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Oświęcim is just 60 km southwest of Krakow and known to most by its German name, Auschwitz. We visited there in July, 2003 after our visit to Krakow. It is a sobering place to visit and the vastness of the human suffering is hard to totally comprehend. Oświęcim was the location for four death camps, including Auschwitz and Birkenau. The entire area around the town was evacuated prior to the camps being built so there were no local residents to see what was happening.
Our tour started in the camp known as Auschwitz, which was established in 1940 for Polish political prisoners. The camp started as prewar army barracks (above) so the buildings were better than in most other concentration camps, even though the conditions were not. The people who were imprisoned here usually were here for only a few months, although many lasted a year or more. Auschwitz prisoners were also used for medical experimentation. Tens of thousands were taken directly from the transports to the gas chambers on they day they arrived.
The barracks are now used to display many exhibits showing the living conditions of the prisoners while they were in the camp. One of the exhibits we found to be quite chilling was the one depicting the evidence found which helped prove the vastness of the atrocity. In this exhibit were huge mounds of human hair, suitcases (above, left), clothing, shoes, brushes, combs, prosthetics, eyeglasses, etc. Each collection was a mere handful compared to the volumes found, but for us it was equally compelling. In one warehouse alone they found over 7 tons of human hair!
Double electric fences (above right)surrounded the encampment, ensuring no one would escape. If anyone tried, 10 others from the same barracks were executed to discourage further escape attempts.
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One barrack was used for sterilization experiments on women, none of whom survived the “treatment.” Next to this barrack was the prison where punishment was extracted for crimes against the Nazi state or for breaking camp rules. Several cells had such limited fresh air that most inmates suffocated to death. For those that broke camp rules, there were small narrow cells measuring three feet by three feet in which would be placed 4 prisoners who were forced to stand in the confined space after working all day. The prisoners were forced in here to stand all night then removed in the morning and sent to work for 12 or more hours, then returned to the cell for another sleepless night. This building also held the “court” where the prisoners were “tried” and of course found guilty. If death was the sentence, they were shot in the yard next to the barrack.
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Most, however, were killed in the gas chamber using the insecticide Zyclon B. Again, mountains of used Zyclon B canisters were found after the war, along with many documents and invoices identifying the companies and the dates when the gas was sold. The bodies were then cremated in ovens, some of which remain today (above). The human ash was trucked to nearby fields.
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Our tour continued at the Birkenau site, just a few kilometers away. The aerial map at right shows the relative positions and sizes of these two camps. The blue outline at the bottom delineates Auschwitz while the red a the top identifies Birkenau.When we got to Birkenau, we were awestruck by the sheer size. This truly was industrial-strength genocide. |
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It became the largest extermination camp for European Jews and 8,000 people were killed per dayin 1943 and 944. While there were some brick buildings, most were wood, made originally as stables for horses (complete with rooftop ventilation but no windows). The area is swamp like in the rainy season and the buildings had no floors other than the bare dirt. The beds were lined up along each side (above, left) with 5-8 sleeping in each bed. There was a fireplace in each with a long “heater” running the length of the building. However, with the ventilated roof, no heat remained in the building. Each building was designed for 55 horses and usually held between 400 and 700 hundred people. The day we were there it was quite warm and the temperature in the building with the doors open was opressive. It is hard to imagine what it must have been like on a similar day with so many people confined in the small space.
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Of course, with this many people, sanitation was a problem. There was a toilet room with facilities for 200 (above, right). Even with this, each person was only given less than 2 minutes here once a day. This time included time for washing in cold water that was piped in from a nearby stream as well as time to use the toilet.
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But the most chilling reality for us was the immensity of the place. Even though we had seen pictures of the camp in movies and in historical documtaries on television we were not prepared for the size of the camp. From the watchtower, we were able to get a panoramic view of the camp. Because it is so large, we have presented it in 2 pictures. The top is the women’s camp with the arriving transport tracks at the right of the picture. When the trains arrived the women and children were sent to the facility on the left. The lower picture is the men’s camp with the same tracks at left.
At the men’s camp (below) only some of the wooden barracks remain. In the background there are hundreds of chimneys standing, remnants of the hundreds of other barrack that were burned. The two sheds in the foreground were the toilet facilites for all of the sheds that run the length of the road - each housing between 400 and 700 people. There were seven of the rows of sheds all configured the same.
We were humbled and emotionally exhausted by the experience of our visit. But we are glad that this Museum is being preserved so that all can know what happened here. Anyone who utters the words, “I hate...” should be sent here to see what hatred leads to.
Never Again
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