Father Kolbe and his perspective on unselfishness

While in Auschwitz we walked passed the cell in which father Kolbe was held prisoner and starved for two weeks. This part really had an impact on me. Seeing the cell in which Father Kolbe was held captive for death made me think about what we learned in class, about the righteous and how some people risks their lives for others. Father Kolbe choice to be in the position that he was sent to because he wanted to save a man who was screaming for his wife and children when he was picked for death. In class we learned about the victims, preparatory and the righteous. Father Kolbe was one that was the righteous. He took this man's position knowing what the conscious were going to be. In the bible it is says to take care of others and treat others the exact way that you would want to be treated. this is a theory that i personally live by. Father Kolbe did exact this. He did not think of himself, instead he thought about a man who he was going to be saving. Father Kolbe also did not expect anything in return for his actions, and this is also what the bible emphasizes. Father Kolbe's act was unselfish, and he did this act out of kindness. This action taught me many things. IT taught me not to be selfish and to think of others. After visiting the cell where father Kolbe was held it changed my perspective on the way that many live. It showed me to think of others, and to sometimes put others before yourself. It also remined me about when Stan came into our class to talk to use. It remined me about how a family took Stan in and hid him out from the Nazis. The family that took Stan did this as an unselfish thing. The family did not have to take Stan and his mother in, but they did out of the kindness of their heart. They did this not thinking of the consequences of getting caught, but they did not care because they wanted to save their lives. Just like father Kolbe, the family that took Stan in as a child wanted to help and do something out of good with nothing in return. If the family was caught then they most likely would have been sent to the camp with Stan and his mother, however, they did not care about that all they cared about was saving Stan.

Read More

Birkenhough related to the last days

On the trip to Auschwitz Birkenau I was in awe about the size of the camp. Looking out onto the camp grounds all I could think of was imagining all of the people there. Thousands and Thousands of people lined up in the barracks. Looking at the train car and railroad tracks I just imagined the people getting pulled off and sorted for selection. Everything came into full circle, from learning about it to actually standing where this horrible murders happened. The whole time I was in Birkenau the only thing I could really focus on was imaging the people who were imprisoned there. I started to think about the Movie we watched in the “The Last days.” In this movie the story of five Hungarian Jews who survived Auschwitz are told. Alice Lok Cahana, told her story of survival and what she had to endure on her horrific stay in Auswitchz. While in the camp Alice was on my mind as I walked through the women’s camp and passed the crematorium all I thought about was how Alice and the rest of survivors from the last days were standing in the exact spot where I am standing, However, the only difference was that they were prisoners of the Germans and I was not.

View from the observation tower in Auswitchz Birkenau

Read More