Visiting Auschwitz
On August 8, 2022, I drove 4.5 hours (around 455km) from Prague to the Polish town of Oświęcim, the location of the Memorial and Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau. Having lived in Central Europe for almost 5 years, I felt that was time to visit a place that represents a major portion of arguably the greatest tragedy of human history. In less than 5 years (1940-45), more than a million people were killed in a concentrated area.
Indeed, the network of concentration camps that the Nazis set up ranged much further than just this one area, but this was the mecca of human extermination. Yet it seems that in Auschwitz, the worst of the worst occurred, and the tools and processes that were used to exterminate innocent people were truly evil.
The methodologies that were used to exterminate people were variant. Nearly all prisoners were placed into barracks that were initially built for horses (e.g. horse stables) that were imported form Germany. There were around 2000 people in a single barrack. People were made to work 14-16 hour days, hard manual labor - labor that literally included anything and everything, including building and expanding the actual concentration camp itself. Breakfast was some form of black liquid, many did not eat at all. Dinner consisted of 600g of black bread and 25g of butter or sausage, both of which were never fresh and often rotten. The average person only lived 3 months. The weak-willed lived less, while some strong-willed folks survived up to 5 months.
All grass and trees were cut in attempt to prevent people from eating leaves. Around 90% of the camp's inhabitants were Jews from all over Europe, the rest included Soviets, prisoners of war, Roma peoples, and other minority groups. People were categorized according to sub-type and were given "assignment colors" which were patches they had to wear on their clothes. If a person was of working age (usually age 12 or older), they were forced to work. Children were killed off very quickly and separated from their families. If newborns were born, they were also killed.
I signed up for a 4 hour guided walking tour. It was a humid day in early August, and there were many tourists. Heading into this visit, I probably treated it in a different way than most people. The day before I ate lunch, skipped dinner, and the day of, skipped breakfast and lunch. I was on a 30+ hour fast when the tour began. By doing this, I wanted to lend appreciation to hundreds of thousands of people that starved to death in the harshest conditions imaginable.
The first segment of the tour was in the "smaller" part of the concentration camp, and it led us through infamous buildings that were built for prisoners of war, prisoners who tried to escape, and for the most heinous medical experiments in history. Children, twins, and pregnant women were taken into Block 10, and it was here where gruesome experiments were carried out by Nazi doctors.
Inside the blocks, a range of historical evidence was presented. Without doubt, walking through these areas was not easy, and in some of the most extreme of spots, photographs were forbidden. Below, the original gas canisters that were used to poison people in gas chambers are displayed.
The following display features handicapped peoples' limbs, which are followed by shoes, and suitcases. The tour guide told us that when people initially came to the camp, stepping off the train, guards told them to write their identification numbers and names on their luggage, as they would "get them back" sometime in the future. This never ended up happening.
Below, the categorization framework that was used by the Nazis is displayed. The takeaway message here is that if you were deemed a threat, you would be placed in the camp.
We now turn to a wall that is called the wall of execution. It is said that so many people were shot per day that blood could not soak into the ground, leading to the formation of puddles.
This brings me to the startling topic of attempted escapes. There were a very small number of people that escaped, but as one would expect, most were caught. Barbed wire was electrified to such an extent that if one were to simply touch the wire, they would perish. Those that were caught were then placed into starvation cells. I don't recall what block number these were in, but the tour took us through the basement of a block in which incredibly small 3x3 meter cells were located in. Up to 12 people were placed into these cells and starved to death for attempting to escape. The energy down there constituted an incredibly dark metaphysical experience.
After seeing the only gas chamber and furnace in this small area of the camp (see below), the tour then shifted to Birkenau which was 3km away. This was the area where most people died from starvation, disease, gas chambers, or by being burned alive. In my pre-trip preparation, I read an account put forward by a lady that survived the camps, and she stated that the burning of live bodies would result in black smoke pouring out of furnaces like a forest fire, while the burning of already perished bodies resulted in white smoke.
Below, a replica model/sculpture was shown to us that illustrated how the Nazis carried out their "final solution" -- this probably was the most shocking thing in my subjective experience of this concentration camp. The systematic nature with which people were killed is astounding. As explained by the tour guide, on the left, people were getting ready (forcibly) to go "shower" as they were told that they were to be reunited with their families and loved ones that day. Prisoners at Auschwitz never were offered showers, so all got excited when the opportunity arose. The process began by entering an underground area where 2000 (yes 2000!) people were forced to strip naked (mid section as shown in the photograph below). They then were packed (all 2000 of them) into the gas chamber which is on the right.
At the height of human extermination in this chamber/furnace, it was said that smoke could be seen up to 30km away. What's more, furnaces would get so hot from the amount of bodies getting burned that they would often crack and need repair. 9000 people, on average, were killed per day.
May they rest in Peace.