Plock and Chelmno

Travel Stories - Poland


Plock-Flag-Poland

introduction


We take the bus from Oltszyn to the city of Plock which we have chosen more as a transfer point than as an attraction on itself. The entire route we see construction work on the road and it is clear where the big EU money is invested in in Poland. In Plock there is also a brand new bus- and train station. We eat something in a small cafeteria on the busstation and then decide to take a local bus to the center where our intended hostel is located.

 

After a lot of miscommunication we finally end up after a considerable delay in a perfect hostel; problem is that they charge just as much money for a bed as elsewhere for an entire room. We decide to leave and check other places first.

 

After three student flats that all turn out to be full, I remember a sign from a motel near the train station. We finally book there, just before dark.


plock


We decide to walk from the motel to the center in the morning - it is beautiful weather. On the square Narutowicza we stop at the guardhouse where in 1919 an uprising broke out after Russian troops occupied the city. There are two flags and there would be an eternal flame that has just been extinguished.

 

After showing our respect we walk further through the park and arrive at the cathedral and the only remaining city tower of the castle that the city is rich. Unfortunately, these is under construction. It turns out to be a public holiday because there is a regiment of soldiers in front of the cathedral. The uniforms are all Polish but from different era’s.

 

For example, we see soldiers from the war from the beginning of the 19th century (Napoleon), WWI and WWII. We take a look at the beautiful cathedral that is completely decorated with colored frescoes. A little later the soldiers enter and arrive in aisle of the cathedral. We follow the mess and then walk through the park to the edge of the cliff that gives us a view of the Wisla (Weichsel) river. There is a sailing race going on and we see the old-fashioned bridge over the wide river and the modern pier including the restaurant.

 

Perhaps there were houses on the river before the wars, now there is little to do. Before we go back, we take a look at the market square with its heavily renovated with colorful merchant houses and nice town hall.


Plock-Danube-River-Poland

On the way to Chelmno No. 4


The next day we take the train from Plock to Kutno Just before we enter the station of this Polish city we see a large railway complex and I remember that the city was a very important city in the fight against the Nazis in 1939. It was to my knowledge the biggest battle that the Poles fought against the Germans at the beginning of the war. From here we take a train towards Poznan which stops in the small town of Kolo where we get of.

 

After some shopping we found out that there is no bus going to our final destination today. Instead we decide to eat first lunch and then try to catch a lift. I prepare a sign board while we are told how to walk to the end of the town for a good hitchike spot. A girl stops and tells that there are two museums; one in the forest and the other in the city. After 9 kilometers we pass the one in the forest and 4 km later she stops at the museum in Chelmno itself. We thank her and wave goodbye.  

 

There is a shack which must be the entrance of the famous extermination camp where once the Holocaust would have started by gasification. We do not have to pay an entrance fee; a donation is welcome. By means of a large overview map the man tries to explain in half broken English, German and Polish where the most important objects were in the war on the site. Just with the two of us we go outside and thank him for his explanation. We first walk off the grounds and take a look at the church that served as storage during the war but also in here people were kept temporarily detained. Opposite is the old house of the commander.

 

Next to the church is a small valley where barracks once stood where Jews and other prisoners would have worked. Now there are two stone chapels as a memorial. We also try to spot the river Narem from the ledge (where the palace stood) but we only see the big highway between Warchau and Posen. Back at the junction, we look up the deserted land where the canteen and houses of the German guards once stood. There is still a greyish building standing up.

 

There are a few signs with information on the premises but actually there is little left to see and wonder about. There is a new building in the scaffolding and the other will probably serve as a museum information building for the staff. This is also closed. There are two stones as a monument and we see a wooden construction with information panels about the Lodz ghetto. The only original thing left is probably the foundation of the palace. Half an hour later we return to the forest camp.

Chelmno (Kulmhof) extermination camp: 

The Germans invaded Poland on 1 September 1939. On December 8, 1941 concentration camp Chelmno (in German Kulmhof an der Nehr) was taken into use. It was located strategically at 70 km from the big city Lodz.

 

The Chełmno extermination camp (on the Narem river) was the first German camp that was specially established for ethnic cleansing by means of murder. The first victims came mainly from the local Jewish ghettos of neighboring villages such as Kolo, Kowale Panskie, Klodawa, Izbica and Kujawaska. After that, it would mainly concern Jews and Roma who came through the camp and later the Łódź ghetto. In the course of the war, Hungarian and Czech Jews and Russian prisoners of war were also deported to the camp.

 

On arrival in the camp, people immediately passed through the passage of the existing palace in converted trucks whose gas did not go outdoors but in the passenger compartment at the back of the truck. After being collected, they were driven to the nearby "Rzuchowski" forest after a 4 km long truck trip, where they were buried in mass graves. In the summer of 1942 the dead bodies were exhumed, fearful that the Nazis were for epidemics caused by the many dead bodies that came to lie above the surface. They were burned in open crematoria. The camp was closed in March 1943. On 7 April the palace was blown up and four days later the crematorium too.

 

The second period of Chelmno ran from the spring of 1944 to 17 January 1945 when the camp was abandoned for good. The people were now gathered in the church of Chelmno; most new victims would therefore be housed in small huts in the forest. Between 23 June and 14 July 1944 more than 7000 inhabitants of the Lodz ghetto were murdered here. Then the killings were stopped. The last prisoners and part of the SS guard would be left behind in the village of Chelmno.

 

The remaining Jews were shot by the Germans by means of a headshot. A number of prisoners managed to free themselves and killed two German guards after which they hid themselves in the granary. The Nazis would set the entire shed on fire; two prisoners managed to escape. In Chelmno extermination camp at least 150,000 people would be murdered, but the number of victims would be more than 200 to 250,000.

It is only a short hitchhike-ride to what they also called Kulmhof II but it is a special ride knowing that this is the road thousands of victims behind in a truck have made on their way to their end. They were killed by the fumes of the car that was let out in the compartment in the back instead of outside. There is a piece of original fencing left, an information panel and there stands a white house that is closed.

 

There are a few cars parked and we walk towards the large stone monument. Then we walk over a fake wooden bridge and see our first large mass grave. It is surrounded with stones to indicate the size. We will follow a large area with countless monuments. Also here many pieces of land with stones which marks the amoun ot mass graves here at he camp.

 

At the back in the camp is a concrete wall with a gate and we wonder if at one time the crematoria has stood here. It’s such a pity so less information is given to us here. We decide to walk into the forest and set up our tents. We will sleep on holy ground and we realize that only too well.


Chelmno-Kulmhof-Concentration-Camp-Extermination-Nazi-Poland-WW2

tips & advice (2016)


Plock - Kutno - Kolo: every day a train leaves at 09:18 from Plock to Kutno. Price is 12, 15 Zlt. At 10:25 you arrive in Kutno. There you can transfer on a train from 10:39 to Kolo; this train journey costs 11.50 Zlt and takes about half an hour.

 

Kolo - Kalisz: there is a bus that probably goes from Warchau to Wroclaw. This also stops in Kolo and Kalisz. In the first city the bus is at 09:00 and the journey to Kalisz takes 1.5 hours in total. Costs including baggage is 20 Zlt.


  • Name: museum Destruction Camp Kulhmhof (Chelmno nad Narem)

Address: 62-663 Chelmno nad Nerem

Price: Free (donation)

Time: 10:00 - 15:00 (closed on Mondays)

Website: www.muzeum.com.pl

 

Content:

This museum is housed in a small building and tells (unfortunately only in Polish) the history of the first Kulmhof extermination camp (8 December 1941 - March 1943), based on findings and stories from the region.

 

Behind the museum building, the foundations of the palace and granary were exposed, where  camp prisoners were detained and stripped of their valuables. They were driven to a truck via an underground corridor, where they were gassed in the back of the truck on their way to the adjacent forest and there were buried and later cremated.

 

The camp was active in 2 periods. The so-called 'Church period' and the 'Castle period'. In the end of the war people were gathered in the local church and in the courtyard of the castle respectively. The church is still there, only little of the castle is left.


Plock-Square-Church-Tower-Clock-Poland

  • Naam : Motelik Olimpia (Plock)

Adres : Ul Dworcowa 46

Prijs : 100 Zlt (double)

Tel.nr. : 024 262 8426

 

Content:

At 50 meters from the bus and train station in Plock is this simple but very atmospheric motel. It is next to the railway but it is quieter than many other places in the city. It is green and seems miles away from the center. There is a large garden with a barbeque and you can also rent an apartment.

 

It is super-clean and the staff is very friendly. The rooms are fine with WIFI, TV and a refrigerator. Also the toilet and showers are clean even though they are a bit strangely built (3 showers in 1 room). After the student buildings (which are often full) probably the cheapest and best place to stay.


Plock-Streetlife-Poland

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