Auschwitz

                       

Work Makes You Free. These words mark the entry way to every concentration camp across Europe. The most notorious of those camps is Auschwitz. On our trip to Poland we visited both Auschwitz one (the torture center) and Birkenau (the killing factory.) We also got to see Oskar Schindler’s factory but I will get to that in my next post. This was a really hard day for me so I will try to express a little of what I felt in words but no promises. I just ask that you bear with me.

We had a guide on our tour of Auschwitz One. She seemed nice enough but rushed us through the entire thing which kind of angered me a little. I wanted to spend some time there, actually see where I was visiting and pay my respects to those who lost their lives here.

We walked through the front gates of the camp and went to several different ‘exhibits’ throughout the camp. I saw maps of where people were transported from, pictures of those who came to the camp and even some of their belongings. There were cases filled with glasses the Nazis had taken, rooms piled with shoes of every type, men, women and children alike. One very intense moment was when I saw the room filled with hair. When people were brought to the camp their heads were shaved “for the war effort.” There were even cases where long hair was still in its braid sitting behind the glass. All of this was to be used to make socks, cloaks, even blankets for the Nazi party to use in the war. Everything was taken from the prisoners including their suitcases, baskets, combs, brushes, and cook ware. We saw piles and piles of these things. Everything more than likely belonging to someone who did not survive the camp.

In our classes we learned about Zyklon B, the gas used for mass execution in the gas chambers. Again there were piles of these tins that used to hold the deadly substance. Later on we stood inside the gas chamber of the camp and then onto the crematorium next door. It was a surreal moment and one I did not like very much.

One place that stuck with me was this long hallway that had pictures of prisoners. Our guide said to look in their eyes and see their fear but when I looked at them fear wasn't what came to mind. I saw defiance. There were many that did have a look of defeat and fear on their faces but I saw men with their chins raised and a challenge in their eyes saying ‘do your worst.’

One of the blocks in Auschwitz One

This is a display of Zyklon B. Every can that you see equals the death of  700 people.

Zyklon B

Glasses taken from the prisoners sent to the gas chambers.

Prosthetics taken from the disabled. All were sent to the gas chambers.

Some kitchen ware that was taken from everyone who came to the camp.

Suit cases.

A hallway of shoes on either side.

Shoes from the camp prisoners.

Brushes, combs, tooth brushes, and shaving brushes.

A statue in one of the exhibits. It was to honor those who died of starvation.

A statue of a mother and child.

This is the wall where prisoners were taken to be executed. The wall in front was built to protect the wall behind it from the constant assault of bullets. 

The windows of this block were blocked out so the prisoners inside could not see the executions. The poles here in the courtyard were used for punishment, torture and execution purposes. 

A guard tower around the perimeter. 

A gas chamber.

Birkenau was a hard place to go. The ride over was almost silent and as we got closer I could see the train tracks and the gate into the camp that I had seen only in text books. Our first stop was where the selection process took place. One direction sent you to the barracks and meant you lived a little longer and the other direction you walked to your death, to the gas chambers and the crematorium. This was not a short walk. Along the way everyone was silent and all I could think of was that we were walking the same path as the ones that walked to their deaths. Our feet made the same sounds as theirs. It was a humbling and haunting experience. At the end of walk we saw a memorial to those that lost their lives here and the remains of two of the crematoriums.

It was a hard day for me. For those who know me you know I don’t do emotions very well and today was a real test to my limits. I didn't cry like I expected to but I internalized so much of what I was feeling that I almost made myself sick. Being here was so intense and so overwhelming that I didn't know how to handle it. It was almost numbing.

The rail out of Birkenau.

One of the few remaining train cars that transported people to the concentration camps.

The men's barracks. Generally made out of wood and only a few are left standing.

The women's barracks. Made from bricks.

Dates carved into the bricks.

What is left of one of the crematoriums 

The remains of a crematorium 

The memorial at the edge of Birkenau

"For ever let this place be a cry of despair and a warning to humanity. Where the Nazis murdered about one and a half million men, women and children, mainly Jews from various countries of Europe."

Auschwitz-Birkenau

1940-1945