As I've mentioned on some previous posts, I am very much into World War II history. I have probably read close to 100 books on the war and visited numerous sites related to this conflict. Some of these include the Washington D.C. Holocaust Museum, Hitler's Eagle's Nest in Germany, the War Museum of the North in Manchester, England, Dachau Concentration camp near Munich, Germany and Bastogne, Belgium which is considered the central point where the Battle of the Bulge was fought. About 7 weeks ago, I had a chance to visit the most ominous of all the Death Camps that Hitler and the Nazi's used to murder some 6 million Jews. This camp is known as Auschwitz and is located in southwest Poland, about a 45 minute drive from Krakow. The area where the camp lies is rather flat and is prone to flooding due to its location near the Sola and Vistula rivers. It is estimated that about 1.1 million of the 1.3 million people who entered the front gate of this camp never made it out alive. Most of these individuals were murdered by means of the gas chambers, but there were many other ways that people perished within the confines of the camp. Some of these include being starved to death, beatings, hangings, dysentery, typhus, exposure to the elements, medical experiments, or being shot by a firing squad. Auschwitz isn't too much different from the way it appeared back in the 1940's. However, the Nazi's did manage to destroy much of the evidence of the gas chambers and crematoriums in the camps at nearby Birkenau just before the war ended. I have had a lot of exposure and education regarding what went on at places like this, but Auschwitz really left a significant impression on me. The suffering that went on there is really just unspeakable. There are many artifacts that one can view when visiting the camp and these are also very powerful representations of this hell on earth. There are rooms full of personal items of the Jews including things like shoes, combs, baby strollers, pictures and even their own hair, which the Nazi's stole from them for the war effort. I know some people may be very disturbed by things like this, but I am one who believes that every person alive should visit a place like Auschwitz. For me, Auschwitz serves as a sobering reminder about the negative aspects of the human condition. The powerful use of propaganda and hatred led to the unpredictability of human behavior. On a much smaller scale, this sort of crazed behavior can often be witnessed at many sporting events. People often behave as if they are at the mercy of the environment that they place themselves in. This is sort of unsettling to really think about, but we must come to terms with our human frailties and work to educate our children about the value that lies within all people. Also, I think we can learn from the people who survived an experience like Auschwitz. These individuals suffered tremendously and the perspectives they gained from such a place should be heard by all. One perspective from a survivor that I found interesting went something like this: People asked me, "What did you learn?" and I think I'm only sure of one thing-- nobody knows themselves. The nice person on the street, you ask him, "Where is North Street?" and he goes with you half a block and shows you, and is nice and kind. That same person in a different situation could be the worst sadist. Nobody knows themselves. All of us could be good people or bad people in these different situations. Sometimes when somebody is really nice to me I find myself thinking, "How will he be in Sobibor?" (this perspective is given by Toivi Blatt, who survived the death camp at Sobibor and then risked his life to escape) In closing this post, I will just say that Auschwitz remains very "front and center" for me in my everyday life now. I shed some tears on the day of my visit for all the innocent men, women, and children who were murdered there. It is a day that I won't soon forget.
The remains of the gas chamber/crematorium at Auschwitz camp 1
One of the SS guard towers at the camp
This is the site at the edge of the camp where the German commandant of Auschwitz, Rudolf Hoss was executed in 1947- two years after the end of the war
The house where Commandant Hoss lived just outside the walls of the camp
One of the walkways lined by barbed wire on each side
The Wall of Death located just outside Block 11 where tens of thousands of prisoners were shot and killed by the German SS soldiers
Block 11-- which contained torture areas such as starvation cells;
another one of the blocks that was used to house prisoners
The gate leading to the main entrance of the camp
The camp was difficult to escape from and attempts were rarely successful-- The SS would randomly execute 10 people for each documented attempt
One of the guard towers near the entrance to the camp
Lights out.
Shot of St. Vincent College in my hometown of Latrobe, PA (Latrobe is the site for the Pittsburgh Steelers summer training camp)
