War on the Eastern Front: From Poland to Berlin
One historian of Eastern Europe has called Poland, “God’s Playground.” This tour of Poland during the Second World War makes this abundantly clear. It is hard to think of a nation that fought as hard and heroically as did Poland; the only country to be at war with Germany from the very first shot in Gdansk in September 1939 to the final defeat of Nazi Germany in the rubble-strewn streets of Berlin in April 1945. It is also humbling to visit many sites associated with Poland and the war in Eastern Europe.
The barbed wire is still strung around the perimeter of Auschwitz.
The entrance gate to Birkenau I, the original part of the Nazi camp, with the sadistically ironic "Arbeit Macht Frei" sign that greeted new arrivals to the camp.
The sorting platform at Birkenau II where new arrivals were selected for work, or immediate murder. The cremetorium were located in the far distance.
Soviet war memorial at the Tiergarten in Berlin.
A rather forlorn Soviet cemetery in Gdansk.
The Scottish bar in Gdansk. is a newfound favorite. No pipes on the last trip.
Our group at the Brandenburg Gate.
The entrance to the escape tunnel used by 76 inmates of Stalag Luft III during what has been memorialised as the "Great Escape."
The Royal Castle on Wawel Hill in Krakow was the first UNESCO World Heritage Site in the world.
A statue of Lenin taken down after the fall of the East German government now keeps an eye on visitors to Berlin's German History Museum.
Memorial to the Victims of War and Tyranny at the Neue Wache in Berlin.
T stadium in Berlin built for the 1936 Nazi Olympics is largely intact.
Memorial to the Red Army atop the Seelow Heights, which was the final battle on the Eastern Front outside of Berlin.