"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
Today I visited both Auschwitz l and the second much larger camp of Birkenau, Auschwitz ll. The 3rd camp is not open to the public and is mostly destroyed. I am a hugely interested in how people's minds work and how the Holocaust came about and ended; I have, quite morbidly, watched many documentaries and read several books on the history of the Holocaust due to the fact that 1. It interests me, and 2. It is my opinion that it shouldn't be forgotten and should be made known that it doesn't happen again. I know a lot of people argue that you don't need to visit to prove yourself worthy of preventing this tragedy again, quite frankly it has happened since in Serbia and will probably happen again. However I think it's important to go and pay your respects to the many victims who suffered there and to try to fully understand the sheer scale of extermination that happened here. I don't for one second think that I could even begin to possibly comprehend the terror, hunger, pain and loneliness the people felt as they were loaded off the cattle trucks on to the ramp, ready to be sorted into two groups, one sent to the barracks to work, the other to the nearby gas chambers.
The first part of our visit was to Auschwitz l, the smaller first camp which housed many political prisoners before the second camp was erected for Jews, gypsies, etc. In this camp I couldn't really get a feel for what went on here, the brick buildings looked quite respectable and well-kept, resembling somewhat of a small community. In some ways you could say that Auschwitz l was luxury in comparison to Birkenau. As we entered we crossed underneath the infamous sign bearing the words, "Arbeit Macht Frei (Labour Makes you Free)" - I have learnt that this is a replica of the original, which was unfortunately and shamefully stolen in 2009 and found in 3 pieces, now on show in a museum.
A couple of the blocks have been converted into museums so its hard to understand the conditions inside the blocks, the rooms show you huge glass cases of human hair, shoes, glasses, suitcases, pots, etc. We were asked not to take photos of the human hair out of respect for the woman who died before or after having it shaved but we were able to get photos of pretty much everything else. The volume of belongings was insane, and to think this was only a small percentage of the overall victims was shocking. The names on the suitcases were touching; the poor people thought they would be getting them back, not dying in the gas chambers or from another form of abuse, whether starvation or beatings.
I thought I would cry on this visit, I happen to cry at a lot of things quite easily. However I found myself quite neutral towards the experience, not to say I wasn't affected by the experience, it just wasn't as shocking and upsetting as I thought it would be. I don't think it's possibly to fully comprehend the evil that went on here, especially visiting on a hot summers day surrounded by other tourists dressed in holiday clothes. I think it would be ignorant to say that you could comprehend it.
In Auschwitz l we visited block 11 which was left in nearly the same condition as it was back in the 40s, with the same peeling wallpaper and decoration. The basement housed a prison within a prison so to speak, and we were directed to 3 cells: the starvation cell, the dark cell and the standing cell. I think the names speak for themselves. This was also the building where the first tests for Zyklon Bwere done. We were also taken to the execution area where thousands of innocent victims were shot, and a building where doctors would conduct experiments on the inmates. I don't think this was the block of Mengele, it was another name that I can't remember off the top of my head.
The place that most affected me was visiting the gas chamber crematorium in Auschwitz l, the 2 in Birkenau having been destroyed. We were able to walk through and stand in the room where thousands died before proceeding into the crematorium room where the bodies were burnt. The claustrophobia and darkness was enough to make me feel uncomfortable and my everlasting sympathy and respect for the victims of this war is eternal.
"To the memory of the men, women and children who fell victim to the Nazi genocide. Here lie their ashes. May their souls rest in peace."
It was a short drive to Auschwitz Birkenau ll, and there the familiar building and train tracks leading up to it became all too real. The picture that I got however was better from the inside, shown below. Taking this photo I was standing near the loading ramp where many thousands of people were taken from cattle trucks and sorted.
The train tracks were very touching because this is where many people spent their last hour. Standing on the loading ramp there was a photo of the sorting and we were able to place where we were standing in comparison to the doctor in the photo who was ordering people left and right, just a few feet away. It was hard to believe the confusion and fear that took place in the very spot I was standing.
We visited a restored wooden barrack housing basic toilets (or shall we say holes in concrete) and what used to be the location of wash troughs, we then visited another with bunks in. We were told prisoners left 4-5 to a bunk and buckets were left around for excrement and urine. The smell must have been awful, something we again, can't begin to comprehend.
Walking the path that many innocent people walked to their death, we came to a memorial for the loss of lives. On our left and our right we witnessed the remains of crematorium 2 and 3, now a pile of rubble destroyed by the cowardly Nazis trying to cover up their murderous past. Though they were destroyed, they didn't have enough time to clean up after themselves so the structure of the undressing room, gas chamber and crematorium is still very much visible.
We visited the area just next to this where they used to keep the ashes before removal. Here a sign depicting the quote I have included a bit further up was erected in respect, but the hole where the ashes were is now full of water.
Walking down we visited brick barracks on the woman's side of the camp, more bunks and claustrophobic conditions. Then it was the end of our visit. Looking back on it it all seemed to fly by but the visit was incredibly interesting and though I will never know or understand the full extent of the fear and terror experienced here, I am glad I have been and will encourage anyone interested in war history to consider a visit. It isn't traumatising, it didn't even bring a tear to my eye, the ruins and the structure of the buildings is merely a shell of what this place was, but the history of this place should not be forgotten and we should forever educate ourselves in the workings of the human mind and the terrible mistakes that have been made and are sometimes still being made, so that we can be just another person that knows that this can't happen again.
Rest in Peace
Sarah Stonehouse
22
United Kingdom
