Poland, war and the holocaust.

We cross the border between Lithuania and Poland on the recommendation of a fellow traveler who knows the area well along the small roads, because of the weight limits. It feels good once again to have sand under the wheels. Soon we exchange the sand for asphalt. Sometimes good, sometimes bad, the best is still the gravel roads. And it must go forward, so accelerate and drive. First stop is Wolfsschanze at Gierłoź, here was Hitler’s headquarters. Wooowww what a place, what remains of it. Because when it turned out that the war was lost, all the bunkers were blown up and you can be sure that something was needed for that, bunkers of 40 x 20 meters with walls of 7 meters thick, you don’t just blow that up. After Hitler’s headquarters we head south and visit the 2nd largest concentration and extermination camp Treblinka. That is something else, it does something to a person. 800,000 people lost their lives here in the gas chambers, thousands of people were executed in the forests where there was also a labor camp. There is nothing left of it, here too everything was taken away and burned to the ground when the end of the war came. Treblinka, a very beautiful monument, a very beautiful site, a place that should never be forgotten. We will not soon forget Treblinka. A little further south, the city that rises from the ashes. Warsaw, the phoenix city, completely rebuilt, or completely destroyed by the end of the 2nd world war. The “old” part of the city has been reconstructed from the drawings and paintings that were there. The new modern center has only just been under construction since the fall of communism. Interesting, very interesting, but I’m not daring to write about this, there is plenty to find on the internet. We experienced it and thought it was worth recommending as a city trip. After 3 days it is time to leave Warsaw and drive further south. A day later we arrive in Krakow, also here 3 days of city trip, Warsaw was just more fun. The salt mine that we visited in Krakow was a pleasant and welcome break from the city trip. We visit Schindler’s factory, museum mainly about the Nazi period and the Jewish ghettos in this black period. A visit to the largest concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz the following day is again very moving. Just hope something like that never happens again. And if you have the opportunity, this is more than worth a visit. And so we leave Poland, the rollercoaster does not stop, now the Czech Republic. Time is running out, planning is tight. In the Czech Republic we visit the area of ​​the middle Bohemian where we also make time for a wonderful walk, too long ago I enjoy it. The next day it is back city trip. Prague, beautiful beautiful beautiful, but busy we have never had it so busy. After 3 days of city tripping it has been enough and we continue west and we immediately cross the Czech-German border. We drive through Germany to France in 2 days, have decided to make another D-tour along the champagne region to build up a party supply for the Christmas period. We also visit friends in the Belgian Ardennes to catch a breath of the fantastic 5 months we had. Then we drive on to the home front to spend the holidays with family and friends.