Auschwitz

Steve took this picture of the end of the railroad tracks that led to the gas chambers at Auschwitz II - Birkenau concentration camp.

What can I say about our visit to this scene of the most evil that man has done? First is that this place is so much larger than I ever imagined. I wasn't prepared for that and it shook me. To think that this wasn't even the Nazis' final plans for this place. We saw the "Mexico" site next to this where more bunkers were planned to be built to house prisoners. How can there be people, even today, who believe that the Holocaust was a hoax? This is simply unacceptable to me. One and a half million Jews lost their lives there! That's beyond criminal. It's evil.

The walk from the "death gate" barely seen at the far end of the tracks, to the memorial sites at the end was a long one. Halfway there we saw the station where the prisoners were off-loaded from the train. There is a moving picture of the women and children who were told to walk down this road towards the gas chambers. The rest of the walk I kept thinking of the dread that was present in the women's minds.

It's hard to think of what to say. This was an important thing to do and to see. As if anyone really needed a reminder of what evil man can and does do, but that's exactly why it's important to visit. To remember and honor those who died, and to keep vigilant that it never happen again.

Comments

[raesha]

Oh wow....I can't believe people think it's a hoax either. In addition to the Jews, there were homosexuals, gypsies and handicapped killed too..it is so important for us to remember and never let it happen again. I read an excellent book about the Holocaust - called "Treblinka" - it's about a concentration camp where the prisoners revolted and destroyed the camp. I had never even heard of that camp before I read the book. It was very powerful and moving.

[samantha]

Back in college, I had the opportunity to visit Krakow and Auschwitz/Birkenau. It's nearly impossible for me, even these 10 years or so later, to vocalize that experience. (I was an undergrad art history/history double major, and the Holocaust was an area of great focus for me. The trip was sort of the culmination of those studies...) thanks for sharing your journey here.