In the mid-1900s, as you well know, Adolf Hitler and the Nazis waged a world war that killed millions. The Nazis saw people like Jews, Poles, the Roma gypsies, etc. as inferior, so they used them for slave labor or sent them to death camps, such as Auschwitz. The people that were too weak, too young, or otherwise proven useless were sent to gas chambers, and exterminated. The biggest of these death camps was Auschwitz, located about an hour out of Krakow, where we were staying.We started off the day by getting up early and getting on an awesome tour bus that picked us up from our Airbnb. It had lounge seats and big windows that let you see great views of the scenery as we drove by. Our bus driver put on an educational movie about the liberation of Auschwitz conducted by the soviets and the red army. This movie briefly showed us the horrible conditions at the camp in 1945 when it was liberated. We finally got to Auschwitz I (the original camp) and had a short break before we took the tour. We passed through security and got headphones to listen to the tour guide as we walked throughout the camp. The most surprising thing in Auschwitz I, was that when the people arrived, the Nazis took all their belongings like shoes, pots and pans, eyeglasses, and even the women’s hair. They hoarded these things in warehouses and they are on display today. I was in awe when I saw all the hair, shoes, pots and pans, knowing that all those things belonged to people who died in the Holocaust. I was blown away in horror when I learned that the youngest person shot was just two months old. The gas chambers and crematorium at Auschwitz I are the only surviving chambers in the whole Auschwitz facility. We walked in and looked at the dull room with nothing but a door, and holes in the ceiling for the pellets of air-activated cyanide or Zyclon B to be released through. This gas takes less than 20 minutes to kill you. We then moved on to the next room, which was where they cremated all the bodies. The bodies were carried to the crematorium by prisoners and sometimes the bodies were friends or family. The Nazis could kill 10,000 people a day in the gas chambers and before they were killed they were tortured for no apparent reason. Auschwitz is an example of humanity at its worst and will never be forgotten.
We moved on to the next part of the tour, Auschwitz-Birkenau (or Auschwitz II), the largest Auschwitz camp, with over 300 buildings and 20 times bigger than Auschwitz I. We got out of the bus and rejoined our tour guide. We walked to the unloading platform, where prisoners were unloaded off the train cars and then looked over by a “doctor” who sent the weak directly to the gas chambers, and the healthy off to work. We headed on to the gas chambers, that are now reduced to rubble from the Nazis desperate attempt to destroy evidence of the crimes they committed at the Auschwitz concentration camp. We kept walking to the edge of the camp and went into a dark building which housed weak women who were to be killed. The living conditions were horrid, with uncomfortable wooden bunks three levels high, packed with up to seven people on each level. It was bitter cold in winter and hot and muggy in the summer. In addition, most of the prisoners were very ill and many had diarrhea making for even more putrid conditions.
In the end, the Nazis killed a staggering six million (11 million if you include people other than Jews) at these concentration camps, and even the people that did survive were scarred for life by the atrocities that the Nazis committed. These unbelievable acts of racism committed by the Nazis should never be forgotten to ensure that they never happen again. On to the next location: Prague.
Note: I had a hard time deciding whether or not to put photos in this article and I have decided not to because some are particularly depressing. If you wish to view pictures of the Auschwitz concentration camps, they are available online.
Until next time, Mick