Auschwitz-Birkenau NAZI Concentration Camps

I woke up early the following day around 7 am and had to check out from the 6-bed dorm. I quickly ran to pl. Matejki where the Cracow city tour bus was waiting for an 8 am departure.

I was lucky enough to get the last seat on the bus, made me feel sorry though for the guy who was smoking coz he was there earlier than me but was advised to get the next tour later in the afternoon. I quietly sat behind the bus looking forward to the tour. I’ve heard before that it was depressing and morbid, but it was something that I knew I should be checking out whilst in Poland.

Auschwitz and Birkenau were the largest NAZI concentration camps during world war II. The location was very convenient for them, with the train tracks, river and valleys around. Auschwitz I was the base camp and Auschwitz II-Birkenau was the extermination camp which was said to be the "final solution of the jewish question in Europe", read as "the holocaust of Jewish people". Between 1942-1944, trains were sent over to these camps, containing all of the types of people the Germans wanted to annihilate. It was in 1945 the Soviet troops liberated Auschwitz, and thus freedom slowly crept in back to the systems of the abused.

When we arrived at the camp, the group was divided to different languages and assigned our respective guides. A listening device and earphone was provided, which enabled everyone to hear the guide tuned in to the right frequency. It was a clever idea, that way, guides didn’t need to shout and also, even if someone wanders around, they’d still hear part of the history/information. 

I joined a group with the guide named Anna. She was a petite woman with blond hair, wearing a white top and beige skirt, nude stockings and her comfy heels. I was wondering how she could bear it through the day in the stockings coz that day, it was scorching hot when we started the tour.

We started the tour at the gate of Auschwitz. It had a welcoming sign that read “Arbeit Macht Frei”, translating to “Work makes one free”. Apparently, the camp was advertised as a door to opportunities, offering jobs to the jews, gypsies & anyone who wanted to earn a living, start afresh and make something out of their skills. That pretty much explained the massive influx of people from all over via the train system.

Anna explained that majority of the people who came were Jews from almost everywhere, gypsies, homeless and other immigrants. The selection process started upon their arrival, men/boys were separated from the women/girls. A doctor identified which one was physically capable to do the work. And anyone who he deemed weak was killed just several minutes after. Pregnant women and even infants, were all killed.

Part of the road still had the original stones, but of course, it was preserved enough to serve as a museum of death, a living proof of the evil that happened. The different buildings in the camp exhibited the various materials that were kept after the war. Blown up photos of the different facial expressions greeted all of us as we entered the rooms. Eyes can say it all… and it read FEAR all over. Anna would usually say “Ladies and Gentlemen, this is the biggest graveyard in the world”. I noticed a sadness in her face. I wanted to ask how long she’s done the tour guide job, but just kept it to myself.

The sleeping quarters looked like a sty which was supposed to be for animals, instead, loads of humans inhabited these quarters. Exhibitions of shoes, bags, combs… everything these families took with them which was supposed to be part of the new life they were looking forward to… everything that was important to them, were taken away, collected and sold. Some of these were stored, which served its purpose as part of the Auschwitz museum.

What made me cringe was the display of hair. After people were killed in the gas chamber, the hairs were shaved off the heads and used to make a few materials. I didn’t even know you can do that but apparently, in those days, the Germans thought how to maximize their resources. I stared at the hair collection through the glass mirror, thinking about their pain.

One of the buildings had a massive display of photos… face, name and everyone in the same striped uniform… they were all doomed…… doomed…. And I believe even those who survived…. Went through the same doom. As Anna said, if anyone wanted to be free back then, the only way out was to kill themselves. Chances of escaping was so slim, and even though if 1 person was successful enough, that meant the immediate death of 10 people in the camp.

The surrounding perimeter of Auschwitz had green trees, hiding the tall watch out posts and signs that carried

the symbol of a skull with the sign “STOJ!”, i.e. HALT! I found it so ironic that the beautiful landscape around was all a cover up for the revolting and disgusting evilness. I couldn’t even think how those soldiers and officers could be so cruel enough to do such things.

Gas chambers, shooting, death of starvation & weakness… these were not just the cause of death for the prisoners. Anna explained to us that some of them were used as experiments and injected with different diseases.

After an hour and a half, we went back to the bus, bound for the next camp, Birkenau. When the Germans

were slowly losing the war, they tried to burn and destroy evidences of their cruelty. Birkenau’s ruins were a witness to all of their efforts. We walked through the gates and found rumbles, edifices of what was once a camp, actually constructed by the prisoners themselves, to hold more people arriving via train. In the middle of the camp was the railway track. I stared at it and noticed stones on the side of the single train cabin left on the track. I quickly realized that it was a Jewish practice, as showing respect for the dead. I looked, waited for the group to move away, and picked a rock and placed it on the side, whispering my respects to all of the victims. From a distance a flag that carried the Star of David, danced along with the wind, as a group of teenagers surrounded their teacher while listening to the history of the camp. They chose a distant spot, far away from the crowd, which I thought was the best way to have a more intimate discussion with the young ones, make them appreciate history and learn from it as much as they can.

We passed by the grave of ashes, that just looked like a marsh, but held so much pain & sufferings. I didn’t walk close by, but just stared at the healthy soil around. There were a few memorials around, a reminder that read “For Ever let this place be a cry of despair and a warning to humanity, where the Nazis murdered about one and a half million men, women and children, mainly Jews from various countries of Europe. Auschwitz-Birkenau 1940-1945”. I placed a stone on the monument and paid my respects.

We finished the tour with Anna walking us to the nearby barb-wired fence. Going through the tour made me feel so much hatred and anger towards these people. The main colonel went through the trial in Nuremberg, and he was eventually killed in Auschwitz. But majority of the soldiers who performed the dirty deeds were not caught nor punished for such cruelness. Anna though was kind enough to finish the tour on a much lighter note. And even though I’m writing this after a while, I still remember her words and even the expression in her eyes. She held her hands together and said “Ladies & gentlemen, I believe that this is something that everyone should see. You need to understand that to visit these camps is to remind each one what humanity can do when filled with so much hatred.” Everyone nodded and said thank you to her.

I walked silently back to the bus, although heavy hearted after everything I’ve seen, I knew that what Anna said is true… Everyone should see it. At that point, I was so glad to have passed by Krakow.

Made me think back to Philippine history. During World War II, my home country was invaded by the Japanese, and just the same, they were evil enough to kill and torture so many of my countrymen and women. They were also known to be sadists and rapists. And back then during the days when I was studying our history, there came a time that I hated each Japanese I’d come across. So much… I knew being told off by my sister.

I wonder if humanity is learning…. Reading the news now adays doesn’t seem to be proving it otherwise.