Auschwitz I

Day III- Auschwitz I

This was the moment that I have been anticipating for many weeks. Leading up, I did not feel nervous but ready for this experience. I woke up, ate breakfast and then we walked over as a group to Auschwitz I. The walk was not far, about 10 minutes away from where we are staying, The Center for Dialogue and Prayer in Oświęcim.

When we arrived, we went through security and I mentally prepared for this experience. When we walked outside to walk the pathway that so many souls once walked, the first thing I noticed was the sign that we all know from movies, television shows and history. “Arbeit Macht Fret”, “Work Makes You Free”. Once I stepped through the gate this feeling of despair rushed through my body. As I took each step through the stone-dirt road, in each prisoner barrack and the steps that are within, I imagined as if I were a prisoner during this time. I tried to put myself in their shoes but I can say, this did not do it justice. As much as I tried to imagine myself in this position, it is quite unimaginable. Prior to World War II, Auschwitz was a Polish army base and once the Germans occupied this land, they made it into a concentration camp. Auschwitz I was a prime location for the Germans because the camp was conveniently close to the railway system to bring prisoners in and was between 2 rivers that created isolation from the rest of society. From the years 1940-1945 at least 1.3 million people were deported. The first prisoners sent to Auschwitz were of Polish decent and then mostly the Jewish people. Of this, 1.1 million Jews were murdered because the Final Solution was created to make Jewish people disappear from society. Although, the Jewish people were the largest group that were targeted during the Holocaust, 140,000-150,000 Poles were deported. Many held high professions including professors, doctors and lawyers or were in the Polish army. Priests, monks, clergies and nuns were also deported and sent to Auschwitz. When the prisoners arrived in Auschwitz the SS guard stated that Jews had 2 weeks to live, priests had one month and the others 3 months to live. This reflects Martin Luther and the teaching of contempt. Martin Luther states, “Many, I know, respect the Jews and think that their present way of life is a venerable one. This is why I hasten to uproot and tear out this deadly opinion.” Hitler’s ideology and hatred of Jews reflects this statement by Martin Luther. His hatred for the Jewish people was so prevalent and was able to change and influence people’s opinions of the Jewish people and create the Holocaust.

During our time at Auschwitz our tour guide brought us into the different buildings located on the camp. In the beginning of the tour, I was able to be detached from my emotions, until we reached Building 5. Shoes from the Auschwitz prisoners were in a glass display in Building 5. Could you imagine staring at 80,000 shoes? 40,000 pairs of shoes. As I was walking by, I noticed a child’s shoe. This innocent child, suffered and murdered because of his or her religion. We then walked into Building 6, and the first thing that I saw were images of women, children and men prisoners. As I was walking past looking at all of the faces, I could not help but look at their birth and death dates. I found a woman that passed away on my birthday and one that passed the same date of my mom’s birthday. As I took the time to reflect later on in the day, I could not help but think how those dates are so significant in my life, and was to these two woman and their families. These prisoners had lives before their time as prisoners and were murdered. We as human beings always find connections with one another. We are all humans that want to find love, laugh and be with family members. We try to find the hope and good in everyone and I assume that maybe these women did too. It is quite scary to think about how this could have been easily switched to primarily my religion. Hitler would have murdered more Christians and anyone having a different ideology if Germany was never beaten in the war. Humanity can be so beautiful, but so cruel..

As I kept imagining myself in the life of a prisoner, we finally reached one of the last buildings, Building 27; the lives of prisoners before the Holocaust during and the end of the Shoah (Holocaust). As I went through the part of during the Holocaust, there were children’s drawings on the wall that was a replica of what were on their barracks' walls. As I was staring at these images, I was thinking of how their innocence was stripped away. When I was a child, I was drawing my house, friends and family while these children drew people being hanged and a man being shot by a SS guard. No face, no name, just their drawings of what their lives have come to.