Friday, July 20
Today we visited the Auschwitz Concentration Camp which is just a little over one hour West of Krakow. The atrocities committed at the concentration camps are well known. We plan to convey some information that we learned that might not be so well known and that might be of general interest.
The camp, generally known as Auschwitz-Birkenau, is actually a complex of three major camps and about 40 sub-camps. The major camps are called Auschwitz I, Auschwitz II-Birkenau and Auschwitz III-Monowitz. They are all located near one another. Together the Auschwitz complex was the largest of all the concentration camps. Our visit included only Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II-Birkenau. We were escorted through both by a local guide who knew the camp’s history quite well. Today the camps stand as a memorial, a Polish State Museum and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
We started out at Auschwitz I and entered through the infamous gate with the sign reading, “Arbeit Macht Frei” (Work Will Set You Free). The original name of the city was Oświęcim. It was changed to Auschwitz by the Germans. The first thing we noticed was that the prisoner’s barracks were made of brick. Our guide explained that Oświęcim was used as an army base before the war and the barracks were substantial because they were for their troops.
(Auschwitz Main Gate)
When the trains arrived the prisoners were sorted. Anyone that was too young, too old or too sick to work was immediately sent to the gas chambers. About 80% of the people who arrived were killed within 20 minutes of their arrival. The rest were used for forced labor. Many German companies built factories in the area so they could make use of the pool of free labor.
Upon arrival prisoners were stripped of all luggage, clothing and possessions. The Nazis collected these with the intention of using them for the war effort. Uniforms and clothing were made from human hair collected from the living and the dead. Eye glasses, dentures, pots and pans, etc. were cleaned and sent back to Germany for re-sale to the general population.
(Fence at Auschwitz)
In total about 1.1 million people died in Auschwitz. Most were Poles but the population included people from many different countries and ethnicities. Prisoners arrived from across the continent including such faraway places as Greece. Virtually the entire population of 450,000 Jews from Warsaw lost their lives there.
Construction on Auschwitz II -Birkenau began in October 1941. The initial site was constructed to hold 50,000 prisoners with plans to expand its capacity to 200,000. The site was built by the inmates of Auschwitz I. Auschwitz I held just over 10,000 inmates.
(Entrance to Birkenau)
As the end of the war was approaching the Nazis feared that the world would find out about the camps. They destroyed as much evidence as possible. The gas chambers and crematoria were heavily damaged or destroyed but many records, photos and films have been preserved. Of course many artifacts remain and attest to what went on there.
(Prisoner Bunks at Birkenau)
Our visit was part of an organized tour. The museums were very crowded and our guide moved us through rather quickly. We didn’t have a lot of time to reflect on what we saw during the tour but we’re not sure that was a bad thing. The awful tragedies that occurred there are beyond our ability to comprehend or describe.
Distance walked: 6.5 miles