Auschwitz-Birkenau

Map showing all the cities from which people were deported to Auschwitz

I have been putting off the writing of this post because it is an emotionally draining experience. When we were getting near the camps I was a bit taken aback at all the homes that surrounded the camps. Once we were inside there were times I needed to look away or leave the room. I have seen many movies and read a wide variety of books about the Holocaust, but nothing was like visiting the two concentration camps. I will not do it justice here, but I will try to give you a sense of our visit. I didn't take many pictures.

I will start with logistics. Since we were not traveling with a large tour group, we had tickets for an English group tour with about 25 others who were in a similar situation. As you walk into the visitor's center you check in and wait for your time to be called. Other small groups seemed to have a private. Large groups were met outside where there were several guides waiting for them. 

Once gathered with our guide we went through security and picked up "whisperers" so that we could hear the guide throughout the tour of Auschwitz. We did not have the audio at Birkenau. As we went through the infamous gate "Arbeit mach frei," or "Work makes you free," it seemed disrespectful somehow to take a photo besides the point that there are so many groups of people it was difficult to take a photo. Still, I grabbed my phone and got this view.

I learned that the camp was built by the Russians before the war as a training ground for soldiers. The Nazis turned it into a death camp. We walked past the 24th block to the first barracks. The start of the tour is a museum with each barrack showcasing the horrors of the camp. Prisoners undressed and their personal belongings were taken from them. The exhibit included items such as tallit (prayer shawls), housewares (people were told they were being relocated and could take some items so that they would be more obedient and less afraid), luggage, and shoes, including one window that only displayed shoes of the children that were murdered. I had to look away. I couldn't stop thinking of Ari and the tremendous loss of generations.

Tallit (prayer shawls)

Housewares

Luggage

We went into another barrack that was for the prisoners who worked. I was astonished by the beautiful murals that decorated most of the rooms, even more so when our guide explained that all of them were created by the prisoners. Some were allowed to keep paint and pencils that were used to create life in a place of death. 

Painting by one of the camp prisoners

As we came to another barrack we walked into an alcove that was used to shoot prisoners against the back wall. There is also a prison within a prison where the deranged minds of the Nazis came up with numerous ways to punish prisoners. There was one room where people were forced to stand all night and then work all day. The Nazis would fill another room that had no ventilation with as many prisoners as they could. The people would suffocate from the lack of oxygen. There was no end to the horrors. 

Prisoners were shot to death at this wall

By the time we reached the crematorium I was so overwhelmed that I just glanced at the ovens, quickly snapped a photo and walked out of the building to get some fresh air, something the victims of the Holocaust will never have. I didn't take any photos of the crematorium.

Once we had made our way through Auschwitz we returned our whisperers and were instructed to meet at the shuttle bus after a brief break. Together we were taken to Birkenau, which unlike Auschwitz, was built as a concentration camp. It was enormous, although the wooden barracks were all burned to the ground leaving only the chimney for a fireplace that was the only heat in the winter. 90% of those who died in the complex which is called Auschwitz died on Birkenau, the largest of the sub-camps. 

What is left of most of the barracks in Birkenau

The pictures we see in books and movies of the barracks with three layers of what was the sleeping area for the prisoners was actualized in a remaining barrack. The lowest bunks were for the arriving prisoners who, when people in the upper bunks had to relieve themselves, would have it fall upon them. 

Barracks at Birkenau

The lowest bunks were directly on the floor.

In some cases the bunks were covered with hay.

1.1 million men, women, and children lost their lives here. This included Jews who made up most of the population, but also gypsies, political prisoners, the disabled, and homosexuals. The camp was liberated between January 17th and 21st. 58,000 prisoners were moved by the SS deeper inside the Reich. The SS burned as much as they could, including the warehouse of personal belongings of the prisoners and they attempted to blow up the crematorium, some of which was destroyed and some remain. The Russian troops rescued 7,000 prisoners, most of whom were very ill and starving. A hospital was set up in the camp with doctors to provide care. Auschwitz became a museum soon after the war in 1947. It is a difficult but necessary visit.