Blog No. 282 – Krakow – 19 June 2025

My purpose is to give hope to those who have lost hope. Without hope, we remain lost in the Shadow Lands.

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All things must pass, even Nazis and murderous Russians.  The Hankin rough rule says that all thuggish regimes have a maximum likely lifespan of between 80 and 100 years.  This rule can be seen at work in the case of Poland.

The Russian Revolution of 1917 saw the establishment of the astonishingly murderous Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

If so much attention had not been focused on Hitler’s Germany, some more attention might have been given to the equally murderous Joseph Stalin, the ruler of the USSR from 1924 until 1953.  If anyone had been able to accurately keep count, Stalin would have been in a dead heat with Hitler for the award for having murdered the most number of people - ever.

Stalin’s army had the Nazis on the run when the Poles tried to liberate their own country on 1 August 1944.  Stalin ordered his army to stop all offensive operations against the Germans.  Stalin wanted the Germans to murder as many Poles as possible; this would make it easier for Stalin to take over from Hitler as occupier of Poland.  About 15,000 Polish combatants and 250,000 civilians were murdered by the Germans.  

Like Hitler, Stalin thought exterminating people was a good idea.

Poland eventually freed itself from Soviet occupation in 1989.

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One of the death house guard towers at Auschwitz Birkenau.  Approaching the barbed wire fence immediately in front of the guard tower meant certain death.  People were simply shot.

Photo John Hankin, 18th of October 2013.

Part of the sleeping “accommodation” at the Birkenau part of Auschwitz Birkenau.  The photo shows the complete suite of bedding provided to those imprisoned there – there was nothing at all provided by the Nazis.

John Hankin photo taken in Krakow, 18th of October 2013.

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The outside of the “sleeping accommodation” at Birkenau.  Many, many people died from the bitter, bitter cold prevalent in Polish winters.  These buildings were vile when I visited on the 18th of October 2013.  I cannot begin to imagine how ghastly it must have been to try and stay alive in this completely vile place.

John Hankin photo taken in Krakow, 18th of October 2013.

A surviving fragment of the wall that caged the Jews who lived in Krakow.  The Krakow Ghetto was torn down by the Nazis in 1943.  The Nazis had hit on a far more lethal way to murder Jews. 

John Hankin photo taken in Krakow, 17th of October 2013.

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Cracow, John Hankin photo taken 17th of October 2013.

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Krakow, John Hankin photo taken 17th of October 2013. 

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Cracow, John Hankin photo taken at Auschwitz, 18th of October 2013.

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Help yourself to heal Help others heal Give Love Always

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The ghosts of the dead should always be listened to; they are beautiful people.

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Galeria Krakowska (Sunday 20 October 2013 at 11:45 am) We are sipping coffee in an upmarket ice cream shop. Outside the glass wall of the shop is an escalator.  It takes people up to the next two levels. Sitting underneath the escalator is a fountain. The fountain has a central and major water jet, Plus many smaller jets. Music piped out of the speakers in our coffee shop competes with other music; Other music is piped through the speakers outside the shop. People hurry; Stop suddenly and inexplicably. They are well dressed. There are hundreds of shops on the various levels. They are all brightly lit; Enticing you to go in. If you do enter these shops, Your wallet will go on an instant diet. It will be much slimmer when you come out.  This is Galeria Krakowska; An "upmarket" shopping complex. It sits next to the central railway station. Get off any train, You will enter Galeria Krakowska. Some 73 years ago, the Nazis invaded Poland. A Nazi thug named Hans Frank ruled Poland for the Nazis. From his luxury lair in Krakow, Hans Frank and his thuggees tried to murder the whole country. Hans Frank and the Nazis failed.  Only 68 years ago, the Russians tried to rob this country of its soul. They too failed. The muzak in the shop chants "We've got the power!"  How true this is. What is the proof? Go to Galeria Krakowska. It is a place where the Poles show that they do have the power. They are using it to build the country that they want; Not the country that others might think they ought to have.

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Courage is the only way that we can ever create the Paradise that should be here on Earth.

Hatred only perpetuates the Hell we already have on this planet. 

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The photos in this Blog were all taken by me in Krakow and Birkenau.  Cracow, like all of Poland, suffered immensely because of hatred, but the Poles rebuilt a country worth living in.