Auschwitz-Birkenau during flooding
Photo: AFP
Auschwitz memorial partly opened, water receding
Half of Birkenau section reopened as water levels near Krakow, Sandomierz and other towns start to fall
Massive flooding that has killed seven people in the south of Poland started to recede Thursday but Warsaw braced for trouble as the swollen Vistula River pushed that way and fresh rain fell.
Heavy rains have flooded homes and fields in parts of southern Poland since last weekend. Emergency workers have rescued people and pets from roofs and balconies.
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Water levels near Krakow, Sandomierz and other towns in the area have started to fall, allowing the memorial of the former Nazi death camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau, near Krakow, to partially reopen to visitors.
Jaroslaw Mensfelt, a spokesman for the site, said the half of the Birkenau section of the large complex was reopened excluding the area around the ruins of the crematoriums, which remain partly submerged by rising ground water. The waters have caused no serious damage, though the site is already deteriorating because of the harsh climate, the passage of time and mass tourism.
In the brick buildings at Auschwitz, the main part of the former camp, exhibits were being returned to their regular ground-level rooms from upper floors where they had been secured in case of flooding.
Seven people have died in the flooding, police said Thursday.
Warsaw was bracing for possible flooding as the Vistula was expected to rise quickly because a huge amount of water from the south was heading north toward the capital.
