Today we woke up free of bites. Their check for bed bugs must have been successful. Honestly the idea of it made me super itchy while I was sleeping. We had our hostel breakfast, which consisted of bread, cheeses, meats, and cereal without milk. It was an ok breakfast for a hostel. Pretty much like my usual in Berlin. Our plan for the day was to take the train to see Auschwitz and Birkenau concentration camps.
We bought train tickets for 6 Zloty each way. You can do the math and see how cheap that is!! The train ride was 1.5 hours. The train was the oldest train I've ever seen. It didn't even have a bathroom. I would venture to guess this train was new in the 1950s. The train literally crawled there. We did pay next to nothing for it, so I understood haha. When we got there, again we had no map and no clue where to go. In our American mindset, I guess we thought we would walk off the train and there it would be. Oh how naive we are! We fortunately found a city map outside the train station. We stood there staring at it for awhile. The camps were actually quite a walk away. Two men came up to us and asked if we knew where they were. Fortunately they did, and they were so sweet as to show us! They walked us right to the gate before we parted ways.
We bought a tour for around 24 Zloty or so. It was a guided tour in English. First we would tour Auschwitz and then Birkenau. I tried to mentally prepare myself for the day and what we were about to see. But I'm quite sure that no matter how hard I tried, it wasn't going to help. The first thing we saw on our tour was the infamous "Arbeit Macht Frei" sign. Oh how wrong that sign was.
The amount of information we heard that day was astounding. The information itself was disturbing, much less the sights: pictures, stories, buildings, etc. I learned that Auschwitz was the only concentration camp to tattoo the camp numbers on their prisoners. They did this to help them identify the prisoners when they died. We saw a room that was filled with hair from the women who entered the camp. They used the hair to make rugs and other textiles. I can't even begin to explain how much hair there was. I am bad with estimating length, but I would estimate it was about a 50 X 20 foot case. I can't remember how many tons of hair they said they found when the Russian Army liberated the camp. The hair had lost its color. The smell in that room was horrifying. The next room was just as hard. We saw some of the suitcases, with their addresses and ages on them. Also in the same room was a case with all the shoes, toys, and some kid's clothes. It was hard beyond words to see all this.
We saw the execution wall and the torture cells. There was a tiny block cell where they would have 4 people stand all night. There looked to barely even be enough room for 2 people to stand. The execution wall was horrifying. They had a replica as the original one was destroyed. Many families had placed flowers and memorial items here. In one of the buildings they had a wall with pictures of the prisoners: a photo from when they came and below when they died. It was unreal to see how short of time they lived after arriving. We also went in a small gas chamber and crematorium at the Auschwitz camp. It was said that they ran a loud engine outside to cover the sound of the screams. This was one of the most disturbing sites.
Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, we went to Birkenau. This was where the trains arrived and the selections took place. The arrivals went down one of two paths; one to the gas chambers and one to be spared a few more days in the workcamps. I can't accurately describe how the camp looks. There are rows and rows of barracks. The bed are horrifyingly small. They were lined with straw. Our guide said the newcomers often got the bottom bunks because of people relieving themselves at night since they had so little time to use the restroom. Also, they would all have to turn in unison since they were body to body on each bunk. The "bathroom" was rows of holes over a concrete pit. Our guide said fights often broke out in there with so many people trying to use the restroom at one time. Only those to the holes first got to use the restroom.
We saw the remnants of the gas chambers. It was unbelievable to see. The Germans tried to destroy the evidence before the Red Army came. They aren't sure how many people died in Auschwitz, but estimations are well over 1 million. It was surreal to stand where so many stood wait in line for their "showers." Could you even imagine? They have a nice memorial for those who died. Rightfully so, the English translation is the farthest from the memorial since no one from the US died there.
I don't understand how anyone who has seen Auschwitz-Birkenau or any concentration camp can believe the Holocaust didn't happen. No way can you go there and not feel the pain and sorrow. It hangs in the air. That day was one of the hardest days I've experienced. Putting images to all the history and faces to the victims, hearing and seeing firsthand what their lives were like.
I feel everyone should make the journey to see Auschwitz-Birkenau. It's a very needed experience!
"The one who does not remember history is bound to live through it again."
- George Santayana
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