The following day, we took a bus tour of Auschwitz. We visited both Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II, the latter being known as Birkenau. In fact, there were three locations under the one title of "Auschwitz," allowing it to become the most devastating mass killing center ever created. We walked the same streets that millions of innocent people did before going off to their death. Every step I took felt heavy with the weight of that realization.
Our tour guide gave us head-sets so we could wander but still hear her narration. We walked right under the infamous sign saying "Arbeit macht frei," or "work makes you free." Cue immediate chills.
I found myself staring at the electric fences - structures of oppression that surrounded this compound and served as a death sentence for many desperate souls. When the pain and grief became too much, some threw themselves into the electrically charged barbed wire to take their own lives.
On the tour, we were able to enter three of the barracks that had converted some rooms into exhibits. One room displayed a mountain of human hair behind a glass pane with a sign saying 7,000 kilos of human hair was found upon liberation. Likewise, there was a room filled with eyeglasses - just a sea of glasses taken from those poor people. That was overwhelming for me. It's the little things that really hit home.
We were able to walk inside the crematorium, too. The feeling I had when walking through there... it was beyond eerie. This stale, heavy smell hung in the air. It was almost as if I could feel the memories locked in that awful room. There was only one thing running through my mind: I'm standing right where they murdered millions of innocent people with Zyklon-B. How did this even happen? And why?
We got back on the bus and drove three miles away to Birkenau. This is the camp that you would typically picture as a death camp. There were huge gates and train tracks leading directly inside the enclosure. In... and not out. There was snow on the ground covering the mud and crunching underneath our feet. I could just imagine all the people I'd seen in the pictures - confused and ushered off the train into the selection line or, worse, straight to the crematorium.
It was something I will never forget. Although I cried numerous times, I am so glad I went. I bought a book in the giftshop entitled, "I Survived Auschwitz" by Krystyna Zuwulska. The author was able to get forged papers with a new name before getting arrested by the SS. It's a fantastic read given that it's an insider look at how the women, in particular, were treated. There is so much that history teaches us.
Anyways, signing off for now...
Cheers
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