London one-way!

On Saturday morning we were up early to get on the bus to Auschwitz concentration camp. We went with a tour group which was interesting but didnt really give much time for reflection at the camps. You see, Auschwitz itself is a town, where people lived before, during and after the camps existence.

This isnt the easiest thing Ive written, and my experience and words cannot show enough of what I experienced. This is what I learned, not what I felt.

It began with a smaller camp Auschwitz 1, which actually used the old Polish military barracks with 18 buildings that already existed. The whole site is now regarded as a memorial, and it is a sombre mood as you walk through the exhibits in the buildings. Even on a tour, we all wore radios with headphones that our guide spoke to us through quietly as we walked around.

For such an efficient place there were many resistance fighters who were able to take photographs and keep evidence of the horrible things that happened there for outsiders to learn about. Most of the exhibits include photographic evidence or actual objects that were kept before it could all be destroyed.

It is sad that the human race could be so efficient for such an inhuman act. Today you are exposed to the entire process that was Auschwitz. It became too small though. So they built Auschwitz 2 Birkenau. This camp was about five times bigger than the original, situated 3 kms on. There was an Auschwitz 3 but that has been totally destroyed now.

The trains came in to Birkenau and dropped these people, first from within Poland, Polish resistance fighters, and Jewish people, then they would travel as far as over 2000kms from Greece, from all over Europe. Dropped at the gates with an understanding of resettlement. That they were here to start a better life. They were selected, by a look, maybe a few questions, and organised into two groups. Those that could work, and those that couldnt. The weak, old, frail, disabled, children, pregnant women, they were told they needed to be cleansed so their new lives wouldnt begin with disease. But after undressing they were sent into chambers where they were gassed. In 20 minutes a couple of hundred souls were sent to death. These bodies were removed and burned, and the process began again.

We went to Birkenau second, but the site was overpowering after seeing the photos and then seeing these places. Open buildings with barely any heating in the winter and sweltering in the summer, where ten people would sleep in six person bunks, be marched out to work during the day and sent back to this hell in the evening. Thatś if they made it through the work day. Bodies of those who never made it through the day had to be carried back in the evening.

The carriage loads were too many though, so the camp became more efficient, opening train tracks and a platform from within Birkenau. One side was the gas chambers. The other the lodgings. These were originally built for horses for the Polish military, and were certainly not fit for humans. There were only three buildings that had latrine and wash facilities. The rest were rows upon rows of lodgings. These days only the chimneys exist for many of them, as when the camp was liberated much was destroyed to not give evidence away.

Maybe this is my reflection because its taking forever to write this and it is sending chills down my spine because its not very nice to think about. We walked through the furnaces.

They are now memorials. I cannot think they could be anything else. Over 1 million people were sent to their death and erased from existence.

Auschwitz 1 has many relics collected, that werent destroyed when the camp was liberated. There are rooms full of suitcases…shoes…brushes, shaving tools, combs…prosthetic limbs…crutches…glasses…Pictures of those who came to the camp. Examples of the amount of food allowed each day. Uniforms. Numbers and signs given to distinguish the people.

I could tell you more. But not one bit can make any difference until you experience it yourself. Until you walk through these deserted rooms, past the barbed wire fences, through the door, the front entrance with the greatest irony in the world: Arbeit macht Frei.

Tags: 1, Travel

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 1st, 2009 at 4:58 pm and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.