A Year Abroad: Walking the Grounds of Auschwitz

I have been back and forth whether this is appropriate or not to write about and share online, however, I asked you all to vote and so many of you asked for it. If you voted no for this specific post, I advise you to exit this post now. For those of you still reading, out of respect I did not take many photographs on my visit, and am only posting one photo, which is the one you see above. I want you to know that this was incredibly hard to write, as although this was an interesting sight to see, it is possibly one of the most upsetting pieces of world history, and being there and hearing some of the stories was very traumatic, and you’re just listening to a story; imagine being a prisoner who went through this. This post is going to give you information of what I saw, learned, and experienced while being at Auschwitz.

For those who don’t know, Auschwitz is two parts. There is Auschwitz I, where the well known sign, as pictured above, is. Then there is Auschwitz II, better known as Birkenau, which is mainly ruins now. The tour starts off in Auschwitz !. You walk through the archway where a sign reads, “Arbeit Macht Frei”, which translates to “Work Makes us Free”. When the prisoners first arrived at Auschwitz by train, they all believed that they were coming to a safe place. They entered through Birkenau by train, and did not find out until after arriving that they were in fact coming to a place where they would likely never leave.

In Auschwitz I, there are many blocks (most of which were the housing for the prisoners). We toured four different blocks - 2, 3, 7, and 11.

In Block two, we mainly looked at photos taken of prisoners when first arriving and then during their time at Auschwitz. Some photos were taken by Nazis, while others were taken by those who were against everything that was happening to the prisoners. There were also a few documents (the very few Nazis had left behind) of records the Nazis had of each prisoner. As well as train tickets from the train that brought the prisoners to Birkenau. The Nazis wanted this to look as realistic as possible that this was a “safe place” these people were going to. They printed tickets, and told them to pack their valuables. One of the last things you see before exiting is a monument, but it’s not a monument that you may think it is… It was an urn filled with ashes. The ashes were of about 70,000 prisoners who had been cremated after being sent to the gas chambers to die. 1.4+ million people perished at Auschwitz.

Block 3 is the hardest to walk through, in my opinion. There are more pictures of prisoners, but also some of the rooms are filled with things that prisoners had packed for this safe place. There is a room with a glass wall filled with suitcases. When the prisoners were let off of the train they were given chalk to write as much personal information on their suitcases so that the Nazis could return them after. They were never returned. Instead, the Nazis went through all of the suitcases to see what was considered valuable and sent to Germany, and what was considered invaluable and tossed aside. In Block 3 there are a few rooms with those invaluable items in them. Upstairs of the block, after going through one room, our guide told us this next room was completely off limits to take any pictures in. Before going in I knew this was going to be something dark. Everyone exiting as we were entering had tears running down their face. As I write this, tears are reemerging. One thing the Nazis did to the prisoners, specifically women, was shave their heads before entering the gas chambers. Hair was considered valuable and could be used for a number of things, so they would do this to them. In this room was 40,000 prisoners’ hair behind a glass wall, where braids or pony-tails were still in tact. Me, as well as every other woman in the group began crying, and even men were shedding tears. We had a long pause of silence before continuing on to Block 7.

When arriving in front of Block 7, our guide stopped to talk about Block 6. Block 6 is where Dr. Josef Mengele did his experimenting on prisoners. Most of us know the work he did with twins, but our guide told us he would test on Jewish women and children to make them infertile and unable to reproduce. Being the living conditions the prisoners were in, and the fact that Mengele did not care for their well being and health, most of the time the prisoners got very sick or died from infection. There is a famous letter that Mengele wrote to Hitler when discovering that cutting the fallopian tubes of women made them unable to reproduce. He wrote to Hitler that with this new “innovation”, he would be able to perform surgeries on 1000 women per week. Although removal or tying of the fallopian tubes is a common procedure nowadays, we not only have medication, a clean environment, clean procedure, and anesthesia; but a CHOICE to have this procedure done. These women did not have a choice, and they were treated like animals in these experiments.

As we entered block 7, we saw a wall of many pictures. These pictures were profile shots of some of the prisoners that the Nazis would keep on file. Along with that we saw how the bed chambers looked like. In the beginning of WWII, it started out with thin stacks of hay, then old thin mattresses, and then the bunk beds were introduced (having up to 6 prisoners in each bed (18 per bunks of three). Downstairs was the torture rooms, which were small rooms the Nazis would stuff full of prisoners, and make them stand straight until they’d faint or die. There was one prisoner who lasted two weeks in the cell, and the Nazis were getting annoyed that he was not dying, and being impatient ended up shooting him. There is a wreath in the cell he stayed in to remember him by, as this was his way of standing up for the prisoners. When we exited and entered block 11, the main things seen in there were the shoes, clothes, and other ‘invaluable’ items the Nazis took from the prisoners.

Before exiting Auschwitz I, we went through the double fence (that prisoners always tried to escape from), and passed the guards tower. When exiting we saw a nice house off to the side, which is where Rudolf Höss, who was the commander of Auschwitz, resided with his wife and five children. Where we were standing, there was a small staircase that led up to a hanging execution stand. This was used on the prisoners, however, was also where Rudolf Höff was executed. After WWII ended, Rudolf Höff fled along with all of the other Nazis. He pretended to be somebody else and was found a year later. Poland wanted to seek their revenge on him for all that he did to their country, people, and all of the prisoners at Auschwitz. He was hanged in Auschwitz where he ordered so many deaths, punishments, and sought out horrible events. We walked on to see the only remaining gas chamber of Auschwitz (as the rest were burned down). This was again a place where we did not talk, did not take pictures, but simply walked through. It was a small chamber that only held 200 prisoners (although this is a large total, Birkenau’s chambers could hold up to 900 prisoners in one use). Within the selection process of who would work and who would die after arriving at Auschwitz, the Nazis did not want the prisoners to run or put up a fight. If a prisoner was asked to go to the chambers, they simply thought they were going to clean up. They had to remove all of their clothes, and this was the process of which the heads of women were shaved, and then the Nazis handed them bars of soaps to think they were going to take a shower. When entering the chambers, there were fake shower heads to make believable up until it was over for the prisoners who were sent to the chambers.

Birkenau (Auschwitz II) is mainly made up of ruins now. Except for the famous archway and railroad through the gate, which was first expressed as a place of safety and freedom, not much remains. When the Nazis had to evacuate, they destroyed any evidence of what was being done at auschwitz. All that remained standing were the horses stables. These stables would hold up to 50 horses comfortably. Once the Nazis no longer needed horses at Auschwitz they turned the stables into sleeping halls for 400-800 prisoners per stable. This was outdoors, making summers and winter unbearable when sleeping. One of the stables was the bathroom, but there was no plumbing, so in order to clean the toilets, one would have to do so by hand. Although this may seem like the worst job, the Nazis were afraid of catching diseases, many prisoners preferred this job as they had “freedom” while working because the Nazis would not supervise them. We concluded our tour in these stables.

Although this is one of the most awful things I’ve learned, read, and now seen in history, I gained more knowledge than when I learned about it in High School history class. There is only so much a teacher can tell to our students without parents complaining, and without causing too much trauma on the students. Walking through Auschwitz was eyring and at times unbearable, and I was just a visitor. It is impossible to even imagine what these innocent people went through everyday during WWII. I recommend seeing Auschwitz if you are interested in history, but I just want you to be prepared for the strain it will put on you emotionally. I still am fighting back tears when explaining to friends and family the things I saw; and even while writing this, there were tears shed. It is incredible that we as human beings were capable of being that cruel to others.