The entrance sign, which translated means "Work Makes You Free"
The day was dark, gloomy, somber, and in a way, surreal, but not the good kind of surreal. You step into one history's darkest landmarks and you instantly go numb. There is no possible way that you can truly prepare yourself for the experience that is known Auschwitz-Birkenau. It is preserved in a way that you are able to see each room, each building, each foot of landscape as it was between 1940-1945.
"Auschwitz will forever remain the blackhole of the entire human history." Isaac Herzog
I really do not know how to describe the whole experience from that day in early November of 2013. It was something I can never possibly forget. I come from a family that has Jewish bloodlines on one side of it. As I went through the computer observing the last names of those killed from the various countries, my heart sank more and more. I could have felt hate, I could have felt sadness, I could have grief. I really have no clue how I felt, but it was not an easy feeling at all.
As you walk the grounds of this complex, it is unreal the sites that you encounter. The room with thousands, and thousands of shoes from 80,000 victims. The room they call the hair room, that serves as proof that Jews were gassed at Auschwitz. There was even the fabric on display in various places. Fabric that was made from the hair of these victims. There was the room full of suitcases. Suitcases belonging to the victims, who had no clue that they would meet their demise once they arrived in this "blackhole".
The Death Wall
There was the death wall. Yes, the death wall. This is where political prisoners, Soviet POWs and many, many more were publicly executed. Some where flogged. Some where given "the post". This may look like a normal courtyard, but it serves as a reminder. A reminder of the thousands who comprised the Polish Resistance. Thousands who died as martyrs for their people.
There was the room were a man known as the "Angel of Death" did the unthinkable. This man known as Josef Mengele was responsible for selecting prisoners for execution in gas chambers. Gas chambers where stacks and stacks of bodies would later be found upon the liberation of the camp. This man also conducted experiments of many kinds. I will not detail this, but these were done on inmates in what was referred to as pseudoscientific racial studies.
“We ran up to them and they gave us hugs, cookies and
chocolate. Being so alone a hug meant more than anybody could imagine because
that replaced the human worth that we were starving for. We were not only
starved for food, but we were starved for human kindness. And the Soviet Army
did provide some of that.” Eva Mozes, child survivor of Auschwitz
A very interesting fact regarding the slave labor that was performed at Auschwitz. The labor that was performed brought in over what would be $163 million. Even the drug company Bayer bought slaves to use for experiments with new drugs. I bet you won't look at that company the same again, will ya. There is a huge list of companies that were documented to have profited from this dark era in the world. Companies such as Allianz, BMW, Nestle', and Hugo Boss.
There is the railroad. There is the train. Just let the images flow through your mind. Crowded train car. You have no idea where you are going. Separated from your kids. Separated from your husband or wife. Pulled away from your homeland. There is a chance, a very slim chance that you just might be one of the survivors.
“I realized that they were prisoners and not workers, so I
called out, “You are free come out!” – Vasily Gromadsky, Russian officer, 60th
Army liberating Auschwitz
There is definitely more that I could go write about in regards to this dark pit of the world. It was so strange how the day itself was dark, gloomy, cloudy and even a little rainy. Remember this piece of history. This piece of history where 1/6 of all the Jews killed in the Holocaust met their end. A place were some of the worst acts in human history have ever been performed.
Somehow this rainbow appeared after visiting Auschwitz
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