Hope in the Horror

Auschwitz II-Birkenau was enormous. Looking out from the guard’s watch tower at the main entrance, before even entering the camp, was an incredible experience. Just seeing the size of the camp was overwhelming. I was unable to stop myself from trying to imagine what it was like not even a century ago, when there were still all of the barracks and still people everywhere and still trains running through the middle of the grounds, delivering more innocent people to their deaths. We walked through one of the eight original barracks, we saw the makeshift beds that four or more prisoners would sleep on for so little time each night, and we walked along the tracks of the train that used to unload more and more people who would soon be sent to the gas chambers. We walked to the ruins of the gas chambers – the two huge gas chambers that SS guards blew up in an attempt to destroy the evidence of the crimes they were committing, because they knew that they were committing crimes – and we saw the two smaller gas chambers, one of which stood in front of fields where bodies were thrown into and burned. We witnessed the remains of the horrors of Auschwitz-II Birkenau. 

Items found during renovations of the barracks in 1960.

We also went back to Auschwitz I and had the opportunity to walk around freely without a tour guide. I liked it because we were allowed to wander in silence and take our time viewing the exhibits we wanted to spend extra time in. One amazing thing that I saw was this exhibit of items found in the barracks when they were being renovated. The caption explained: “They must have been hidden by a prisoner who was planning an escape.” Among the items were three pairs of shoes – men’s, women’s, and a very small pair for a child. I think this is kind of a symbol of hope – a sign that some prisoners still had hope. A family was trying so hard to stay together – their will to survive wasn’t defeated.

I think I expected this visit to the camp to be a little easier since we had already been there, but visiting Maximilian Kolbe’s cell for the second time was not easier. That one small space seemed to somehow embody all of the horrors of the camp and the atrocities that it stands to remind us of. Maximilian Kolbe is recognized as a Catholic saint and a martyr because when ten prisoners from his barrack were selected to die as a result of an escape made by another prisoner in their unit, one of the men cried, “My wife! My children!” This man was Franciszek Gajoqniczek, and he was saved by Maximilian Kolbe, who volunteered to die in his place. Along with the other nine selected prisoners, he was starved in cell 18, the starvation cell, though he didn’t ultimately die of starvation. He was prisoner 16670, but he was known as so much more than that number. He was known and continues to be known for this greatest act of love: the Gospel of John expresses that there is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for another, and that is what Maximilian Kolbe did. For me, this is the greatest example of love in the camps. His action itself was amazing, but one thing about it that was specifically brought to my attention was the immediacy with which he volunteered his life. He stepped forward right away – there was no time to think. He didn’t have to think twice about what he was doing to know it was the right thing to do. I find it a miracle that we are lucky enough to have an example of a fellow human that possessed that type of love for humanity.