Kelsey: The Auschwitz Experience

An image of the campt and the electric barbed wire fence

Area designating for shooting executions 

Hanging with the Polish students

I’m sure everyone’s anxious to hear my reaction from today’s Auschwitz visit but I’m going to try to not go to in depth until after seeing Birkenau tomorrow. This is because I have so many different thoughts and feelings and so many different facts and images to process that I want to wait until I have the whole experience. I will try to recap the moments of the day though. We had breakfast at 8am and then we walked down the street (because that’s how close we are) to the concentration camp, Auschwitz 1. We also shared this journey with Christian, a German around our age that volunteers at the Center, and his girlfriend Melanie.

The cold rainy weather was completely appropriate for today and it actually added to the experience to make it more realistic in imagining how difficult life would have been like there. We had a private tour as a group, so there were 7 of us and an excellent guide. I really enjoyed the smallness of the group because it was more of an intimate learning experience and I feel like we got to see and hear more than the people in the larger group tours. We arrived at the gate, (now a replica of the old sign) that reads Arbeit Macht Frei “Work will set you free”. This is something I’ve seen in images of the concentration camp ever since I remember learning about the Holocaust, so to finally see it in person (even if it was only just a replica) was powerful. To imagine what it was like for prisoners going in and out of the camp to and from work and what went through their minds every time they read it. The camp was large and filled with dozens of brick buildings all serving various purposes.   The first few provided pictures and statistics on the Holocaust which gave us a lot of factual knowledge of who was involved. Seeing an image of children on their way to be executed is just indescribable. We also learned about the chemical that was used in the gas chambers, Zyklon (I think I spelt it wrong), and saw all the empty cans of it that were recovered. We saw what the living conditions were like for prisoners in the first few weeks, some were filled with straw on the floor, and others had mattresses. We saw the area reserved for shooting executions, prior to the use of gas chambers. It was placed between two buildings with covers on the windows to prevent prisoners from seeing what went on but I’m sure the sounds of shots being fired constantly was enough to know. The building next to it was known as the “death block”. This is where decisions were made on whether to execute someone and the holding area for the prisoners prior to their execution. According to the guide, if you were sent there you knew it meant death. Some of the most chilling blocks were the ones that contained possessions of the people.

One of the most disturbing was the room filled with hair that was shaved off of the prisoners after their deaths. The hair was stored and then used for other things such as support for collars for Nazi uniforms, and even carpets. The amount of hair that was there was just horrible, I really can’t find the right words to describe it. The preservation of the hair to me was also something I liked in the fact that it’s evidence that has lasted for some sixty years to show the atrocity that occurred there. It is also a monument to the victims because even though they have passed away, a part of them is still alive, which is good to think about in the sense that the Nazis failed in completely destroying them. The moment that gave me the biggest goosebumps and the most overwhelming for me was a long room filled with shoes in cases on both sides. I believe there was something around 800,000 shoes (not even all of them there) just piled up really high. It was just so hard to imagine that every single pair belonged to someone who died there. There were other rooms containing piles of glasses, hairbrushes, suitcases and so many other things just stripped away from these victims. Another difficult room was the gas chamber and oven. I didn’t know that was the room we were going in to so I was in extra shock when I realized. We spent 4 hours walking around so there was so much information. Today was definitely a turning point in my understanding and image of the Holocaust. What I couldn’t get over was how strategically planned out every little detail was by the Nazis, for such an inhumane event. Tomorrow, will add to this experience when I visit the main killing center, Birkenau.

On a MUCH happier note (because I’d rather end on a good one), after our trip to Auschwitz we went to the University across the street from the Center, PWSZ, and had a lecture with a Professor there and several students that speak English. We discussed the relations between the Jewish people and the people of Poland. We also learned a little bit about the Polish perspective and what it’s like for them studying so close to Auschwitz and living in Oswiecem. After the lecture we got to hang out with the students and it was a lot of fun comparing life in Poland and the U.S, and even learning how to pronounce some Polish words (As well as the song one of their teachers made for them to help learn English). Anyways, that’s enough for tonight because I have another big day ahead of me tomorrow :)