Auschwitz

Auschwitz Concentration Camp – A Living Hell

Auschwitz (Oświęcim in Polish) is the infamous concentration camp where over a million innocent Jews, Poles and Roma were exterminated. Auschwitz actually refers to a group of three camps – Auschwitz I, Auschwitz II-Birkenau and Auschwitz III-Monowitz, located in the suburbs of the Polish city of Oswiecim. It is located about 60 KM from the historical town of Krakow, Poland. The movie “Schindler’s List” was based on this camp. Visiting this camp is an emotional journey and is not definitely for a faint hearted person.

A Brief History

Auschwitz 1 was originally a Polish army barrack which was converted to prison by the German army to accommodate political prisoners in Poland. However, later it served as the base camp or administrative camp for the whole complex. Auschwitz two was built in 1941 to ease congestion at the main camp. It was a death camp built for the “notorious” prisoners.

The three different camps were built for the following purposes:

• Auschwitz I – Base camp
• Auschwitz II-Birkenau – Extermination camp
• Auschwitz III-Monowitz – A labour camp

The prisoners were often kept in inhuman condition with back-breaking hard work, no hygiene and insufficient food, which led to death of a large number of prisoners in the camps. Often, children, old people and women were sent to gas chambers as soon as they land in Auschwitz.

Finally in January 1941, the soviet army liberated Auschwitz from the Germans.

How to Reach

Auschwitz is one of the main tourist attractions for people visiting Krakow; hence, a large number of private tours are available from the city center. It costs about 100-120 PLN and there are discounts for students. The price includes bus journey to Auschwitz and Auschwitz II and a guided tour in English.

If you are in an adventurous mood then you can take local bus to Auschwitz which costs about 8-12 PLN each way. From the bus station you will have to walk about 1 KM to reach the camp. The camp is open to public from 8AM till 4 PM. The entry to the museum is free but you cannot enter without guided tours if you arrive after 10 AM, which costs about 50 PLN.

What to See

On entering, each person is given a headset in which you can hear your guide. You go inside through the famous gate of Auschwitz.

Entry to Auschwitz | You can see Jews wearing David’s star in the picture

Inside the camp you can see the barracks where prisoners used to stay, the gas chambers where people were killed and the shooting place where prisoners were shot in head by the SS German Army. Inside the buildings there are pictures of all the prisoners  who were kept in this hell. Looking at the eyes of the prisoners in the pictures I could feel their despair. Some of them were doctors, engineers and lawyers, who were very successful people someday. Though the prisoners are long dead,I could not help notice their eyes in the picture which depicts sadness, fear and the worse – hopelessness.

“Arbeit Macht Frei” – “Work Makes You Free” | This is what every prisoner first saw before entering the camp

Army barracks which were later converted to prisoner camps

Various experiments were performed on prisoners such as – how much cyanide gas is exactly required to kill a prisoner

Kids and women walking towards the gas chamber

The Jews brought a lot of household items to the camp as they were promised by the Germans that after the war they will be rehabilitated to different places. In the pictures below you can see the items which they brought but sadly were never used again…

I feel sad when I look at the picture below. I remember when I about 6-7 years old, I used to buy sandals like this during Durga Puja in Kolkata. About 70 years ago a little Jewish boy must have been so happy when he bought those sandals…..sadly the sandal outlived the boy. His only fault – he was a Jew. Though there is a large time gap, I can relate to the owner of the shoe because whether you are a 6-7 yr old bengali boy in 1995 or a 6-7 year old Jewish boy in 1940, your heart is full of dreams and you can never imagine that the world can be such a cruel place

A sandal belonging to a 6-7 years old Jewish boy

5 prisoners used to sleep on 1 bed

Prisoners were shot on head by SS guards at this place | One day they shot over 150 prisoners on this spot

Sound of Silence

Gas chambers

Below is the picture of Auschwitz II-Birkenau Extermination camp. This larger camp is situated at about 2 KM from the original camp. The conditions in this camp was even worse. There were no proper heating arrangements in the bitter Polish winters. Hundreds of prisoners froze to death in this camp. The railway tracks were used to bring prisoners from all over Europe. Women and children were often killed immediately and were never registered in the prisoner’s list

Auschwitz II-Birkenau – Extermination camp

My Experience

Before visiting this place I had a bit of idea about this camp but visiting this place is totally different from reading about it. I always knew Hitler was a bad person but I had certain regards for him for being tough etc. But after visiting this place I can’t stop hating him. Over a million civilians were killed cold blooded just because of their religion or beliefs; it included children and women. You don’t have to be a Jew or Pole to feel sad about what happened here; being human is reason enough to feel the sadness and horror in the air.

And the sadder part is still we have not learned anything from it. I heard a tourist at Auschwitz saying that this happened 70 years ago and the world is a much better place now. But the truth is we still kill or are ready to kill each other for small issues. Things happening in Syria or Iraq or Afghanistan are just some of the examples.

“The one who does not remember history is bound to live through it again” – George Santayana

On one side, the history of Auschwitz is full of horror and blood; however, on the other side, there are stories of hope too. A polish priest named – Maximilian Kolbe, voluntarily died saving another prisoner. This is how the story goes – In July 1941 a man from Kolbe’s barracks vanished, prompting the deputy camp commander, to pick 10 men from the same barracks to be starved to death in Block 13 (notorious for torture), in order to deter further escape attempts. (The man who had disappeared was later found drowned in the camp latrine.) One of the selected men, Franciszek Gajowniczek, cried out, lamenting his family, and Kolbe volunteered to take his place. Finally he was murdered with an injection of carbolic acid. – Jewish Virtual Library

A man died for a stranger. If there is heaven – Kolbe is there aready

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Feel free to comment. I would like to hear your opinion about this place.