5th day - Friday (piątek)

Operation Giant

This is Książ Castle (Zamek Książ) - a former Baroque hall left by the Nazis in 1945 - in its original state. But let's start from the beginning:

Książ is the most beautiful, largest, and most important castle in Silesia with a history dating back to the 13th century, and owned by the counts and princes of Hochberg-Pless. They were to Silesia in the 19th/20th century what the Krupp dynasty was to the Ruhr area.

The Nazis had big secret plans with Książ Castle, codenamed 'Operation Giant'. However, to this day, we do not know exactly what the goal of the whole thing was. There is a lack of a comprehensive plan. But what happened at Książ Castle and in the adjacent Owl Mountains is incredible:

The castle in Walbrzych was rebuilt and equipped with secret tunnels:

From the neighboring Owl Mountains, a system of tunnels was driven by prisoners of the Gross-Rosen concentration camp from several sides.

Włodarz

You can visit such a tunnel system today, for example in Włodarz (Wolfsberg). So I went there. The arrival on the grounds was already surreal:

You drove through a military restricted area, got out of the car and heard German military music blaring from megaphones. I seemed to be the only tourist here. Passing tanks and flags, you reached a 'kasa/bilet' with two unfriendly people in military clothing who only spoke Polish, absolutely nothing else. I was about to give up, but then the rescue came in the form of a Polish motorcycle rocker club:

They all bought a ticket, and I simply followed suit. Together with the rockers, I went into the tunnel with an expert:

And so began the 1-hour tour in Wolfsberg (at about 7 degrees), and it was something else. You wouldn't believe it if you haven't seen it! Kilometers of tunnels were dug. Thousands of prisoners died:

Then I went on the boat - quite an adventure...

I didn't understand almost anything, of course, but something terrible must have happened on this wall:

Admittedly, I was relieved when I was out of the tunnel again, my fingers numb from the cold.

Zobten

On the way back. Actually, I wanted to climb Zobten (Ślęża) halfway back to Wroclaw. But it was too late and my mood was down. So I only took a picture:

Continue to Day 6:
https://vakantio.de/schlesien2go/6-tag-samstag-sobota