Day #184 - Auschwitz Concentration Camp

Wooden huts at Birkenau

Crematorium at Auschwitz I

Gas Chamber at Auschwitz I

Execution wall at Auschwitz I

Entry Gate at Auschwitz I

Entry Gate at Birkenau - people railed in

Brick buildings at Auschwitz I

Tuesday, September 14th

Happy Birthday to my sister Kelly today! Thanks for always being there for me - hope you're having a great day!

What a day - busy, emotional, thought-provoking, fast-paced. I started off getting out of my hostal around 8am. I needed to find a printer so I could print out my voucher for my day trip. I was to be picked up at the Holiday Inn at 9:20am. I decided to go there early and see if they would let me print on their computer (if they had one). Excellent - worked out well. I printed the form, grabbed a street pretzel and water, and was ready for the shuttle 10 minutes early.

Now, I could write a small dissertation on today's briefings. But, I'll do the best I can to paraphrase in a concise manner.

We boarded the bus for a 1 hour, 10 minute transfer to the Auschwitz concentration camp. I had always thought this was located in Germany. Nope. It's in Poland - in a town called Oswiecim. When Germany invaded Poland in September 1939, they renamed the area to Auschwitz.

My tour today consisted of a 2-hour exploration of the Auschwitz I site and a 1-hour walk-through of the Auschwitz II - Birkenau site. The areas were completely different - I'm really glad to have seen both with the ability to compare each location.

First off, Auschwitz was the largest German concentration camp during WWII. No precise numbers exist; however, it's estimated that nearly 1.5 million people were killed in these camps. Wow. Causes of death were largely due to the use of gas chambers. Those not killed in this manner were overcome by starvation, forced labor, lack of disease control, individual executions, and medical experiments.

The main differences between Auschwitz and Birkenau were: Birkenau was enormous, it's facilities were completely man-made, and it had wooden huts where conditions were considered almost unlivable. Auschwitz was much smaller, and was made of brick buildings that once served as Polish army barracks. Auschwitz still had its gas chamber and crematorium; whereas, Birkenau only had remnants of the 4 facilities used within its barb-wired death trap.

We started our tour by walking through the famous gate at Auschwitz that stated: "Arbeit macht frei" (work makes you free). We walked through the barracks, saw the 'hospital area', the experimental area, the death block 11, the execution wall, and concluded with a walk-through of the gas chamber and crematorium facility.

This was not a 'feel good' day. Our guide was excellent. He described how the process worked: First, prisoners were brought into the concentration camps via railway primarily. They were then evaluated to see who made the "death cut". Any person who was weak, ill, old, or deemed- unusuable - they were sent to the gas chambers right away. They were told to strip down and they would be washed off. Birkenau even had water spouts that looked liked shower heads inside their gas chambers for deception. This was all done so people would not panic. They got into the chamber. Doors closed. Gas entered. People were dead in 10-15 minutes. They were then cremated and their ashes were used to fertizilize the German fields or thrown into ponds, etc.

Those chosen for immediate death were the lucky ones in my opinion. The others, they were basically tortured and humiliated for anywhere between 2 weeks to 3 months before they died. They were put to work, but not fed. Daily portions were: 1/2 liter of tea for breakfast, 1 liter of soup (no meat) for lunch made from rotton vegetables, and a slice of bread with butter for dinner. Sounds like they were given liquids to survive, but basically were being starved to death. Once they couldn't pull their wieght or got sick - to the gas chamber.

We saw the execution wall where many people got shot. They also had hanging walls. We were told of a story where 1 gentlemen asked to take the place of someone chosen for death. He was allowed to make the switch. Supposedly, one of the Popes has cannonized this individual as a saint - I can't remember the name.

We drove over to Birkenau and walked the maze of huts. Crazy. The take home for me at this location was the absolute disgusting facilities these people lived in. It was horse barns - made into human shelters. They had a long bench filled with holes used for the bathroom. About 500 inmates were given about 8 minutes to use the facilities twice a day. There were about 30 holes -- that probably wasn't sufficient time. One can see why disease killed many people in these camps.

When the Russians liberated Auschwitz, 7,000 people were freed. About 500 of these died anyway. I'll remember today as something that is beyond human comprehension. How this could occur, and the Germans would sit back and revel in their handiwork - I can't fathom.

I got back into Krakow. I walked around Wawel Hill and the Central Market Square again. The place is great - I'd recommend it to anyone. I'd like to write more, but it's 9:25pm and I have a 10:10pm overnight train to Prague. Oh - my book says that Frederic Chopin was born in Poland - a famous musical genius. Never heard of him - perhaps you have.

Will come to you live from one of my favoritie cities in Europe tomorrow - I'll explain how I already know this at a later time.