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Most cruise ships coming to Gdansk dock at the industrial port that is quite a ways out of town where the traffic can be very bad. The Regatta, and one other small ship, docked closer, just north of town. We arrived about noon and would not have much time here in Gdansk. Therefore we had booked a ship tour to Stutthof, the former concentration camp during the Nazi era. Although the camp tour came first, I want to reverse the order and show what we did in Old Town. Some may not want to see the camp description and pictures I took of this heart rendering experience.

On one side of the dock we saw this terminal, on the other side a huge monument. I have not yet been able to find out what that is, but it looked like a war memorial. This is the mouth of the Vistula River that connects Gdansk to the Baltic. A few of the passengers stayed aboard, listened to the band play some music and relaxed around the pool. We, however, wanted to see part of Poland.

This motorized tourist boat on the river made me think how interesting it is that these ports were so important back four hundred years ago. Here were men who took small sailing ships and plied the waters around Denmark to deliver grain and wood to the western European countries in exchange for spices, textiles and other commodities they wanted along the Baltic.

Our tour bus took us to the city where we strolled the restored streets and visited a few shops in the older section of town. Keep in mind that Gdansk, or Danzik as it was known in Germany, was totally destroyed when Russian troops bombarded this Nazi strong holds in 1945. It took many years to restore the buildings that we can now see. I think the city did a great job. Yes, like any other city, there are some dilapidated places, but they were more towards the industrial area.

The tour guide took us to the St. Mary's Cathedral, the largest church in Poland. This is also the church where The Last Judgment, painted by Hans Memling is displayed. The three part wooden painting was created around 1485 and shows human figures as they ascended to heaven or went in despair to hell. The painting also has a unique history that started in Bruges. I covered its intended journey to Italy and how it came to Gdansk earlier when we visited Bruges.

I bought a wooden hand-carved box for my dresser; Sharon looked at some amber. Then it was time to take the bus to the concentration camp of Stutthof. As I noted above, we actually did this in the morning. But here are the details.

		The bus ride through the country side took about an hour. We then arrived at a small village in a remote region east of Gdansk that was surrounded by a forest of pine trees. Our first stop was the administration building used by the Nazi commanders and also where the records of the prisoners were kept. We saw two short movies; one was taken in 1945 by the Russians who came upon the atrocities that had been committed here. The second showed the trial of several locals who had been working for the Nazis performing some of the gruesome acts. It was a quiet procession of visitors who left the small theatre to see the camp for themselves.

Our guide, a young man from Gdansk, using the large map, explained what the camp would have looked like seventy years ago. Many of the building were destroyed by the Germans when they retreated from the advancing Russian army. However, the shame of their acts could not be covered up and would remain hovering above Germany and its citizens for many years afterwards. Some of the barracks had been restored and preserved for others, like us, to see and remember. The main gate above and the wooden buildings below were primarily used by the guards. The prisoners would usually arrive by freight trains in the far distance near the edge of the forest.

One of the buildings contained a huge pile of leather shoes that was found by the Russians. The smell of the rotten material was awful but the impact remains. I apologize for the shaky picture; it just happened that way.
After we entered the camp, we walked through several buildings that showed some of the documents of Jews who had arrived from all over Europe and what the poor inmates had to endure. One room still had the table on which some were killed by lethal injections.

Our guide then took us to the far end of the complex. The small brick building was the gas chamber; the second one the crematorium where countless innocent soles perished a horrible death. Behind the building are the railroad tracks where most of them arrived and none departed.

There is a large monument in memory of those poor people who toiled, starved and died here. Along the opposite side are rows of windows with their ashes and charred bones.

Next port: Helsinki, Finland.

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