to remember the place though. That's why it's still standing, as a reminder of what happened.

Everybody seems to find something different there that triggers an emotional response; for one of my friends it was one picture out of hundreds on a wall that had a flower placed beside it, obviously by a relative of the person pictured, for her sister it was seeing the piles of suitcases that once owned prisoners most prized belongings.

For me it was actually peering through a hole in a cell door and seeing what a Nazi soldier would have seen, having my nose touching where his would have. That freaked me out a little.

[squeezee]

I was taken to a dinner party (Polish style) in the evening, i was asked 'where had I been today?' I answered 'Auschwitz' and the old guy said, 'Yes, I was there...1942, I think' :icon_crying:

[Paul Murray]

Wow, that's heavy... :(

[Minuteman Press]

Poland is fascinating. Been over a number of times - Czestochowa is also well worth visiting and is near Krakow.

We have a family house 20km from the Polish border (in Czech Republic) - so when over often shop in Poland. We were caught in Poland during the terrible floods a few years ago. When Poland was preparing for EU membership that was tough for the people - lots of poverty, big price rises; we saw some tough sights and suffering.