Auschwitz I

Today me, my mother and my Uncle will be going on a private tour of both Auschwitz and Auschwitz II. It goes without saying that this going to by far, the most heart wrenching post. This entry is done post tour. Our day began at nine in the morning. We had scheduled for a private tour guide to come and show us the historical sites around Krakow as well as provide information of the events that occurred. Our first site was in one of the squares within the city. Though this was not a normal square. This was the location of a mass selection and deportation of Jews from the ghettos. It had been the post where the Jewish inhabitants were taken out of their cramped homes and told to leave their belongings.

They were examined, sorted by woman, man and child. German doctors, physicians and soldiers were all present in the selection process. Woman, children and what seemed to be inadequate young men were sorted and placed onto trains to be sent to work camps. However, these were not trains headed for work camps. They were being sent to what became to be known as 'Extermination' camps. The people that boarded these trains had said their very short goodbye's to their families expecting to see them within a few days. These people were never seen again, hence the name 'Extermination'.

Anyone else that had been selected that was not put onto those trains in specific were split between another two camps. One of them also being an extermination camp, and the other happened to be sent to Auschwitz. One thing was made excruciatingly clear. The people being sent to Auschwitz were only sent with one intention. They were sent to be worked to death. As a symbol and memorial of this forsaken time, there are empty chairs among the square. Each one meant to express the gruesome nature of this event. At this memorial, people are allowed to leave candles, stones and in rare occasions decorations in order to show their empathy and compassion for those lost. However, among all of this darkness there shone very small, but evermore so significant light. There were many Polish people who were willing to shelter the Jews. One notable gentleman worked as a medicine man who ran his own pharmacy. He had shown a rather distasteful dislike for the Jewish population. Little did the Germans know this was only a rouse. He had actually saved a rather significant 200 or so Jewish people by sheltering them in his pharmacy. He and many others showed that humanity only dies when we refuse to protect those that seek help. Our tour continued and we ventured to a monument that had been constructed in the name of those that had perished in the camps. Where the once German outpost stood, now only a large stone monument. The ground had become covered in overgrowth and seemed to resemble that of an open field, but to those who knew what those hills once were know where they stand. The monument was a symbol that expressed the emotions of the people who were marched to their deaths. Though this was a rather deflating sight, there was much more ahead. After viewing this sight, we continued our tour to Auschwitz I. We were walked from the entrance of the grounds which had been built as a way of regulating traffic into the camp in order to keep things organized, to a dirt road. Ahead of it you could clearly see the camp. There lay four barbed wire fences, guard towers, mess halls and what could even be confused for dorms. Despite the overgrowth that grew among the land, anyone who had any idea what this place was knew that there was no beauty here. The bricks were solid grey, the wood looked almost petrified and all the while you were engulfed in this feeling of loss. As we walked throughout the camp we were exposed to information, documents, graphs, maps and lists that truly expressed the vast amount of calculation and organization that was contributed to this massive murder machine. We were told of the different things the Jews were told upon their arrival. They had been stripped of their belongings, their clothes, their comforts and keepsakes. If you happen to be a woman, then you were stripped of your hair as well. It was expressed to us the complete and utter betrayal that the Jews had undergone. They were told that this displacement was only temporary, that they should take only their most precious belongings, that they were to mark their bags clearly so that they would receive them later. The Jews had no knowledge as to what was going to happen. They complied happily and without a fight. They marked their bags, brought along luxuries and comforts that would only be expected if you were to be removed from your home. Our tour went from the front gates, to the housing, to the Polish prisoner ward developed for the soul purpose of torturing those that helped the Jews. Throughout our tour we saw how they slept and what their housing quarters were like. One exhibit that spoke loudly to me was actually shown to us in private. An entirely newly developed building dedicated to "the experience", at least that is how I express it. The building had an exhibit that showed video documentation of Jewish people from all over Europe 'Pre-WWII'. You could see the humanity in them. You saw mothers with their children, Husbands with their wives, siblings holding hands, families celebrating, families eating diner, children going to school. This ran a single truth directly to me. "They were exactly like us. In every way. They laughed, they loved, they reached for happiness. The only difference is that their chance to attain it was stolen from them." There isn't much else I could say. It was an experience everyone should have. It's too important not to. This is the first entry of two. I will be entering the continuation of our tour in my next entry titled: "Auschwitz II".