This was my second visit to Auschwitz, and somehow I thought that it would make this visit less…read moreheavy. I was wrong.
The tour guides get extensive training and testing, and are super knowledgeable about the history of this place and the holocaust. Our guide gave clear instructions, telling us the areas where we couldn't take photos, areas we could not go, etc. They gave so much information that a lot of the world just doesn't know, but should know.
On this tour, we started out at Auschwitz. We saw the rooms that prisoners were kept in, the offices of the SS officers, the gas chambers, and the ovens that were used to burn the bodies (we saw the ones at Auschwitz, although there are some at Birkenau, too). The tour guide explained the procedures they followed. The blatant disregard for human life is chilling. We saw the places where cruel punishments occurred, as well as the place that prisoners were lined up and shot. There are rooms that have a glass wall and behind them are piles of shoes, suitcases, and eyeglasses, and medical devices like crutches of some of the people who were murdered at Auschwitz. To hear about the ways they tortured and abused people and how there was such a disregard for human life is emotionally overwhelming.
We took a short break, then drove the short distance to Birkenau. The train tracks for the trains that brought prisoners go right into this concentration camp. This is the place you often see in movies. Very long buildings that were originally meant to house horses had three levels of bunks, some about a yard wide. Each of those bunks slept four to seven people, sometimes even more. The only cushion was hay, which was often caked with diarrhea and vomit, as the prisoners were constantly sick from eating soup made with rotten vegetables, working 16 hour days in freezing temperatures, malnourishment, and filthy conditions with rats who often gnawed on sleeping or sick prisoners.
On this visit, I noticed the tour was shorter than our last visit. The last time we were here, we toured the place where Joseph Mengele did his experiments on prisoners. We also saw the room filled with hair shaven from the heads of prisoners' corpses after they were gassed (those chosen to work had their heads shaven while they were alive). The hair was used to make socks, ropes, and other items. We did not go through that room on this visit.
The grounds of Auschwitz can be treacherous with the dirt around the cobblestones worn away. We were warned at the beginning to watch our step, which was excellent advice. Of course, the interiors of the buildings were fine. We were advised to bring our passports, and they were checked, so make sure you have yours. Also, be aware that Auschwitz is not in Krakow. The drive to get there is slightly over an hour. Make sure to reserve your spot on a tour, as slots fill up fast.
This is a museum that anyone who comes to Poland MUST visit. It will not make for a cheerful day, but it will stir you in a way that is uncomfortable, but necessary to assure that what happened is never forgotten.
