Auschwitz-Birkenau

TODAY was a very humbling day.

We woke up at 6:45 AM after maybe 6 hours of sleep. We needed to make it to Auschwitz before 10 AM if we didn't wanted to be forced into a guided tour that I knew would go quicker than the pace I wanted, and confined into a small area with too many anxious tourists. If you know me, I do not do well with big crowds and small spaces all trying to get somewhere...Rome, Paris, and Venice should be interesting for me...I know this already. Kevin is prepared!

We checked out of our hostel around 7:10 AM. Breakfast is served from 7:30-11:30. We did not get breakfast. It takes about 80 minutes by bus to get from Krakow Glowny to Auschwitz. We were nervous. We walked the 20 minutes to Glowny and were in search of the bus station.

When we found it, we talked to a disturbed...Maybe English hater...polish bus lady and asked her where to get tickets for our desired bus. She told us that she didn't need tickets, in an interesting tone, and that we could find our bus downstairs on platform 8. We have been told that we don't need tickets before, this is sketchy advice.

We went down to said platform and found our bus. It already looked mostly full, we were nervous. The driver was letting people on that HAD tickets...again the sketchy advice (force people to sell you tickets in advance, you are treated better). By the timetable next to the bus, it looked like the next one after this 7:50 bus wasn't until 9...which meant we would be forced into a guided tour. Silent prayers began. 2 people came with tickets and they were allowed on...as Kevin and I with a couple other people waited patiently outside the mini bus for our chance to get on the bus (they were given bad advice as well). We kept waiting. Then 3 more people with tickets came and they were allowed on. My heart sank. I was for sure now the bus was full. After the 3, the driver went and say in his seat...looked for open seats...looked at us with a stern glare...What seemed like forever passed! THEN a miracle happened. He lifted his hand and waved us onto the bus. We had done it, heavenly father had done it. We were on the bus in the two last available seats, knowing that we would make it to Auschwitz in time. The people behind us were allowed on too, but they had to stand the whole drive.

We arrived to Auschwitz at 9:10. If you enter without a guided tour, it is free. We just had to pay about a dollar for them to store our oversize bags.

When we entered the grounds, words could not describe the emotion I felt. We had just passed through the same area thousands had passed through in world war 2. Not only that, but right through the gates we were met immediately by an open field where SS would mercilessly execute innocent lives.

Just a warning...if reading about gruesome things is not your cup of tea, then don't read further. This was on my bucket list because this is history I care about. It was a horrific time, but something worth learning about, which is what I did today. I will try to word everything in the most respectful way possible...however just know that there was nothing respectful about what the Nazis did. I'm am writing this so I remember today in detail because it does not deserve to be forgotten. I saw it for myself, the holocaust was VERY real. This will be a long post for that reason...to remember.

After walking past the open area, you immediately see the familiar Auschwitz sign of "Albeit Macht Frei"...which translates roughly to work sets you free. Around this sign you will see a double barbed wire fence guarded by a watchman post. If someone tried to escape, they would be shot and placed by the sign as people exited to work to deter people from trying to escape. There were guard stations everywhere around the perimeter of the camp, so escaping certainly meant death...whether you were successful at escaping or not, considering the camp was in the middle of nowhere.

We continued on finding out that there was a camp band that played every morning when the workers left, and again when workers came back in carrying the dead. Work was usually 12 hours without food or water, and you could be killed by the SS at anytime for whatever reason they felt. The first barrack we entered contained information about the polish resisting the Nazis. It was really awesome to read and see how they slowed the army down. Next we went into barrack 4. The most shocking things here was an urn of ashes from those cremated at Birkenau, the large model of how the gas chambers worked, and the many cans of empty and one full can of Cyclon B...the crystal used in gas chambers to murder millions. It was very intriguing.

Next was barrack 5, which was quite possibly the most depressing. Here you saw many different rooms of the things the Germans collected. For example...combs, spectacles, shoes...lots of shoes, children's shoes, empty suitcases, toothbrushes, metal objects, prosthetic legs, and hair...they had cut off. I actually got rudely interrupted while trying to take a picture of it, not knowing that you can't. Polish people are not the nicest.

Sad story, cloth was found later and they were testing the material. After doing this, they found it was woman's hair that had traces of the same acid used to kill those in the gas chamber. So sad. They killed them, cut off their hair, and then made cloth out of it to sell...sick people!

We also entered barrack 6, which was designed like the sleeping quarters there. Sleeping was right but not as awful as Birkenau. Both were awful though, don't get me wrong. I would never want to be in either situation. There were also only 24 toilets for 700-1000 people at one time in the barrack. As well as one washroom. I could only imagine how awful this smelt and I'm sure they were rarely cleaned.

Then there was the "death block". This is where many polish POW's were tortured, stripped bare, and then thrown out into a square where they were either executed, hung by their arms, or flogged to death. It was a very humbling place to be standing.

As we went around the barracks, we came across ones they had turned into liberation museums. The France one was actually very creepy. I didn't stay there very long. The barrack about the Dutch was extremely sad as most of the Jews were captured there and killed. We didn't go into each liberation barrack as time was of the essence and I was freaked out by the France one.

We did pass the hanging pole, where 12 polish men were hung for aiding the escape of three men. Everyone in the camp was forced to watch and stare for hours at this as they were made an example. Near these polls was the area of roll call. The guards had a watch tower they could stand in if weather was poor. Not the prisoners...they had to stand there in the open for hours, no matter what...and at any time could be executed.

There was also kitchens in this area, but it was not open to visitors. The last thing we saw as we left was the crematorium. Right beside it was also a spot for hanging. Where the first commander of Auschwitz was actually hung for what went on at this camp.