A Chilling Saturday

This is my fourth time in Poland. However, it was not until last weekend that circumstances allowed me to pay my respects at the camps of Auschwitz and Birkenau. Needless to say that it was a powerful experience. I have been to Dachau and Majdenek, but I was totally unprepared for the gravity of the location, just outside Krakow. Judging by my past experiences I was expecting a series of sagging wood shelters. Birkenau did fit this description, but because Auschwitz was originally an Army barracks, it consists of a conglomeration of finished brick buildings. If one did not know what had taken place there, it would have looked like just another set of early 20th century apartment buildings. What did occur was more horrific than at any of the other camps I have visited. While listening to stories of medical experiments and intentional mass extermination, I was shocked that human beings could be capable of such tasks. The camp commandant and his entire family even lived next to the gas chambers.

At many points around this living monument there were donation boxes for the restoration of the site, which apparently is falling into disrepair. I can only hope that these camps continue to stand as a monument to those who perished, and a reminder to never let such a tragedy happen again.