Tyrol, Austria to Mathausen Concentration Camp, Austria to Prague, Czech Republic
26 September 2008
Tyrol, Austria to Mathausen Concentration Camp, Austria to Prague, Czech Republic
Today we boarded the bus to head towards Prague. On the way though we took a detour to Mathausen Concentration Camp - Mauthausen Concentration Camp was one of the Nazi concentration camps that were built around the villages of Mauthausen. In January 1945, the camps, directed from the central office in Mauthausen, contained roughly 85,000 inmates. The death toll remains unknown, although most sources place it between 122,766 and 320,000 for the entire complex. The camps formed one of the first massive concentration camp complexes in Nazi Germany, and were the last ones to be liberated by the Western Allies or the Soviet Union. The two main camps, Mauthausen and nearby Gusen I, were also the only two camps in the whole of Europe to be labelled as "Grade III" camps, which meant that they were intended to be the toughest camps for the "Incorrigible Political Enemies of the Reich" Unlike many other concentration camps, intended for all categories of prisoners, Mauthausen was mostly used for extermination through labour of the intelligentsia, who were educated people and members of the higher social classes in countries subjugated by Germany during World War II.
Mathhausen was one of the many number of camps that were part of "The Holocaust" - The Holocaust is the term generally used to describe the genocide of approximately six million European Jews during World War II, as part of a programme of deliberate extermination planned and executed by the National Socialist German Workers' Party (Nazi) regime in Germany led by Adolf Hitler.
Mathausen was interesting to visit you definitely weren't excited to be there, but glad that you were. My whole trip has broadened my knowledge of the Holocaust and I plan to go to the main concentration camping in Poland.
Prague, Czech Republic
After the camp we kept on going to Prague. Once we arrived we were feed and then went into town
at 10pm for our (painful) walking tour of the city. The city is beautiful at night, and I do love walking tours but we were tired and exhausted by the time we finished at midnight!
27 September 2008
Prague, Czech Republic
Today was our free day to look around the city. So after a much needed sleep in we headed into the city. First up was Prague Castle which was up about, oh, 50 million (ok about maybe 200 stairs) at the top of a hill and when we finally found the entrance was a bit disappointed, it really just felt like an old building with old stuff, not a castle feel at all. After the castle we took a stroll over Charles Bridge - a famous historical bridge that crosses the Vltava river in Prague, Cz
ech Republic - the bridge is full of street stalls and beautiful photos and paintings. 
------> Me and Richard
<---- Disney castle church
After lunch, Richard was in town so we meet at the Prague Astronomical Clock - The Orloj is composed of three main compo
nents: the astronomical dial, representing the position of the Sun and Moon in the sky and displaying various astronomical details; "The Walk of the Apostles", a clockwork hourly show of figures of the Apostles and other moving sculptures; and a calendar dial with medallions representing the months - basically a fancy old clock thing.
After the hi, how are yous, we headed to the sex museum for a look around (hmmmm) and then back to the hostel for packing as we were heading to Germany tomorrow.
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