Attraction Review: Auschwitz-Birkenau, Oswiecim, Poland
- Megan Connor
- Jun 19, 2017
- 5 min read
This review is a tough one to write. I visited Auschwitz-Birkenau in January this year. At this time, it was around -9°C and the ground was covered in snow. I can't say for sure, having never been to this memorial site in warmer weather, but the wintry conditions seemed to add to the eeriness of the experience. Many people asked me why I would choose to visit such a dismal place. My answer is that I believe that is is important that we remember the atrocities of the war and spare a thought for those who lost their lives in such horrifying ways. I feel that visiting Auschwitz itself, or any other concentration camp, is the only way to really drive home the scale of the Nazi's obscene operation, because the measurable data provides numbers which are difficult to comprehend. I do not believe that we should avoid visiting memorial sites like this just because it makes us feel uncomfortable. We must remember and we must educate future generations, out of respect for those who died here and in other concentration camps like it.
Upon entering the site, I stood at the gate which reads 'Arbeit Macht Frei'. It has been years since I studied German, but the English translation for this is something along the lines of; 'Work makes you free'. This of course, was a malicious lie, as we now know that the Nazi's had no intention of setting any of their prisoners free. Whilst interesting and educational, this tour was also both humbling and harrowing. There is no way to grasp the size of the camp unless you see it for yourself. Auschwitz is made up of three sections. When I was in Poland, I visited two of these. Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II, otherwise known as Birkenau. I had always imagined it as one large site in my mind, but the reality is quite different. Auschwitz I surprised me, it was relatively small. In this section of the camp was the museum and memorial. I was guided through different buildings, each held a new horror.
The first block I entered was lined with photographs. Photographs, of people who were imprisoned here. Seeing their faces was so surreal. These people never felt more real to me than in that moment, seeing their faces and knowing how they suffered. Another block was filled with documents recovered from the camp back in WWII. Some of these documents were records: including the names, dates of birth and countries of origin of many prisoners. It was information like this which was how the founders of the museum generated the statistics I read in the next block.
However, I later learned that these statistics are likely mere fractions of the real numbers, because any elderly people, babies, toddlers, young children and weak or pregnant women were almost always put to death immediately in the gas chambers, and so records were never made of their existence. It is estimated that Nazis captured and imprisoned around 232,000 children. Of these 232,000, only 22, 000 were registered, as the rest were killed on arrival. There was a room in one of the blocks dedicated solely to the children who were imprisoned here. Pictures of the children's faces hung on the walls of this room and i can honestly say that this was one of the most upsetting things I saw on my tour.
The next block contained collections of things that the Nazi's had taken from their prisoners. The rooms in this block were filed with glass cases. Each case was filled with things which once belonged to the people who were imprisoned in this camp. These cases were filled with;
110,000 Shoes
3,800 Suitcases
12,000 Pots
40kg of spectacles
246 Prayer Shawls (Talliths)
Almost 2 Tonnes of Human Hair
The most memorable cases for me were the suitcases and the hair. Many of the Nazi's prisoners were told that they were being taken to new houses and this is why there were suitcases brought to the camp. People were evicted from their homes by Nazi soldiers and told to pack up their things, because they would be moving to new homes. And so, these people packed up their belongings and boarded the train which of course, would actually be taking them to Auschwitz. The Nazi's did this because they wanted people to bring their valuables with them, so that they could claim them for their own. However, the most sickening thing about this is that many of these people paid the Nazi's money as a down payment on their new homes. We know however, that there were no new homes waiting for them at the end of the railway, and so these people had literally paid to be taken to their deaths. It disgusted me to learn that the Nazi's had deceived these innocent people in such as way, as if it wasn't bad enough to take their lives. They also had to take their money and their most valuable belongings.
After seeing the collections, I was lead out into the courtyard where I was shown the memorial wall. This is the wall where people were lined up and shot. The sight of this wall made me feel uneasy. All I could imagine was how much innocent blood was ingrained into this chunk of concrete. I looked down and saw the flowers and lanterns at the foot of the wall, which stood in memorial for all those who lost their lives in this courtyard at the hand of the Nazi's.
From here, I was guided through the camp to the gas chamber. Only one gas chamber still stands as the rest were destroyed in the war when the camp was infiltrated. I was allowed to go inside however the tour guide asked my tour group to please be quiet and respectful and not to take photographs inside. In fact, I didn't take many photos here, i think I have around 8 photos from the 3 hour tour. It just didn't seem right to take lots of photos as I didn't want to treat the memorial and museum like a tourist attraction. When I entered the gas chamber i felt very uncomfortable. It was small, dark and made entirely from some kind of concrete. There were vents in the roof where the gas would enter the chamber. All in all, the experience was chilling.
At this point, we had been walking for about an hour in the freezing cold and the tour group was given a coffee break at the entrance , before heading to Birkenau. Upon arrival, I saw the long building shown above, which I recognized immediately. I think this is what most people expect to see at Auschwitz. I had wondered, upon my arrival to the original Auschwitz camp, why it looked nothing like i had seen. This is because I had no idea that the camp had more than one section. I was also surprised at how small Auschwitz I was, but when we walked through the entrance to Birkenau (Auschwitz II), I realised that this was the bigger section and much bigger than I could ever have imagined. The size of this part of the camp was what brought the numbers home to me. We had been told in the previous section of the camp that the Nazi's had imprisoned around 1.3 million people. I knew that this was a lot of people but this kind of figure is hard to comprehend. however, seeing the size of Birkenau and knowing that this huge camp had been overcrowded really drove home how any people were kept here. We walked around this part of the camp for 2 hours where we learned more about the living conditions at the camp.
Overall, this was an interesting experience. I really learned a lot and i feel that it was good to take some time to remember those who suffered and who died during the holocaust. If you have an questions, or feel that I mised anything, feel free to comment down below.
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