This one is going to be a little rough to write about because truly no level of education can prepare you for what you will see when visiting both Auschwitz and Auschwitz II-Birkenau. When studying abroad in the spring visiting this place is actually a class field trip but in the Fall it is not because we go to Wittenberg, Germany instead. Ashley, Chase, Bree and I decided that it was something we
needed to see and I believe it is something everyone should try to see once in their lifetime. The quote says it itself, if you are not able to see Auschwitz once in your lifetime just please do not forget about it. "Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it"... I pray that something like the Holocaust is never repeated. When we first started our tour we were given a headset by our guide so
that we would always be able to hear her. As we walked in the first thing we passed was the gate that says "Arbeit Macht Frei" meaning work sets one free, though we all know that was not the case. Just entering the area made me uncomfortable. So many prisoners walked through this gate every day and saw this inscription. It is such a promising saying that was not true, how cruel of them to even try to promise something like that. None of it really makes sense but honestly will it ever make sense...
I have been to the Holocaust museum before in Washington D.C. I was a little bit younger than so I am not really sure if I understood what I was looking at. I had seen the piles of hair, shoes, suitcases, all of it. Though, seeing it here was different. I honestly was not even sure how comfortable I was taking pictures so some of these pictures that I have our from my friends phone. Seeing those piles of different clothing and everyday essentials it truly just overwhelms you. There were times that I felt like I wasn't even listening to our tour guide because I just couldn't fully comprehend all that I was seeing while being in the very spot that these events occurred.
We saw roll call where the prisoners would be called out every morning and night to be counted. If anyone was ever missing they would just stay there until either the person was found or someone told them where they were. Innocent people would be shot to the ground just so someone would speak up and that's just how it went. We saw different poles where people were hung from. People who would talk back or break any sort of rule would be hung in front of everyone immediately. When we reached a sidewalk on our pathway our tour guide explained that a doctor would be standing here and he would point either left or right. One direction meant the person was healthy and able to work so they would stay alive while the other direction meant death.
Another sign that made me uncomfortable was the "HALT STOJ" signs. This meant Stop! Danger! The sign stood between the housing blocks and double electric fence around the camp. Coming to this camp so many people were mislead. They were told to each bring one suitcase of all of their belongings. They had to write their name and information on the suitcase to ensure that it would get to them. I feel like this gave people hope that they would have their luggage when they inscribed their name onto it. The luggage was thrown into a pile and they were pushed into carts and sent off. Instantly their stuff would have been stolen, sorted through, and destroyed. They had nothing left but the clothes on their body.
Our next stop on the tour would be Auschwitz II-Birkenau. Here, the land was a lot more spread out. The trains would wheel into this camp and people would be disembarked and shoved off. Those who were selected for immediate death walked directly to the Krema II and Krema III gas chambers that were on either side of the tracks. Those who were selected to work walked down the road where they took a shower and were given striped uniforms to wear. They were forced into cabins that had bunk beds stacked 3 high and typically 6 people would be squished onto one single bed. Something that I did not even think about that our tour guide told us was that you had it lucky if you were on the top bunk. The strongest most fit people were the ones who got the top bunk and they stayed the most healthy. With hygiene being so poor and their being little time to use the restroom you could only imagine what people on the bottom bunk would go through. The people above you would have smells lingering down and sometimes often people would use the restroom in the bunks. The higher up you were the less you had to deal with. We also went into the cabin that they would go into to get ready in the morning. Holes were lined up next to each other for the restroom it was very crowded and very little space to change. With limited time to get ready in the morning only about half of the people would actually be able to make it to one of the holes to use the bathroom.
At the end of this treacherous place lies the ruins of the biggest gas chambers along with memorials for all of those who had lost their lives in the Holocaust. The monument at the end is quite large with a jumble of dark stones that looked almost like grave stones or coffins. This monument is placed in between the two largest gas chambers. On the steps of the Monument, there is a row of granite slabs, each with a metal plate on top which has an inscription in almost every major language.
The saying on these is "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 1940-45" They also had little monuments set up at the end of the tracks. It was so much to take in at the time. Looking straight you saw these beautiful monuments but when you left or right you see the ruins of a structure that killed so many it is just so unbearable and hard to imagine.
We decided that night to watch the Schindler's list movie since we would be going to Schindler's list museum the next day. We did not do much of anything else that night other than the movie because we still all needed to process everything we saw that day. The next morning we headed off to the museum to learn more about the guy who saved many Jews. He employed Jews at his enamelware factory because he didn’t have to pay them as much as he would have had to pay Poles. When Jews were forced out of the ghetto, many of his employees were taken away. In result, he would take Jews out of the concentration camp to have them work for him. People started viewing his factory as a sort of safe haven. They were given a decent meal for lunch at work and they were safe from violence in his factory. He ended up saving 1,200 Jews by employing them in his factory which is why the Schindler's list is so famous to this day.
As we walked through the museum it did a really nice job of taking us back in time. The museum was full or different arts and sound affects that made you actually feel like you were there. I really liked that the museum gave you different sheets of paper and at different stations you would stamp them like they had to do back than in order to pass certain points. Overall I would recommend anyone who is visiting this camps to also visit this museum.
Though it was a very overwhelming and emotional weekend we did try to make the best of it towards the end. After the museum, we went to my first ever Hard Rock Cafe. The others had been to Hard Rock over their Fall break and they insisted on taking me. Though we were a little disappointed that they did not have boozy milkshakes I still had a really good mango and strawberry drink which are more two favorite fruits along with having a fantastic burger! We walked around a little bit and also went shopping in the mall connected the bus station before we headed back home to Olomouc.
It was a much needed eye opening experience that, like I said, no matter how much you learn about the Holocaust in school whether reading from a textbook or listening to a teacher you have not fully understood it until you are right in front of it looking, walking the path, and seeing things that no one should ever have to see or experience in their lifetime.