I can’t be 100% sure, but I suspect most people don’t typically see a reggaeton concert and a concentration camp in the same weekend — but we did.

Part 1: Reggaeton

After a 30-Euro flight from Belgium to Kraków, Poland, we quickly changed our clothes to get ready for the night. Maluma was playing at the Tauron Arena, Naturally, we had to attend. In fact, this was my birthday present.

After drinking our delicious $6 Polish Wódka (well, as delicious as vodka can be), we hopped into the Uber and entered the arena. Similar to a Justin Timberlake concert I attended over a decade ago, males were quite scarce. In fact, they converted the men’s restrooms into unisex. No matter. The concert was great.

Part 2: The Jewish Quarter

The next day, we took a walking tour around the Jewish Quarter of Krakówv. Evidently, of the 68,000 Jews who lived in Kraków at the beginning of World War II, only around 3,000 survived. Today, the city has only a few hundred people actively practicing Judaism.

We heard unbelievable stories of SS officers throwing babies off of balconies, restricting Jewish people to only 250 calories per day, and forcing 30 people to live in a building the size of a standard one-bedroom apartment.

Part 3: Auschwitz

For our final day, we went to Auschwitz, the famous concentration camp where over a million Jews, Gypsies, and political prisoners were executed. Upon arriving at Auschwitz, prisoners would lose eyeglasses, shoes, and other belongings.

I didn’t realize that many individuals were sent straight from the trains to the gas chambers. A large percentage of prisoners never even entered a barracks. It really was a death camp.

After gassing the prisoners, camp workers would take out gold teeth from the corpses to melt down and give to high-ranking SS officials. Workers would also completely shave off recently-murdered people’s hair, which was later used to create ropes, mattresses, and textiles. We visited one room with two tons of leftover human hair, estimated to come from around 50,000 people. After stealing the deceased’s belongings, camp guards would shove their bodies into the crematorium.

The prisoners who weren’t summarily executed fared little better. Many were forced to sleep in inhumane conditions — five prisoners per wooden slat.

It’s astounding how humans can do this to one another. History is filled with detestable examples of human suffering. Slave ships. Japanese internment camps. Terrorism of all types. When you’re surrounded by a culture of hate, standing up for the oppressed can be difficult — even dangerous — but we need to stay vigilant and make sure this doesn’t happen again.