With the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Bierkenau nigh upon us, I find my thoughts travelling to the memory of two survivors of the death camp, and the hugely divergent paths their lives took as free men. More to the point, the hugely different ways in which each of them coped - or didn’t [...]
I’m sure I’m not alone in feeling deep waves of nostalgia whenever New Year’s Eve swings round yet again. Inevitably, I turn to my old diaries, digging them out of the wooden chest in my bedroom. And as I browse through the time-worn pages, I sink into a world gone by: timeless memories that are [...]
If you've ever visited the beautiful historic city of Krakow in Southern Poland, you might be interested in reading on. The extract below will take you on a little time warp back to 1992, the year I moved here. That was barely three years after the end of Communism. The unforgettable atmosphere back then, and [...]
Writing is a tough profession. It’s especially tough for us Indie authors who love what we do (yes, I’m in the club); who are dedicated, skilled, and fervent in our passion for creative writing. And it's most certainly tough for those of us who have been knocking for years at that monolithic, steel-reinforced door of [...]
At a time of year like this, as the clocks turn back and the nights draw in, and the owls and bats and witches come out to hoot and flutter and haunt on Halloween night, my mind is full of the concept of mortality. Actually, that’s not quite true. I mean, yes, my mind is [...]
Before going any further, full disclosure. If you’re someone who hated your schooldays and never wants to be reminded of them, then maybe this blog post isn’t for you. But on the other hand, why not give it a go? My own schooldays weren’t exactly plain sailing – there were some pretty grim experiences, some [...]
Dear Organizers of Auschwitz-Birkenau Tours,I’m writing to you as someone who, several decades ago, visited Auschwitz for the first time and had an experience that profoundly shaped my understanding of history. I have been back several times since then, but that first visit is what left the deepest impression on me. The silence, the sombre [...]
Wendy Skorupski 