Auschwitz

I took very few pictures of the actual camp. I wanted to take it in. I wanted to respect the millions who died. And I didn't want to glorify the atrocities that took place. But I will share what I have and simply say that visiting this place is an absolute must. "Enjoyable" is certainly not the word, but I am so glad I went:

I don't know why, but I was a little taken aback by the amount of people visiting. It felt strange to me that the entrance area (pictured below) was built up. There was a bookshop, bathrooms and food for sale. Then again, it is a museum...they do need to accommodate visitors!

Past this building you can see the barbed wire fence...beyond that is Auschwitz I.

The tour was split into two parts because there are two separate camps: Auschwitz I (pictured above) and Auschwitz II. For the first part, we each had individual headsets to hear our tour guide speaking. This was really helpful because the buildings were too cramped for him to be able to address our whole group. I think it also made the experience more emotional...his voice was playing directly into my ear. Each of us were kind of in our own little worlds, trying to process what he was saying.  

Before it was converted into a Nazi Concentration Camp, Auschwitz I was a detention center for political prisoners. It almost reminded me of a little village, much smaller than I pictured it would be. Compared to Auschwitz II, it was more intimate (if you can describe a concentration camp as that!). 

(Left: Block 24 of Auschwitz, a particularly brutal place for women.  Middle: One of many signs that were scattered around, Right: Barbed wire fence located within the camp.)

The outside of a gas chamber.

That's all for pictures of Auschwitz I. I could list in detail some of the information I learned from going inside the gas chambers, the emotions I felt when I saw the tons of human hair they had collected and learned of the other inhumane processes that took place. But truly it wouldn't do the atrocities enough justice. All I can say is that actually being inside the camp, inside the gas chamber, seeing the finger nail marks on the walls from people desperately trying to escape...there is nothing quite like it and no blog post could ever truly express the numbness I felt. 

We left Auschwitz I, got back in our coach bus, and rode to Auschwitz II. 

This camp had a completely different feel. Unlike the buildings in Auschwitz I, the buildings in the Auschwitz II camp were built by Nazis for the sole purpose of exterminating the Jews. There was no village-y feel to it. And it was three times the size of the first camp. 

Train tracks went through the camp...that's how big it was

After travelling like sardines in trains cars (above right) for several days with little food, families were separated: men "housed" to the left of these tracks (below)  and women "housed" to the right.  

The buildings they were placed in were basically stables: 

And the rows and rows of buildings truly seemed to go on forever. I wouldn't be able to capture the vastness of the place unless I took my camera up on an airplane. Here's a picture of just one:

Towards the back of the camp, a memorial with engraved words (written in many different languages) gave us one final opportunity to take in the millions of lives that were taken: 

And then we left. I heard someone point out once that Anne Frank, the most "famous" victim of the Holocaust, receives more empathy than any other holocaust victim. In other words, "What about the millions of others who died?" After this trip, I think I understand why. We as humans cannot emotionally comprehend death on such a grand scale. At least I cannot. When I walked through the Anne Frank museum earlier that week, I felt so much for the family and was moved to tears. When I left the camp, however, I had a different feeling; uneasiness and numbness. And I don't think this is necessarily a bad thing. It's simply the way our minds cope. 

 The truth is, even though we may not be able to comprehend it all, it is our duty to try to. I believe we have a responsibility to read, to visit and to remember. It's the least we can do. As the saying goes:

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

So now that it has been nearly three weeks since my visit, these are my concluding thoughts. I hope I didn't overstep any boundaries or disrespect the victims with my pictures. I struggled to post this and  texted my mother, "How okay is it to talk about Auschwitz in blog?"

Her response: "How okay would it be to pretend it doesn't exist/didn't happen?" 

She's right. So here it is.