Someday I will understand Auschwitz. This was a brave statement but innocently absurd. No one will ever understand Auschwitz. What I might have set down with more accuracy would have been: Someday I will write about Sophie's life and death, and thereby help demonstrate how absolute evil is never extinguished from the world. Auschwitz itself remains inexplicable. The most profound statement yet made about Auschwitz was not a statement at all, but a response. The query: "At Auschwitz, tell me, where was God?" And the answer: "Where was man?”
- WIlliam Styron | Sophie's Choice
- WIlliam Styron | Sophie's Choice
Auschwitz Birkenau in Oswiecim, Poland
Just in time for the 70th year anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi concentration camp, I want to finally post and share our moving and emotional visit of Auschwitz last September 2014. We have heard stories about the Nazi concentration camps from survivors, studied it in school, watched documentaries and read books regarding this atrocity that happened in human history. Sometimes, there are no words or explanation how you feel about certain places. "Let us remember that we are on the site of the most gigantic cemetery in the world, a cemetery where there are no graves, no stones, but where the ashes of more than one million people lie." (Waldemar Dabrowski)
We extended our Balkan road trip to Poland mainly because we wanted to experience and see this place first hand. We know its a horrible place to see but we are very interested in World War II and the Holocaust. It was a gloomy day when we visited, even the weather seems to know and feel what has yet to come, a very emotional journey of reliving the past. Despite watching documentaries and prior knowledge of what to expect here, nothing could really prepare anyone on this poignant experience - of actually seeing this place and witnessing where it actually happened.
We do not want to expound in full detail why this happened, what actually happened here and who are the victims or the perpetrators, because it would take us more than this blog post to explain something this sensitive and this big. That being said, we would like to share one most notable and overwhelming experience we had here. As soon as we stepped in, and walked inside the crematorium, it is such a powerful and moving experience - you can feel the melancholic atmosphere as soon as you enter, and you can't help but imagine the cruelty and monstrosity of what happened. We silently prayed for the souls, while we were inside (out of outmost respect of the victims, we do not have pictures of the gas chamber or the crematorium).
We extended our Balkan road trip to Poland mainly because we wanted to experience and see this place first hand. We know its a horrible place to see but we are very interested in World War II and the Holocaust. It was a gloomy day when we visited, even the weather seems to know and feel what has yet to come, a very emotional journey of reliving the past. Despite watching documentaries and prior knowledge of what to expect here, nothing could really prepare anyone on this poignant experience - of actually seeing this place and witnessing where it actually happened.
We do not want to expound in full detail why this happened, what actually happened here and who are the victims or the perpetrators, because it would take us more than this blog post to explain something this sensitive and this big. That being said, we would like to share one most notable and overwhelming experience we had here. As soon as we stepped in, and walked inside the crematorium, it is such a powerful and moving experience - you can feel the melancholic atmosphere as soon as you enter, and you can't help but imagine the cruelty and monstrosity of what happened. We silently prayed for the souls, while we were inside (out of outmost respect of the victims, we do not have pictures of the gas chamber or the crematorium).
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The cattle car that brought prisoners to Birkenau.
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Before liberation, the Nazis bombed the gas chambers and crematoriums to destroy the evidence of the "Final Solution".
The entrance to Auschwitz I and II. The sign that greeted the doomed souls, it says Arbeit Macht Frei or work sets you free.
Death Wall
Zyklon B gas used in the gas chambers. Below is a picture of the prisoners hanged on the wall, as well as their belongings. One of the most heartbreaking and somewhat disturbing experience was to see a room full of hair, shaved from thousands of women. I did not have the heart to take picture of this. Some of the hair was used as stuffing for mattresses, used to weave rugs and other industrial purposes.
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“The past is history written in stone that can't be altered.
The future is transitory and never guaranteed.
Today is the only thing you can alter for certain.
Make the most of it.”
- Sherrilyn Kenyon | Born of Silence
The future is transitory and never guaranteed.
Today is the only thing you can alter for certain.
Make the most of it.”
- Sherrilyn Kenyon | Born of Silence
Auschwitz, to date, is the most horrible and eerie but unforgettable place we have ever been. Knowing it from watching documentaries and from reading books is not merely enough to know what happened. This is one of the few places in the world that leaves an indelible mark on you. Anyone who visits can tell you that you will learn so much more, a lesson that transcends beyond knowledge. It’s a constant and physical reminder that we should never ever forget.
