Please understand that there is no way I can convey my experience today in a blog, and there is no way I can give this experience the justice it deserves. The mood was somber and serious, the expressions and red eyes of educators - both men and women, the destroyed crematoriums and gas chambers left to the imagination, the huddled educators in the woods where countless numbers of people waited prior to their death, the railroad tracks leading to the selection platform, the personal items from floor to ceiling of those that have perished, the shared personal stories of family, and the candle light memorial have made this a day that will forever be etched in my heart. No matter where I turned, I was faced with an eerie feeling of what truly happened here - and when I closed my eyes, my imagination took me to what it would have looked like 80 years ago. With arms around each other, we shared tears, hugs, and shared poems. To top off the day, we had a group meeting when we got back to the hotel room, and many of us were just at a loss...
We spent 9 hours at Auschwitz-Birkenau. It is the largest of all of the killing centers, but it is unique because it is also a labor camp as well. Auschwitz-Birkenau is actually 3 camps. Auschwitz I is the labor camp, Birkenau is considered the killing center, and Buna housed prisoners who would work in a synthetic rubber factory. Auschwitz-Birkenau also had 39 sub camps. In the morning, we saw Auschwitz 1 and walked through several buildings that had many artifacts for us. Then, after lunch, we spent the rest of the afternoon in Birkenau. One of the toughest parts for me was walking through the room with hair. The room was extremely large and behind a glass case from floor to ceiling was the hair of victims of the Holocaust. We were not allowed to take pictures of this; however, in the next room, there were suitcases, shoes, glasses, hairbrushes, toothbrushes...it was an eye opening experience. I could go into very single room, but the ones that were most difficult for me to stomach were the rooms listed about and Block 11. Block 11 was the torture and prison area. In cell #18, Father Maximillien Kolbe sacrificed himself for another prisoner. Because a man was missing from his barrack, the guards chose to punish members of the barrack. They chose a member of the Polish resistance to put in the starvation cell, and when he cried out about having family, Father Kolbe stepped up and asked to go in his place. Uncharacteristically, the guards accepted and placed Father Kolbe in the starvation cell where he was left to die. Seeing his prison cell was quite impacting - Block 11 was just creepy in general. Very eerie and chilling.
Birkenau was massive - it took us several hours to walk the whole camp. We went to the women's barrack, the Sauna (place where hair was cut, tattooed numbers were forced on arms to dehumanize, showers were taken, and poor conditioned clothing were given to prisoners. We also went to see where the Canada barracks were located - the Nazis use euphemisms. Canada was considered the "land of plentiful," and it is here where members of the Canada commando would separate the clothes and personal items of those going to the gas chambers or becoming prisoners of Auschwitz. Dr. Spatz was a part of the Canada commando. One interesting tidbit of information is Auschwitz was built on swampy land, so many ditches were made to help drain. The pictures you will see make Auschwitz look green - during the existence of the camp, it was extremely muddy and dirty. VERY unsanitary - today, it poured for a good couple of minutes. The puddles that were created from just that bit of rain was shocking - it truly is built on a swamp.
Clearly, the remains of the crematoriums and gas chambers were quite difficult. Standing at the stairs to the dressing room made it tough to visualize the anxiety that must have taken over the victims. I have included a picture of the layout.
Overall, there is not much more I can say other than this was the most emotional day of the trip. We were all in shock, and we handled the experience in different ways. I know that this will be a day that I will never forget.