Last week while I was in Krakow, Poland, I took a day trip to see Auschwitz-Birkenau...the largest network of concentration and extermination camps in the Holocaust during World War II.
I'm sharing photographs and my visit with the most sincerity and respect for the countless number of victims of the Holocaust, and for anyone in this world's history who has ever faced unimaginable atrocities for being who they are.
I know, you just might be thinking to yourself, "Gina is so bubbly and happy 97% of the time....why on God's green earth would she have an interest in learning and reading about such a depressing and scary part of World History?" Yeah, I don't know either. I think because that ever since I was introduced to the Holocaust when I read "Number the Stars" by Lois Lowry in 5th grade, I've been confused by the event. I have never been able to understand how so many human beings can commit such horrific crimes toward their fellow beings.
So I suppose on a much smaller scale, it is like when you are given a Rubix Cube. You really want to figure it out, but it is challenging. So you research....you google "how to solve", and watch youtube clips, until you solve it. Well, I could never figure out the Holocaust, so since 5th grade I've read numerous biographies and autobiographies by survivors. I have always wanted to see the haunting places they have written about, so I did:
Auschwitz had 3 main camps; Auschwitz I, Auschwitz II-Birkenau, and Auschwitz III, as well as sub camps. I went to Auschwitz I, and Auschwitz II-Birkenau.
Auschwitz I. :
This is the entrance to Auschwitz I. The sign reads in German "Albeit Macht Frei", which means "Work makes one free." The Nazis lied about a lot.
Prisoners were sent to Auschwitz I to work. Though conditions and circumstances were lightyears from ideal, they had it slightly better than those who were sent to Birkenau. Birkenau was built to be an extermination camp, and the barracks were thrown together sloppily with wood, rather than having barracks made of bricks as pictured above. Brick was a much better protection against the freezing winter weather.
The camps were very heavily guarded. There was no where to escape. If one made it past the inhumane and hideous S.S. guards, they were faced with double barbed wire fences. Often victims would throw themselves at the fences, knowing they would die in the camp, and didn't want to give the Nazis that satisfaction.
One of the barracks housed artifacts once owned by the victims. These items included suitcases, children's toys, baby clothes, and shoes (above). Look at how many shoes! This was only a small small portion of the room filled with them. The amount of each of the artifacts completely blew my mind. The suitcases had family names on them, and addresses. Before arriving to the camp, families thought they would be returning home after. They were tricked into bringing their most precious valuables...which were confiscated and stolen by the Nazis upon their arrivals. Most people did not survive longer than 2 months. One thing in this barrack that really terrified me was a long corridor, completely covered with photos of prisoners. These photos were just of the prisoners' faces, and listed their date of arrival to the camp, and their date of death. I did not read one that was there longer than 2 months before their date of death. Which is why many autobiographies I have read are from survivors who were there in 1944...toward the end of the war. Some lasted for 1 day, 2 weeks, a month. But all of their faces had the same terrifying expression. Nothing in their enormously wide eyes except terror. No hair on their heads, and many scars on their sunken in cheeks. These photos were of men and woman, but no children. Children under twelve were immediately sent to death upon their arrival.
Another horrifying site was a room completely filled with human hair. The Germans wasted nothing, and used the hair for textiles.
By the way, as you know, it was not just the Jews who were persecuted during the Holocaust. Anyone who was not of the Aryan race, considered undesirable to Hitler, or anyone who opposed changes were also major targets. I have read that the population at Auschwitz was not predominantly Jewish, as most Jews were murdered when they arrived.
This chilling building was a gas chamber. About 300-400 victims at a time were told they were heading in to get a shower. It took about 30 minutes for most of the victims to suffocate to death from the Zyklon B which was poured into a small square hole in the roof. The gas chamber operated 12 hours a day, 7 days a week. And this was not the only gas chamber. You can do the math, the numbers give me nightmares. 400 people at a time! Standing inside with a tour group of about 20 felt uncomfortable to me, it is impossible for me to imagine 400 inside. After the 30 minutes, the deceased and almost deceased were transported by their fellow living inmates to the crematory ovens, to be burned to ashes. These living inmates were known as the Sonnderkommando, and had the job of doing the Nazis' dirty work until it was their turn to die. Yes, I said ALMOST deceased, which means that after nearly suffocating to death, some poor souls were then burned alive, among hundreds of their dead fellow inmates. Absolutely horrific.
Remember when I mentioned that the Nazis didn't waste anything? They devised a system in the crematory ovens to drain and collect the little human fat that was left on the victims, which is believed to have later appeared in the camps "soap", "soup", "coffee", and "bread" given to the prisoners.
Auschwitz II.-Birkenau:
Birkenau was much larger than Auschwitz I. It was built in a very swampy/marshy area. It was always very muddy, and of course the inmates did not have proper footwear, or proper clothing for that matter. Whatever the weather conditions, prisoners had the same old raggedy attire, or no attire, and disease and sickness was very prevalent.
This is the entrance to Birkenau, and the train tracks which delivered the prisoners from all over Europe.
Prisoners arrived in carriages like this one...packed with about 100 people, and some after traveling for about 10 days. 10 days of no food, no water, no seats, no windows, no medicine, no toilets, and no idea what will become of their lives when the train stops. People who were rounded up and put on these trains were tricked. Some believed they were being relocated for a short time, and would return home after the war. Some even had to pay for this train ticket. When the train stopped and the doors opened to reveal daylight for the first time in days, mayhem ensued. Families were instantly torn apart, never to see one another again. There was man with a baton who, for each person, either pointed them to the left or to the right. To the left meant immediate death in the gas chambers, and to the right meant they were sent to work under impossible conditions until they died. Of course, the new arrivals had no idea that the elderly, sick, and children under 12 were sent to the left to die. They believed they were chosen to go to the camp with a lighter workload, given their state. In attempts to save their children from a heavy work load, many mothers claimed their children were under 12.
As I said before, conditions at Birkenau were much worse than at Auschwitz I. The barracks were thrown together with wood...a shelter that is even unacceptable for animals. Internees were not protected from the weather, and of course the barracks were plagued with lice and rats. They were so poorly thrown together, that today I believe only four of them are safe to go inside.
This is the inside of one of the barracks. Notice the windows on the roof....they didn't have glass on them. They were completely open. There was absolutely no insolation to protect the men and woman from bad weather conditions. The Nazis crammed 8-12 people per bed. Bed, not per bunk. Prisoners were lucky if a group of 8-12 received one drab, lice-ridden blanket. They slept right on the wooden boards.
For people who had to sleep on the bottom of some bunks, slept right on the floor.
This was the latrine. Internees had five minutes in the morning, and five minutes in the evening to use the bathroom. Up to 1000 people at time. Cleaning the latrine was another job given to prisoners. Their main cleaning tools were their hands.
Here are the remains of a crematory oven, which the S.S. burned when they realized they were losing the war. It was pointless to burn and try to hide what they had done, if you ask me. Completely brainless morons to believe that no one would tell on them.
This is a pond behind the remains of the crematory over. This is where the human ashes were placed. In front is a memorial.
Here is another memorial.
The saying on this plaque was translated into every language spoken by the victims of the holocaust.
...so even after all of that, I still do not understand the Holocaust. I still don't understand how so many people went along with this. And yes, I've heard the excuses. It was "kill or be killed". People were scared into such acts. I've heard of that evil dictator, brainwashing his people, making them think this will bring them better jobs, money, etc etc etc etc. I've heard it all, excuses, excuses. Doesn't matter, the excuses are unacceptable.
And I am still confused.
However, I do find comfort knowing that with the career I have chosen, I have the opportunity to ensure that students I teach are not ignorant to the world around them. I certainly am not perfect, and certainly cannot change the whole world and rid it completely of evil. But I can teach my students the best I can to be kind toward everyone, and to contribute positively to the world.
I don't care who or what you are; black, white, green, purple, tall, fat, short, skinny, jewish, muslim, christian, buddhist, gay, straight, etc....no one deserves to be treated any less of a human being, just for being themselves. That's it.
-Gina
Here are a few books I have read recently about the Holocaust if you are interested:
"Five Chimney's" by Olga Lengyel
The author is a survivor from Auschwitz, and rarely leaves a detail out from her horrific experience. I wouldn't recommend this book if you have a weak stomach.
"Surviving the Angel of Death" by Eva Kor
Eva was an identical twin and survivor, who was chosen with her sister by Dr. Mengele for cruel experiments at Auschwitz. This one is a quick read.
"Night" by Elie Wiesel
The author is another survivor of Auschwitz, you can youtube an interview he has had with Oprah.
"Old Town" Warsaw
Monument for the soldiers of the Warsaw Uprising. Later when we returned back to Warsaw at the end of the trip, we went to the Uprising Museum.
Palace of Culture...reminiscent of the Stalin buildings in Moscow.
Market
Wawel Castle and Cathedral
Courtyard in the castle
Entrance to the cathedral
Statue of Pope John Paul the II...who was archbishop here.
View of Krakow from inside the cathedral
The town square. I love town squares.
Old Town Hall
The Opera
We saw Chopin the Opera. It was about Chopin's life...all in Polish, but still enjoyable! The music was pretty!
Town square at night
Gnomes were all over the city.
...museum
