The horror of Auschwitz

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Everything I thought I knew about the holocaust was wrong! It was so much worse than that!

Today I went on a tour to the Nazi concentration camps at Auschwitz and Birkenau in Poland, and I saw things I will never forget.

The whole visit to the camp starts with a huge lie. As you walk through the gates (see cover pic) you see the words “Arbeit Macht Frei” which means Work will set you free. Of course most of the people who walked through that gate never made it out alive.

I saw the horrendous conditions that people at the camp were forced to live in: massively overcrowded barracks, wooden bunks with thin mattresses (if at all), minimal washing or toilet facilities and relentless work with little or no food or water.

It was shocking to see the mountain of shoes taken from the prisoners on their arrival and they dressed in nothing but thin pajamas all year round - even in mid winter when the temperatures dropped to -20C

On arrival the prisoners were quickly assessed into those who could work and those who were unfit to work. The workers were sent off to do brutal work until they died of disease or starvation. The elderly, children and many women were sent straight to the gas chamber to be exterminated.

Many were also selected to be human guinea pigs for medical experiments. The details of these are too gruesome to repeat here.

Punishment of prisoners was incredibly harsh and was given for some seemingly innocuous crimes such as helping a fallen friend or sharing food. There were starvation cells and suffocation cells for such crimes.

Anyone caught attempting to escape was hanged and everyone else forced to watch.

The most harrowing part of the visit was when I stood in the gas chamber. I can’t even imagine the terror and suffering of those who were there to die. Directly beside the gas chamber was the crematorium where the bodies were incinerated ( there were too many bodies to bury them)

While Auschwitz is probably the most infamous concentration camp, it’s neighbouring camp Auschwitz II - Birkenau was the largest one ever built. Standing in the middle of it you can barely see the perimeter fences. It’s hard to imagine the thousands of poor souls who lived and died there.

Prisoners from all over Europe were sent here to be exterminated. They arrived in wooden train carriages having endured horrendous traveling conditions. At the camp they were let off the carriage in a filthy state and told they were going for a shower to get cleaned up. They were led to the shower room, undressed and shown in. Once inside the door was closed and reality dawned. It wasn’t a shower room - it was a gas chamber. The sickest of lies...

As the war neared it’s end the nazis realised the camp was going to be liberated and started blowing it up to try to hide their crimes against humanity.

They didn’t succeed and the camp remains to tell its story of how disgustingly cruel humans can be in their hatred of other humans.

My Thoughts on my experience

I will never forget the things I have seen today. The hatred and cruelty of one race for another is hard to understand. There are many of us here on earth with differing skin colors, religions, and political views - but we are all human beings.

Surely there can be no place for hatred of this kind. We must learn to be accepting of each other and tolerate others views even when they are at odds with our own.

Whether it’s in our daily lives or in the course of our businesses let our first thoughts be about how we can help each other, rather than how we can take advantage of or make money from them. After all, the more you help people with your business, the more successful it will be long term anyway.

I chose not to add any pictures to this post other than the header post - I trust you will understand why.

For now, go and show somebody some love.


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Recent Comments

45

Yes, I was a very young child when my teachers showed us the horrors that the Nazis had done to the Jewish people. What is terrible is that there are still people who think that it never existed or that this human tragedy is only a detail of world history. I hope that the world has become more mature and that never again will we see such tragedies repeated. We must not stop talking about it because forgetfulness would really be a terrible mistake.

Ingrid

Totally agree Ingrid. Anyone who denies it happened should be taken to Auschwitz and asked for their explanation of what happened there. I can assure you its undeniable.
We must all learn from the past.

I haven't been there but we went to Dachau in Germany a few years ago.. It is still a memory that haunts me to this day.

The interesting thing for me is that it was full of tourists from all over the world on the day I went and no-one was speaking - not a word...

Thanks Dave for sharing... I beleive as horrible as they are, expereinces liek this are what make us better people.

There were plenty of tourists at Auschwitz too - in fact it bordered on being over commercialised. Those who understood were - like you say - quiet from the horror.

Hi Dave
Oddly enough, I have always followed whatever materials I have come across throughout my life, on the horrors of the Nazis, The SS and of course the Concentration Camps. I have no reason for my obsession with this time of history other than the unbelievable truth of what can happen with only a few in control and having a plan to control. It is absolutely astounding that this could happen and yet the mass of the population still does not recognize evil until it is too late. I have no answers as I think that people inherently want to believe in goodness in there fellow-man but it does scare me when people are picked to represent us because of the way they look, or ability to convince others, their last name and especially the color of their skin.

Thanks for this post Dave... We just need to remember this !!!

Vivian

Hi Vivian. Yes I completely agree. As I walked through the camp I kept asking myself- “how was this allowed to happen”. It’s incredible how an entire nation followed the flawed philosophy of a sick but powerful few.

My daughter went with a school trip to Auschwitz when she was 14, I thought she was too young to go but school said it was perfectly ok at her age..... I should have listened to my inner voice. I was right, she was traumatised. She started reducing what she was eating and was very morose. Said she felt too privileged. It took quite a while for her to shake off the feelings it gave her. Not that it matters but the 'arbeit macht frei' actually translates in the present not the future. - work makes you free or work sets you free... My daughter took photos, and when i looked at them, they were horrific, so much of what went on I had not really thought about, and when I did I really found the thoughts abhorrent. 😔 The terrible thing is that today we still have ethnic cleansing.

I was recently at at tennis tournament in Kigali, Rwanda. We went to one of the memorials. It is unbelievable that over 250,000 people died in a short 3month period in 1994 mainly Tutsis. They live peacefully now together, but it was quite horrifying. Having said that, the country is now ruled by Kagame who was the rebel leader that brought the genocide to an end. It is very sad that this still goes on....

Thanks for sharing your insight Helen. I can understand why you thought your daughter was too young - I certainly don’t think it’s a place for young people to see either.
Your photo of the memorial is a moving one. In one of the blocks at the camp there is an entire corridor lined with the photos of the people who lived and died in that block. Hundreds of ordinary people - builders, bakers, carpenters...
Hopefully one day we will all learn

I hope so.. we think we are then something like the genocide in Rwanda happens and we realise that we are back to square one again.

Hi Dave!

It is really horrible what happened but the worst part about history is, it keeps repeating itself.

I don't know if you have ever read the book "The Wave" by Todd Strasser? I can highly recommend it after you've been to the camps. I think they even made a movie based on the book if you are not much into books.

Catherine

By the way, because I am a nurse in Switzerland we have got lots of Holocaust survivors that fled to Switzerland in groups of children. I took care of a woman from the Czech Republic that lost her whole family in gas chambers.

I am also sad to say, that because Switzerland is neutral I also had to take care of Nazis that got wounded in the war and came to Switzerland after the war ended to look for work. Most of them are dead now though. But it was interesting to hear their stories how they experienced WW2.

Hi Catherine. Thanks for the book recommendation and I will definitely check it out when I get home.
I’m sure the survivors and their families will never be able to get over the cruelty they experienced. I also wonder what the nazis really thought about what was happening. It was a recurring thought for me, wondering how it was allowed to happen.

This is so terribly sad. I do hope and believe our younger generation are more clued up than we ever was. From what I see from my own daughters perspective ( she is 17) is they are sick and tired of humans hurting each other.

They do not see colour only the same colour of blood that runs through all our veins. In other words my daughter and many like her have no malice, for any colour of skin, any child is born in.

They have no malice and they are tired of the old people ruining their future. ( The Governments that is! ) I hope they will make their future for their own children a million miles apart from what we are today.

This is heart breaking just goes to show how so many can listen to one sick man and millions of lives are lost. I hope our future children are better at protecting themselves. than like back then, in the holocaust and yes even today.

Yes and everyone needs love. Massive hugs to you all.
Debs :)

Thanks Debs for your thoughts. I agree with what you say about younger generations too. When I was growing up in Northern Ireland there was similar hatred between Protestants and catholics, leading to years of violence and terrorism. Thankfully my grown up children have no interest in such rubbish and have friends of all colours and creeds.

*** wow, Dave! ... gawd, what a descriptor of how those conditions must have been for our fellow humans ... you are brave for having visited there, and now having seen what you saw, you're also brave enough to capture into words of how dastardly that period of time was and frankly, still exists in some parts of this world to date ...

we are so fortunate to be free -- and the freedom to choose our path ... lest we forget ...

thanks so kindly for your sharing with us today -- it's a meaningful dialogue that needs to continue so that history does NOT repeat itself ...

all the very best to you in love, happiness & freedom .. ⭐️🧡🎈

Thanks for your kind words Keisha. It is truly unbelievable what humans did to other humans back then. We can only hope that lessons are being learned and that one day such hatred for others will finally end.

... live and let live in Peace! ... ☮🕊 ... !

Amen to that my friend 🙂

... Amen ... 🙏 ... !

Humankind are humankind's worst enemy.
There are thousands of books on the Holocaust. Try finding any on the Holodomor. As many Ukrainians died during this genocide perpetrated by Stalin as there were Jewish people on the planet. Put that in perspective.

Anyone who has not heard of the Holodomor, read Red Famine by Anne Applebaum. It will blow your hair back.

Thanks Mark. Obviously the holocaust is the most well known example of genocide but undoubtedly there are many more examples of similar atrocities. I agree that we should all try to learn more about it and understand it better so we can try to ensure it comes to an end.

Thanks for sharing, Dave.
We need to have compassion for our fellow man/woman.
What happened there is true evil, and to think some say it never happened is disturbing.
I went to the Jewish Holocaust Museum in Houston, Texas and out the back, they had one of the railway carriages used in one of the camps.
It was a very powerful moment as was going through the museum.
Places like this empower me to help others rise up and become the person they can be.
The WA platform has allowed me a huge opportunity to help many around the world.
We can always do better for our fellow human beings.
All the best
Darren :)

I fully agree with your sentiments Darren. We can each do our bit to make things better for our fellow humans

That is so true
Darren :)

The atrocities were horrific and inhumane, if only humanity could learn from it, those poor souls wouldn't have died in vain.
There are also many stories from survivors that show how indomitable the human spirit truly is and how they helped one other despite the risks.
I cannot imagine how you must feel having stood in that place, realising the full horror of it all. You did it though and you are another voice to speak out for those that suffered.
((((Hugs))))

Thank you Linda. It is indeed sobering to think about what happened and it is our duty to make a difference now.

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