Reflections on Auschwitz-Birkenau
Poland: August 17, 2006
Today we saw Auschwitz, the death camp, and Birkenau, the connected slave labor camp. Being there was unreal. You know what happened, but its too much to think about; you can't really comprehend it. I could only think about the small things, like how the prisoners' shoes must have made the same sound on the gravel as mine did, assuming they had shoes. The buildings seemed harmless from the outside, but then you walk in and the atmosphere is completely different. Some buildings were so dark and wet inside, threatening, and mean. I saw the rooms where people slept, three-level high bunks put one right next to the other with no space in between. Other rooms only had hay on the floor. Some rooms had what looked like benches with circular holes cut in them; we were told these were the bathroom facilities. Other buildings had exhibits about specific events that occurred while Auschwitz was in operation; revolts and their consequences, specific groups of people who were punished for one reason or another, escape attempts. One building I walked into had pictures of the victims; only a small percentage were photographed for records, and the walls were just filled with pictures. Seeing the faces of those who suffered made me understand what happened on a completely new level. No matter how much you hear about what was done, to see the faces, to look into the eyes of someone who died, I can't explain it. Some looked so young, others so old and weak, all so thin.
In another building, there was a room behind glass halfway filled with what looked like clumpy rats. On a closer look, I saw it was human hair that was shaved off after the victims were gassed. I believe the hair was shaved to be used to stuff pillows.
I saw the wall where thousands of people were lined up and shot, and the wooden pikes stuck in the ground where prisoners were hung by their hands as punishment.
I went in the building where the medical experiments were done; I saw the rooms where people were starved to death; I saw the spaces where up to four people would be bricked in together for days, it couldn't have been more than 4 feet across.
Walking in some of these rooms, I felt like I couldn't breathe, like there was this overwhelming weight constricting my lungs. There was such an atmosphere in all of the buildings, like the walls will never let go of what happened, like it just happened yesterday.
At the end, we saw what a gas chamber looked like, and then saw some of the ovens in the next room, with their doors still open.
Afterwards, we drove the short distance to Birkenau. Birkenau was where some of the more physically fit were sent to work. We climbed the watchtower and looked out over the massive field with chimneys jutting up at regular intervals from where the dormitories used to be before the Nazis burned them to the ground in an attempt to hide their crimes. There were so many, so many buildings. And this was only about 25% of the people who came in on the trains; the other 75% were sent straight to Auschwitz.
On the way to Warsaw, we stopped at Czechtochowa to see the Black Madonna. There was a line of people all the way outside of the cathedral just to go in and walk by the Black Madonna. The woman behind me was frantically whispering the rosary on the way past, and people were pushing and trying to get ahead as quickily as possible. It was quite an adjustment, to come from a place of such suffering and despair and then to go to a place of such hope and faith that has such religious significance to so many.
Today we saw Auschwitz, the death camp, and Birkenau, the connected slave labor camp. Being there was unreal. You know what happened, but its too much to think about; you can't really comprehend it. I could only think about the small things, like how the prisoners' shoes must have made the same sound on the gravel as mine did, assuming they had shoes. The buildings seemed harmless from the outside, but then you walk in and the atmosphere is completely different. Some buildings were so dark and wet inside, threatening, and mean. I saw the rooms where people slept, three-level high bunks put one right next to the other with no space in between. Other rooms only had hay on the floor. Some rooms had what looked like benches with circular holes cut in them; we were told these were the bathroom facilities. Other buildings had exhibits about specific events that occurred while Auschwitz was in operation; revolts and their consequences, specific groups of people who were punished for one reason or another, escape attempts. One building I walked into had pictures of the victims; only a small percentage were photographed for records, and the walls were just filled with pictures. Seeing the faces of those who suffered made me understand what happened on a completely new level. No matter how much you hear about what was done, to see the faces, to look into the eyes of someone who died, I can't explain it. Some looked so young, others so old and weak, all so thin.
In another building, there was a room behind glass halfway filled with what looked like clumpy rats. On a closer look, I saw it was human hair that was shaved off after the victims were gassed. I believe the hair was shaved to be used to stuff pillows.
I saw the wall where thousands of people were lined up and shot, and the wooden pikes stuck in the ground where prisoners were hung by their hands as punishment.
I went in the building where the medical experiments were done; I saw the rooms where people were starved to death; I saw the spaces where up to four people would be bricked in together for days, it couldn't have been more than 4 feet across.
Walking in some of these rooms, I felt like I couldn't breathe, like there was this overwhelming weight constricting my lungs. There was such an atmosphere in all of the buildings, like the walls will never let go of what happened, like it just happened yesterday.
At the end, we saw what a gas chamber looked like, and then saw some of the ovens in the next room, with their doors still open.
Afterwards, we drove the short distance to Birkenau. Birkenau was where some of the more physically fit were sent to work. We climbed the watchtower and looked out over the massive field with chimneys jutting up at regular intervals from where the dormitories used to be before the Nazis burned them to the ground in an attempt to hide their crimes. There were so many, so many buildings. And this was only about 25% of the people who came in on the trains; the other 75% were sent straight to Auschwitz.
On the way to Warsaw, we stopped at Czechtochowa to see the Black Madonna. There was a line of people all the way outside of the cathedral just to go in and walk by the Black Madonna. The woman behind me was frantically whispering the rosary on the way past, and people were pushing and trying to get ahead as quickily as possible. It was quite an adjustment, to come from a place of such suffering and despair and then to go to a place of such hope and faith that has such religious significance to so many.
posted by Megan Humphreys @ 12/03/2006 07:12:00 AM
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