Auschwitz

We visited with one of the Baha'i families near Krakow this morning. It was great to say some prayers together and have some lunch and discuss life in general. Dominic and Daniel even showed Yasmin and Roya where the raspberries were in the backyard.

We spent the afternoon at the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum. There was a guided tour starting just as we arrived, so we quickly got our headsets and joined the group.

This was the main concentration camp used fo the "solution to the Jewish Question" by the Nazis. At one point the camp held over 90,000 prisoners. Between 1940 and 1945 approximately one and a half million people were murdered in these camps. We were shocked at that number. Most died in the gas chambers, but many were shot, hanged, starved to death, or died of disease from the horrifying conditions in the camp.

There were rows upon rows of wooden and brick sleeping quarters, each housing up to 700 prisoners. They had to sleep on 3-tiered bunk beds, 5 or more persons to a bunk. Some of the bunks would collapse on top of the people below. There were limited latrines, to be used once in the morning and once in the evening. The life expectancy at the camp was only 2-3 months!

Jews would be brought in by trains from all over the occupied countries, traveling in over-crowded cars for days and sometimes weeks, having been promised a new life. People brought their luggage, including pots and pans, shoes, tools, etc. to help them in their new homes. Upon arrival they were separated into 2 groups - fit and "unfit" for work. The elderly, women, children and disabled were declared unfit and would walk down the path to what they believed was the shower area. In fact it was the gas chambers, which were able to kill 2000 people at a time. Once everyone was dead, other prisoners were sent in to collect any valuables such as gold teeth before taking the bodies to the crematoria.

We saw piles of human hair in one exhibit. These camps were really death factories. They would take even the hair from the victims and send bags of it off to German factories. There they would be used to stuff pillows and matresses. We were not only saddened, but made angry by the complete lack of respect for these people. How could this happen in a "civilized" society?

We visited several rooms with personal items that were found at the camp after the Soviet soldiers liberated Poland. These were items that were not shipped to Germany because they had little monetary value. One of the most moving displays was the huge pile of children's shoes and clothes of all sizes. Our guide said that about 20% of those killed here were children. There was also a room with about 40,000 pairs of adult shoes, including heels and dress shoes. People really believed they were being given a new life and brought their possessions with them.

It was so emotional to walk down the same path that thousands of these "unfit for work" had walked to their deaths. The whole operation was very methodical, systematic and organized. It was not the heat of the moment type of scheme, but a well planned and executed undertaking. These were educated, otherwise normal people, who thought they were actually doing something good for humanity.

We visited the women's quarters, which was very similar to the men's, about 10 to 12 women sleeping on each bunk of the 3-tierd bunk beds. Virtually non-existent latrine and washing facilities, the lack of proper food, the insects, bugs and vermin, the constant beatings by the SS guards - the list goes on and on.

It was a very emotional time, and we experienced extreme sorrow and anger at the atrocities that were committed here less than 70 years ago. The memorial in Birkenau was set up at the end of the train tracks and said in many languages that we must learn never to repeat this in the future.

NM & CM