波兰／Poland（Part 2）

＊克拉科夫／Krakow
华沙虽然不小，但想要看的景物在一天之内就已经看完了，所以隔天就乘火车到下一个城市，即这次波兰行的焦点克拉科夫去。
Warsaw is not that small a city, but I’d more or less covered the sights that I wanted to see in a day, so the next day, I took a bus to the next destination, Krakow.

克拉科夫原本是波兰的首都，直到1596年才失去了首都的身份。正因为它是古代的首都，这里有不少建筑和街道是从中古时代保留下来之今，整个城市非常有“老”的感觉，因此每年吸引的游客远比华沙多。
Krakow was originally the capital of Poland, until 1596 when the capital city was moved to Warsaw. Since this was the ancient capital, you can find lots of old buildings and old streets. As such, lots of tourists are attracted by the ‘old’ feel here, with this city getting more visitors each year than that of Warsaw.

克拉科夫最大的旅游景点就是第二世界大战时纳碎人的种族清洗屠杀场奥斯威辛集中营，也正因为在《辛德勒的名单》里头看到了这个集中营的故事，我才会对波兰感兴趣，因此到了克拉科夫之后，最先去参观的就是这个埋葬了100至150万人性命的地方。
The biggest draw for visitors to Krakow has got to be the site of the Holocaust, Auschwitz. This was what drew me to Krakow too. Naturally, the first stop was to this place which witnessed the deaths of between one to one and a half million people during the Second World War.

参观奥斯威辛集中营有两种方式，一个是跟团，另一个当然是“自己来”。几乎所有的青年旅舍或酒店都可以安排你参加团到奥斯威辛去，这种团的好处是有人全程帮你讲解这个地方的历史，当然这些团一点也不便宜。不过其实不跟团，自己去也可以，因为奥斯威辛集中营本身就有安排导游帮你讲解。即使付了导游费，再加上车费，你最终花的钱还是会比跟团的少将近30欧元（约60新元）。自己乘车一点也不麻烦，因为克拉科夫的巴士总站有直通车到奥斯威辛集中营。
There are two ways to tour Auschwitz. One is to join a tour and the other is of course, DIY. Almost all hostels or hotels can arrange for you to join tours for Auschwitz. The good thing about tours like these is that, not only do you not have to worry about the transportation aspect; you get a guide to explain to you the full history of the place. Naturally these tours do not come cheap. If you do not wish to join a tour, you can actually visit Auschwitz by yourself. There are direct buses from the bus station in Krakow to Oswiecim, which drops you right outside the Auschwitz Museum. And in Auschwitz itself, you can sign up for guided tours. Even after paying for the guided tour, you will still be spending about 30 Euros (about 60 SGD) lesser than if you joined a tour from Krakow.

奥斯威辛集中营原本是波兰军人的兵营，不过在1940年被纳碎人用来囚禁波兰犯人，最后却成了灭绝犹太人的屠杀场。奥斯威辛的入口上面写着“Arbeit Macht Frei”（工作让人自由）。进去之后看到的是一栋又一栋的营房。这些营房是很多犹太人度过他们生命中最后几个月的地方，有一小部分营房是纳碎人的“办公室”，如今这些都成了展示二战之间发生的种族清洗的展览厅。
The Auschwitz was originally a Polish military camp, but was used to imprisoned Polish prisoners by the Nazis from 1940. It was eventually converted into the biggest ‘slaughterhouse’ history has ever seen. At the entrance of Auschwitz is this sign “Arbeit Macht Frei” (work makes one free). Upon entering, what greet you are rows and rows of barracks. This is where many Jews spend the last few months of their lives. A few blocks were used by the Nazis as their “offices”. Now these barracks have been converted exhibition halls, detailing the horrors that went on behind these walls during the Second World War. 有一部分的房间展示了纳碎人在屠杀人之后，从尸体上取下的东西，包括衣服、鞋子、皮箱、眼镜等等。最让人毛骨悚然的是有一座山那么高的头发，据了解纳碎人在杀人后，将这些人的头剃光，将收集的头发制成布。因为感觉对死者有些不敬，所以我就没有把这些拍下了，想看的话自己去体验吧。
One block of barracks displayed items which the Nazis had stripped off from the dead bodies, including clothes, shoes, luggage and spectacles etc. What really chills one to the bones is this huge glass cabinet displaying human hair. Apparently, after gassing and killing the people, the Nazis shaved all the dead bodies and collect the hair to be made into cloth. It just did not feel right or respectful to the dead to take pictures of these things, so you won’t get to see any here. It is best that you go witness all these yourself.

这些铁筒就是当年用来装谋杀这些人的毒气的筒。
These metal canisters were the containers for the gas which was used to murder the innocent victims. 展览厅的走廊上全都是罹难者的照片，照片下面都写着他们进入奥斯威辛的日期，以及他们死亡的日期。仔细一看，到这里的人全部都活不超过半年，有些甚至在抵达奥斯威辛不到几个星期后就被谋杀了。最让人感到沮丧的是看到一些被当作实验品的小孩的照片。
Along the walls in the corridor, you can see rows and rows of pictures of those who perished here. If you looked carefully at the dates that these people entered the Auschwitz and the dates that they died which is below each photograph, you will realized that nobody survives for more than half a year upon entering this place. Some died within weeks of coming here. The most depressing photos have got to be those of deformed children. Apparently, they used the children as guinea pigs for experiments.

这是处决犯人的地方。注意到墙壁上子弹留下的痕迹吗？
This is the execution place for prisoners. Noticed the bullet marks on the wall? 而纳碎人折磨犯人非常有办法，包括建造只有30公分宽，30公分长的小监狱，让三到四个囚犯挤入那小小的空间。地方那么小，连转身的位置都没有，更别说是要坐下。这些囚犯就被迫站一整晚，到了白天就被迫出去工作，当然很多很快就受不了死去了。
Since the Nazis are no angels, of course there were tortures going on. One of which, was to make three or four prisoners squeeze into cells which are only 30cm by 30cm big. Of course, which such a tight space, there is no way one can sit or lie down. The prisoners are made to stand the whole night, and when morning came, they were forced to go out to work. Of course, not many could take the torture, and many died within a week.

当然也到了毒气房去。一眼望去，这看起来只是普通的房间，但这里没有任何窗口，唯一的洞口就是纳碎人释放毒气的洞口。在毒死这些人后，纳碎人就将尸体推到这里焚烧。
Then we were shown the gas chambers where most Jews met their fate. At first glance, these were just ordinary rooms with four walls. On close examination, you will find that there are no openings at all here, except for the holes where the gas is dropped. After killing them, the Nazis will then send the bodies to be cremated. 这个绞刑台是在二战之后，用来处死奥斯威辛集中营指挥官鲁道夫·胡斯的。在他谋杀上万人的地方被绞刑，也算是罪有应得了。
This gallow was specially built for executing the Director of Auschwitz, Rudolf Hoess, who was hanged for his crimes after the war. It was definitely a befitting end for someone who masterminded the loss of so many lives. 纳碎人后来还在奥斯威辛不远的地方建造了奥斯威辛二号——比克瑙。这里比奥斯威辛大多了，有300多个营房，四个毒气房和焚烧场，在这里遇害的有大约100万犹太人、7万5000波兰人、同性恋者和1万9000吉普赛人。虽然纳碎人撤退时摧毁了不少的建筑，但单从这里有多大，你可以想象在这里遇害的人到底有多少。
The Nazis later built Auschwitz II, also known as Birkenau, not far from Auschwitz I. Birkenau was much bigger than Auschwitz, with more than 300 barracks, four gas chambers and furnaces. It is estimated that more than 100, 000 Jews, 75,000 Polish and homosexuals and also 19, 000 gypsies lost their lives here. Although the Nazis tried to destroy the camp when they were retreating, just by looking at the perimeters of the fence, you can imagine the extent of the horrors that went on in this place. 参观完奥斯威辛真的让人感觉很沮丧，真不明白为何人类能够对自己的同类作出这么残忍的事情。为了摆脱那沮丧的心情，隔天到没有那么令人沮丧的旅游景点去参观，即利奇卡盐矿。这个盐矿是波兰的第一盐矿，游客可以到深达135米的地方参观。里头尽是一些用盐雕塑出来的雕刻，其中一部分讲解了这个盐矿是如何被发现，他们是如何采盐。
The visit to Auschwitz was really depressing. It really makes one wonder how humans can be so cruel to other humans. In order to shake of that sense of depression, the next day I chose to visit a more light hearted sight, i.e. the Wieliczka Salt Mines. This is the first salt mine in Poland. Visitors are brought to a depth of 135m where you can see many sculptures made from salt, which tells the story of how the salt mine is discovered and how they mined the salt.不过最吸引人的要数里头的教堂。对，在深至135米处，居然有个教堂。而这座教堂最特别之处是它是由盐块雕刻出来的，所以无论是楼梯、地上、耶稣的雕像，或是墙上的装饰，全都是盐做的。
But the most interesting part of the salt mine has got to be the church. That’s right. You can find a church 135m below ground level. What is even more amazing is that, this church is fully sculpted from salt. Be it the staircases, the marble-like flooring, the statue of Jesus or the decorations on the wall, everything here is carved from salt.研究完克拉科夫周边的景物，当然要花点时间研究这个城市本身啦。说了这曾是古代首都，所以旧建筑和老街多得是，在街上看到的中古时代建筑是到目前为止最多的一个城市。
After exploring the surrounding sights of Krakow, of course I had to devote some time to Krakow itself. Since it is the ancient capital, there are many well preserved old buildings, especially churches. Definitely the city with the most number of old buildings and old streets I’ve been to so far. 当中，最有中古时代味道的要数华威城堡了。城堡里面有不同的部分开放给公众参观，不过每一处都是各自售票的。如果是像我这样不想花那个钱，那不进去各个展示庭，在外头走走也可以，风景幽美又不必花钱。　　～伟
Amongst the many old building, the most interesting one was the Wawel Castle. The castle is of course, open to public, but each exhibition hall requires a different ticket. If you are a cheapo like me, then skip the halls and just walk around the grounds. It is free and the scenery is still stunning.　　～wei