Auschwitz

Why couldn't people escape? The Nazi's cleared a 25 mile radius around the camp, so not only did prisoners have to get past 2 electrified barbed wire fences, they had to travel 25 miles to get outside of the patrolled area. They were fed less than 1000 calories per day and did not have the stamina to complete the journey.

The day started great, we booked a later time for our tour to make sure we had plenty of time to get to the memorial, which is about an hour away.  We had a lovely chat with some ladies from Ireland and got lots of travel recommendations.  We were ready and waiting at the train stop and then, we could not figure out how to open the doors!  We panicked and kept pushing the button which normally opens the doors, there were other people behind us and they could not figure it out either, all of a sudden the train started moving again…we were stuck.  We found the train conductor and explained the problem, she was very kind and helpful but said we would have to travel 20 minutes to the next station before heading back.  She proclaimed that the train carriage we were on was a Czech train carriage and we had to lift the red latch instead of hitting the button…it looked like an emergency latch to us 😊.

Needless to say, we knew at this point we were going to be late for our tour time.  By the time we got to the memorial, we were 10 minutes late and were well scolded by the museum personnel for missing our arrival time.  We basically were told we had to run to catch up with our group, it was a very interesting experience and I do not recommend being late!  We happened to visit on the anniversary of the liberation of the camp.

We were breathless by the time we caught up to our tour, and probably not in the best reflective frame of mind.  Truthfully the tour felt kinda staged and machine like.  While the overall feeling was very somber, there were so many people and we could not really stop to take in all of what we were seeing and hearing.  There were hundreds of people being guided through the buildings at the same time, it was very orderly but crowded.

Guard tower in the middle of the camp.

Our guide was Polish and was incredibly informative.  She gave us insite into the Polish perspective, and explained how important the Auschwitz Memorial was to the Polish people as a reminder.  Poland fell into Nazi & Soviet hands in the Fall of 1939, they were completely overwhelmed by the power of the German military and succumbed in less than 30 days.

Our guide repeatedly said that during the Nazi occupation,  it did not matter about your nationality, it was all about your race.  It did not matter if you were born in Germany, you were classified by your race Jew, Roma, etc.  Everyone was classified and had to wear the badges shown below.  The Nazi’s completely de-humanized the population and divided everyone who was different.  There was a resistance movement in Poland but it was also crushed quickly.

Overall, Auschwitz was an incredible history lesson for each of us and I am thankful we had the opportunity to experience it.  The evil that allowed such a place to exist is still unbelievable for me.  If you get the chance, I do encourage you to visit…just don’t be late for your tour 😊.

This is a new exhibition. These are photos of prisoners brought into Birkenau, none of these people survived. Most prisoners died within days or weeks due to starvation, gas chambers or illness.