Living History: Auschwitz and Auschwitz II-Birkenau

The first time I visited Auschwitz and Birkenau was 2.5 years ago. It was after my first semester of studying abroad it Switzerland. Though it was a mild winter, in Poland snow still covered the ground as we trekked around the camp.

This trip was almost the exact opposite of the last in terms of the setting. The cold biting wind of December was replaced with the stifling June heat. Any breeze was welcome as you toured in the direct sunlight for three hours. The contrast was striking, though the tour was equally as powerful each time. I doubt it's one of those things that you could ever get used to. Each tour guide has their own tales to weave into the history. Almost none of Poland was left untouched by WWII, though Auschwitz and Birkenau remain the largest standing memorials to the carnage of Nazi warfare and the millions of Jews, Romas, political prisoners, homosexuals, religious leaders, mentally and physically handicapped, and others who lost their lives during WWII. I personally think, if you're ever anywhere near Auschwitz, it is your moral duty to go see the camps. At some point in your life you should pay witness to the atrocities of WWII, so that we can continue to ensure that such horrors will never happen again.

Just two years after the end of WWII, in 1947, Auschwitz and Birkenau opened as state museums. They were originally run by former prisoners of the camps, which is a true testament to their strength. The grounds have been well maintained, though the SS did manage to destroy a large amount of original documents and several of the largest gas chambers at Birkenau, before leading prisoners on final death marches and attempting to escape the Red Army. The tour guides at Auschwitz are all professionally trained, and very well versed in the history. Though the tour can seem to be a sterilized version of the history, it is almost necessary in order to allow people to cope with the emotionally draining walk through the massive grounds.

The tour starts in Auschwitz I. The Germans made use of old Polish military bunkers, creating the first barracks and camp grounds from brick buildings. You enter at the gate reading "Arbeit Macht Frei" (work will set you free), which is the same gate prisoners left through to work every morning, and hoped to live to see as they returned at night.

Arbeit Macht Frei gate that serves at the primary entrance and exit to Auschwitz I. 

There's something about walking through that gate that makes the reality of Auschwitz sink in. It's not a feeling I can truly describe, but it is something that is very real as you walk down the gravel paths of the camp--a growing acceptance of the magnitude of the horror that occurred.

The tour of Auschwitz lasts two hours and takes you through several permanent exhibits. The Soviets liberated Auschwitz and did their best to keep documentation. As a result, the thousands of shoes, prayer shawls, pots and pans, and suitcases that they found in the grounds called "Canada" are now on display. Most of what was collected from the prisoners (many who thought they were being permanently relocated to the East), was shipped to Germany for reuse in the Reich. What remains is just a sliver of the precious belongings of the millions who came through Auschwitz.

Suitcases collected at the Auschwitz train station. Though most of the "prisoners" brought only their most precious and necessary belongings (they were allowed one 25 kilogram suitcase), they never saw them again. Most of the suitcases have names and birth dates, to mark them in case they got lost.

After the tour of Auschwitz is complete, you travel to Auschwitz II-Birkenau, the larger of the camps, which is four kilometers away. Though Auschwitz was a re-purposed camp, Auschwitz II-Birkenau was built specifically as a concentration camp. However, the Nazis did not correctly predict the amount of prisoners they would capture, so the "women's camp" is the original barracks (meant to house all of the prisoners) and the "men's camp" is what were originally horse stables. Though Auschwitz contains all of the primary exhibits, Birkenau is quite impressive in its size and feeling of desolation. You enter the camp through the main gate where the train stop was, then you make the one kilometer hike, the same hike that so many prisoners made, along the train tracks to where the gas chambers used to be. 

The "final walk" from the main gate, along the railroad tracks, to the gas chambers at Auschwitz II-Birkenau.

The gas chambers were blown up by the Nazis before the fled the camp, in an attempt to hide what was truly happening at Birkenau. Near their charred remains today lies a memorial for all of those who lost their lives. It is displayed in several different languages. The English translation reads, "For ever let this place be a cry of despair and a warning to humanity, where the Nazis murdered about one and a half million men, women, and children, mainly Jews, from various countries of Europe. Auschwitz-Birkenau, 1940-1945."

For me, my second trip to Auschwitz and Birkenau was just as powerful as the first. I don't think it's something that I could ever become complacent with though--the true horror of history is just as relevant and just as resounding with each visit. 

Krakow is a beautiful city, and so different from Warsaw, because it hardly bears any scars from the war. However, just an hour away will always be Auschwitz, ready to stand as a testament to the crimes of the Nazi regime, working to ensure that they never happen again.

Two views of Birkenau. The top photo is from my trip to the camps in December 2010, and the photo below is from my June 2013 trip. In winter or summer, the harsh realities of daily life in the environment are all too clear.

 

Never forget, never again.