We were only in Poland for a few days. It’s safe to say Poland, specifically Krakow, thoroughly surprised me. It was absolutely beautiful. I would love to come back someday.
The Square
One of the days we visited the Schindler Museum, the next Auschwitz-Birkenau. The latter was the most powerful, for obvious reasons. For those of you who do not know the specifics, Auschwitz-Birkenau is made up of Auschwitz I, a concentration camp, and Auschwitz II-Birkenau, a death camp. The differences between the two are important. A concentration camp was meant for slave labor, and death was likely, but not certain. A death camp, justly name, meant certain death. Auschwitz I was first constructed to hold Polish political prisoners. Soon the camp became a prison for all those the Nazi regime deemed undesirable or sub-human. While a majority were those of the Jewish faith, Poles, Gypsies, Soviet prisoners of war, Jehovah Witnesses, those of the LGBTQ community, and countless others were sent to the camps.
Those sent to the camp were transferred in cattle cars. More than 40 people would be forced into one cattle car. Space was limited, so movement was not an option. Sometimes the trip to Auschwitz would take days, as trains arrived with victims from all over Europe. Food and water were not available for the duration of the trip. Many died before arrival.
Upon arrival the selection process began. With a wave of a hand a SS doctor would decided their fate. If one looked fit for work they went to the concentration; however, children, pregnant women, the elderly, the ill and those who looked unfit for work went to the gas chambers straight away.
While everything about this place disgusted me, what stood out was how the Nazis succeeded in escorting those deemed unfit for work to the death chambers. They told them they were to take a shower. As they arrived at the undressing room they were told to make sure to remember where they placed their things. As such, oblivious to their fate, the victims went quietly and calmly. They would never come back to collect their things.
After, the bodies were dragged out and looted for glasses, artificial limbs, jewelry, hair and any gold teeth. The corpses were then burned, and their ashes used as fertilizer for the fields surrounding the camp. Those who did not meet death by gas chamber were worked to death, died of starvation, illness, individual executions, and medical experiments. Thousands and thousands of people were killed en masse at this one camp.
The camp was about an hour and half ride from Krakow. I fell asleep for most of the ride. When I did wake up the first thing I noticed were train tracks. At first glance it was nothing surprising, but then I noticed areas which were overgrown with grass and weeds. I realized these tracks were not in use anymore and it all came together. Seeing those tracks and realizing where they lead made me sick to my stomach. Words cannot justly describe the emotions you go through while walking the grounds. Some words that do come to mind however are disgust and utter sadness. You honestly just want to scream “why.” How could someone do this? How could so many people be okay with this? The amount of hate and absolute lack of respect for human life that is needed is unbelievable.
Meaningless death occurred over and over on those grounds, along with torture, starvation and nightmarish medical experiments on children. As I write this, recalling the experience, all I feel is anger and sadness. There is no happy ending. Generations and bloodlines came to an end there. All we can hope is to take this as a lesson. A lesson for the need of love, or, at the least, toleration and respect for human life. As George Santayana once said, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”