Last weekend we visited Krakow, Poland for our second to
last field trip. For this blog I mainly
want to talk about my experience at Auschwitz, but first I will talk about our
two days in Krakow. Early on Friday we
arrived just outside of Krakow at the Wieliczka salt mine. I had no idea what to expect at the salt
mine, but I ended up being happily surprised at how unique it was. We traveled hundreds of meters underground,
into what felt like a giant cave. We
weaved in and out of the winding pathways, and learned all about the history of
the salt mine. When we got to the main
chapel, I was completely blown away.
First of all, I was not expecting there to be a chapel in a salt mine at
all, and it was absolutely gorgeous! We also saw a laser show along with other
smaller presentations. Our tour guide
had a great sense of humor, so that made it even more enjoyable also!
Chapel
Tasting the Salt Walls!
On Saturday, we visited the Wawel Royal Castle of
Krakow. We saw the treasury, armory, and
several of the rooms inside. One thing
that really stuck out in my mind from this castle was the different ceilings in
each room. Some were beautiful, and some
were very strange and unique. After
touring the castle, we went to the main square.
We dispersed, had lunch, and met back again to go to Schindler’s
factory. Schindler’s factory is
basically a museum about the Jews in Krakow during WWII and the Holocaust,
located in the exact spot where Oskar Schindler’s factory once stood. It was very interactive, and so incredibly
informational. After seeing the factory
I could not stop thinking about how we were going to visit Auschwitz the next
day.
Royal Castle
Inside Schindler's Factory
Sunday was one of the most emotional days I have ever
had. I felt so unprepared to see
Auschwitz, but then again I don’t know how anyone could ever really prepare
themselves to see something so horrific.
When we walked through the gate “Arbeit Macht Frei” I instantly felt
sick to my stomach. In fact, I felt sick
to my stomach for the entire tour. The
atmosphere of Auschwitz was filled with an eerie despair, despite the fact that
it almost looked like a peaceful place. As
we walked throughout the camp, I could not think of anything except for the
fact that I was walking along the same ground as those who were so innocently
killed 75 years ago. One of the worst
parts was walking through the exhibits of belongings from the victims,
including the mounds of hair that had been cut off of the victims’ heads. To see all of this in the raw was almost too
much for me to absorb. I still cannot
wrap my head around how atrociously the Nazi’s could treat these victims. It is as if they had no morals for humanity
whatsoever. Not only did they set out to exterminate all Jews, but they did so
in the most horrendous ways of torture.
To make it even worse, they had every single aspect perfectly calculated
to insure that it would be a complete “success.”
Prosthetic parts from the victims
Just a fraction of the victims' shoes
We also went to Birkenau, the extermination camp near
Auschwitz. It was so vast, and I again
felt that eerie atmosphere throughout our time there. We walked into one of the wooden buildings
where the prisoners stayed, and learned that they were actually intended to be
horse stables. It sickened me to think
that the Nazi’s thought of the Jews as something less than a human-let alone an
animal. As we continued to walk through
Birkenau, we listened to the horrendous stories of the victims who were sent
there. As soon as they got off of the
train (which had no windows so they had no idea where they were going) they
were immediately put through a selection of who would be sent to the gas
chambers and who would become a worker.
We were also able to see the remains of the gas chambers, which were
destroyed by the Nazi’s themselves in an attempt to hide the evidence. Near the gas chambers, we saw a couple of
small ponds. We learned that the human
bones, which wouldn’t burn in the crematorium, would be crushed up and thrown
into these ponds. By this point, I did
not know how much more I could stand to hear.
I was already sick to my stomach and this about put me over the
edge. We ended our tour shortly after
that, and I was more than ready to leave.
Entrance to Birkenau
Remains of the Gas Chamber at Birkenau
As we left, I continually thought about how lucky I was to be able to
freely walk in and out of the doors. I
was so sickened by the thought that it was all a problem of humanity. How could one human possibly do this to
another human? It is something that I
will never be able to understand, and it goes way beyond hatred. I also
don’t understand how some people can try to say that the Holocaust never
actually happened, or try to downplay the gruesome events of it all. Although I
learned about the Holocaust for nearly six years in school, no amount of
information could have prepared me for what I saw at Auschwitz. I now have an entire new appreciation for the
Holocaust, which I could never have gotten from any textbook. I feel as though none of my words can do
justice for the way I felt in Auschwitz.
It is just one of those places where you cannot fully form a full appreciation
for until you have seen it in person. I
will remember this visit for the rest of my life, and I can only hope that
humanity has learned from this horrific event.
