Auschwitz & Birkenau

This was probably our main reason for going to Krakow. The site of the largest German Nazi concentration and extermination camps was something we had to see. It was such a heavy experience, and words simply cannot do it justice.

Getting to Oświęcim (Auschwitz in German) wasn’t too difficult, although we were quite shocked to discover that people who didn’t manage to get a seat (it was a really, really small bus) just had to stand the entire journey. That’s one and a half hours of standing! Gosh.

It was really cold when we got to Auschwitz. I was slightly taken aback to see so many people there, but once we figured out where to buy tickets and the guidebook, we left the noisy crowd behind and wandered onto the camp grounds.

We were greeted by an entrance bearing the words ‘Arbeit macht frei’- which ironically, translates to ‘Work Brings Freedom’. The prisoners marched through these very gates to their 12 hours (or more) of slave labour, and returned from a day’s work carrying the bodies of their dead friends. On the small square by the kitchen, the camp orchestra would play marches, mustering the thousands of prisoners so that they could be counted more efficiently. Inside the camp, there were rows and rows of buildings where people were imprisoned; these now house exhibitions detailing the atrocity of the Holocaust.

At times, it was almost too difficult to read the explanations on how people were systematically tortured and exterminated. And then, there were such powerful displays- rooms full of human hair (which were taken from the dead and sold to make cloth), shoes (belonging to both adults and children), empty suitcases, spectacles… the list goes on.

The Nazis rounded up all the ‘undesirables’ from the areas which they conquered- including Jews and gypsies, promising relocation to other parts of the German empire. The unsuspecting victims thus packed all their valuables, thinking they were headed for a better place, but subsequently found themselves at the death camps. The Nazis separated them to those who were fit to work, and those who were not. Those who were not fit to work, including women and children, were sent to the gas chambers to die. Others, like twins and dwarfs, were subjected to cruel experiments by the infamous Dr Mengele.

The Execution Wall

I had to hold back tears many times throughout that day, and I often saw other people wiping away theirs. It was so sad to know that man could be so cruel to their own kind.

Leaving Auschwitz, we moved on to see Birkenau, some 3 km away. In some ways, Birkenau was even more shocking. This vast, purpose-built and grimly efficient camp had more than 300 prison barracks and four huge chambers complete with crematoria. The camp stretches almost as far as the eye can see; and one simply cannot hide from the overwhelming, lingering despair.

Birkenau

International Monument to the Victims of Fascism

I leave you with a quote seen in Auschwitz, by George Santayana:

‘The one who does not remember history is bound to live through it again’.

May we never forget this part of history.