Blog Post 2 - 3/22/16 - Corrine Valenti
As we end our two day visit of Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II-Birkenau I am truly speechless. The horrors endured during the years of operation of this camp are truly unimaginable. A quote shared with us by our tour guide from a survivor said, "We expected the worst but not the unbelievable". The camp is now run as a museum in order to ensure the world never forgets what happened to the 1.5 million men, woman, and children who were ruthlessly murdered during the Shoah at Auschwitz. We have learned that the Holocaust can also be called the Shoah, which is a Hebrew term which can be translated to destruction. Names are extremely important. This is one of the most crucial lessons I have learned from this course. A name, of a person, place, or thing, is an identity and something so vitally human. When the Nazi's occupied Poland they changed all the names of Polish towns to German names, stripping Poland of it's nationality and identity. The town of Oświęcim was changed to Auschwitz which was also what the camp was referred to as.
Prisoners upon arrival at Auschwitz were split by Nazi doctors into two lines; left meaning forced slave labor in the camps and right meaning death in the gas chamber. The prisoners sent to the left who were strong enough to work were further stripped of their identity when they were robbed of all personal belongs including clothes, toothbrushes, and even hair. The living quarters in the camps were absolutely appalling: filthy, cramped, dark, damp. Sleeping bunks shown in the photo below were made with three tiers with 4-8+ prisoners sleeping on each level.
Men, women, and children were all exposed to the same unlivable
conditions and were only allowed to use the bathroom twice a day; once
in the morning before work and once in the evening on the way back from
work. Kapos, or prisoners assigned to supervise each barrack, were often German criminals or prostitutes who treated the Jewish prisoners worse than some of the SS officers. Kapos had slightly better living conditions than those of other prisoners. As the war was coming to an end and Russian forces were soon to liberate the camp, the Nazis began to burn evidence of their unspeakable crimes. The multiple gas chambers of the Auschwitz II-Birkenau were destroyed. The camp is one mass grave for millions of innocent human beings.
Experiencing the camp, even 71 years after its liberation, was devastating. It is so hard to imagine peace in such a place. However, in a place where Jews were ruthlessly tortured and murdered for their faith our team got to say a Jewish prayer called a Mourner's Kaddish at a memorial on camp grounds. This is an ancient Jewish prayer said in honor of those who have passed usually at a service called a Shiva. As we prayed standing on the mass grave of over a million people the sun came out for just a minute and I finally felt a sense of peace in the camp of death.
The Shoah raises many issues of theodicy, or the justice of God in the world. How can a God of love allow such evil to take place in the world? Auschwitz has made me realize through every devastation a small amount of God's love shines through. I saw this love in the story of Father Maximilian Kolbe who willingly gave his life by taking the place of a Jewish prisoner being sentenced to death. I saw this love in the compassionate hearts and tears of my classmates and professors who exemplify hope for our future. I saw this love in the beautiful Hebrew melodies being sung in Auschwitz II-Birkenau by a group of Jewish youth visiting from Israel. Although the question of why is an extremely difficult one to grasp the only way to cope with the devastation is to believe that pure Godly love exists even in the darkest of places. "Forever let this place be a cry of despair and a warning to humanity, where the Nazis murdered about 1.5 million men, woman, and children mainly Jews from various countries of Europe - Auschwitz-Birkenau 1940-1945"
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