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“You who live safeIn your warm houses,
You who find warm food
And friendly faces when you return home.
Consider if this is a man
Who works in mud,
Who knows no peace,
Who fights for a crust of bread,
Who dies by a yes or no.
Consider if this is a woman
Without hair,
without name,
Without the strength to remember,
Empty are her eyes, cold her womb
,Like a frog in winter.
Never forget that this has happened.
Remember these words.
Engrave them in your hearts,
When at home or in the street,
When lying down, when getting up.
Repeat them to your children”
Primo Levi- If this is a man”
At the back of mind mind for some time now has been a niggling feeling that I should visit Auschwitz- Birkenau. As someone who takes a great interest in history and hopes to learn from the successes or in this case the mistakes of others I wanted to get a feel for what had really happened in the concentration camps. I had previously taken a trip whilst at school to visit the battlefields and trenches however I feel I was to young to really appreciate the magnitude of what had happened. A lot of people told me prior to visiting that I should not "put myself through it" or "why would you want to visit somewhere with such a horrific history" and my only answer to that is to attempt to understand in an effort to make better decisions in my future.
The Auschwitz camp is around an hours drive from central Krakow and is easily accessible from the city. There are a number of tour operators who offer travel and guided tours from Krakow and availability is easy to find. I opted to visit using a company called Krakow Airport Express, who were flexible and offered a private service which allowed me to get to the camp for opening of 8AM. Most tours arrive around 10AM so this gave me the time to explore Auschwitz camp without crowds and with the freedom to explore each exhibition at my own pace.
After the stringent security checks you walk through to an area where prisoners would have been met by the entrance gate with sign reading "Arbeit Macht Frei". Translated this means "Work will set you free" and was found on many of the entrances of German concentration camps. As you can see from the photo above my visit was on a cold foggy day. The temperature was around -2 degrees celsius and the fog really set the mood for the day.
Walking around the Auschwitz camp you have the opportunity to see many exhibitions which are placed throughout the blocks. Each exhibition offers something different, whether focussing on a particular nation affected, the story before arriving at Auschwitz or the belongings taken from those upon arrival into Auschwitz. I would not attempt to put these into words because I really feel they are for you to experience yourself. I do think it is hard to really understand and process all of the emotions you feel whilst walking around this site, but you will find that some thoughts will slip into your mind over the coming days.
One example of this happening was in the exhibition regarding the items taken from those killed before entering the gas chambers. In this exhibition there was a pile of glasses which at the time I thought "thats a lot of glasses" but days later sat back at home and contemplating this scene I tried to work out in my head just how many metal frames were woven together to make this pile. Then my thoughts turned from the glasses to the photos of those kept at Auschwitz. Maybe these glasses belonged to some of those faces. Young. Old. Male. Female. It is hard to conduct any sort of reasoning that will make this ok in your mind.
As you continue through the camp you will see many things that will ensure you consider the values in your life. I truly feel fortunate and this trip has allowed me to appreciate what I have more. The trip to Auschwitz took me around two and a half hours to complete for Auschwitz 1 and then I made my way to Birkenau camp.
No more than a 15 minute journey, accessible either by your tour bus, private taxi or on the free shuttle which runs between the two camps in Birkenau. Here is where you will see the railway tracks upon which millions of people were transported to the camps. The two camps could not be more different and the size of Birkenau really hit me. There were row upon row of blocks in which prisoners were kept in dorm style accommodation. With the simplest of sanitary provisions for each block. Unlike Auschwitz, Birkenau site is less museum and exhibition and more exploration of the grounds. Your visit to Birkenau should take you approximately one and a half hours to walk around the site.
Worth noting. Should not really need saying but upon your visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau be respectful. This is something that I thought would be common sense. I arrived at the camps early so only came across people on my way out, however was shocked to see adults running around and taking selfies. You are politely requested not to take photos inside some Auschwitz exhibitions out of respect (for example when in the room with peoples hair) but unfortunately this was happening. Photography of the landscape and buildings is widely accepted as ok. But I was shocked to see a number of people running around the site. Simply #auschwitz on instagram to see a number of selfies. DONT LET THIS BE YOU.
Visiting Auschwitz-Birkenau is a tough experience but one in which I think you will find a greater appreciation for your life today and a greater understanding of what happened in the past. I learned a number of facts about concentration camps that I was not aware off and found the visit although tough incredibly worthwhile.
If you have visited Auschwitz or another site of great historical significance I would love to hear from you.