Concentration Camp: Auschwitz II – Birkenau
For many Holocaust survivors of Auschwitz, it is the Auschwitz II – Birkenau that is very hard to come to terms with, emotionally.
Our guide told us that majority of the Jews brought to Auschwitz were never registered thus they never really worked in the concentration camp. Many of them after having alighted from the train were placed on a selection based on health conditions and age. The strong, healthy and young ones were selected to one corner and the rest, old men and women, wives, children, sick individuals, the frail ones and the handicapped were sent straight to the gas chambers that now lie in ruins.
It is in Auschwitz II – Birkenau that loved ones and families were separated. It is the place where they last saw their wife, their husband, their father, their mother, their son, their daughter.
Państwowe Muzeum Auschwitz-Birkenau is a Nazi concentraion and extermination Camp established by the Nazis due to 'capacity issue' in Auschwitz I. The rail road here is specifically used to transport Jews and Gypsies for extermination. Foto above is our bus arriving at the railroad gates of the camp and fotos of Jews lining up for the selection upon arrival, 65 years ago.
Auschwitz II - Birkenau railroad tracks. Auschwitz concentration and extermination camp is the largest Nazi death camp.
This is the gas extermination chamber, now in ruins. They are left as it is, as they were.
Auschwitz II - Birkenau camps, first foto is the common sanitair for prisoners, middle foto is the sleeping quarters of prisoners (lucky enough to be selected to work and live) and last foto on the right is a group of Jews with the Israel flag. We saw many of them with flags drape around their bodies.
Auschwitz II - Birkenau, this is the work camp area and on the next foto you can see a wooden watch tower.
Barbed wire are wired with electricity, there is no escape. Next foto is an examplar of the train cabin that was used to transport the Jews and Gypsies here.
Here is a memorial plaque dedicated to the victims of the Auschwitz terror. There are placques in every language of the victim and for blog purposes I have posted the English version. Next foto is a group of Jews from Israel conducting a memorial service.
Unlike many Hollywood holocaust films that show us feisty and passionate scenes of families—husband, wife and child clawing to grab each other and crying as they were torn apart by SS soldiers, some even shot on the spot in an attempt to frighten—this appears NOT TO BE THE CASE 65 years ago. Many of the Jews that arrived in Auschwitz were lied to, they were told that they will start a new life, and this is also the reason why many have brought household items such as pots and pans that can now be found in the museum of Auschwitz I. The ghettos were becoming overcrowded and remotely attractive to bringing up children thus promises to a better future outside of the ghettos were very assuring.
In reality, there were thousands of Jews disembarking from the trains in Auschwitz II – Birkenau whilst the number of SS soldiers on location were few, the Jews could have easily staged an impromptu uprising. However, no one knew. No one knew that it is their last day on earth; that they will be sent to the gas chamber. There were some people that had doubts, eventually rumors spread about the death camp but fellow Jews who were working for the Nazis were told to keep mum. They were even instructed to reassure the doubting Thomases, and for the sake of their lives, they cooperated. Our guide said that many of these Jews that cooperated with the Nazis committed suicide after the war. Their conscience haunted them.
As I stood there I tried to imagine what the place must have been like 65 years ago. I cringed at the thought and my sympathies go to the survivors who were brave to come back to the same place that have shattered their dreams and lives of their loved ones. They faced the unspeakable fears they once had. Many of them would never be the same again.
More fotos here: Auschwitz II - Birkenau, Poland
Read the previous entry here: Concentration Camp: Auschwitz I
The tour to Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II – Birkenau can be booked at the many tourist points in Krakow. Duration is half a day.
.
Our guide told us that majority of the Jews brought to Auschwitz were never registered thus they never really worked in the concentration camp. Many of them after having alighted from the train were placed on a selection based on health conditions and age. The strong, healthy and young ones were selected to one corner and the rest, old men and women, wives, children, sick individuals, the frail ones and the handicapped were sent straight to the gas chambers that now lie in ruins.
It is in Auschwitz II – Birkenau that loved ones and families were separated. It is the place where they last saw their wife, their husband, their father, their mother, their son, their daughter.
Państwowe Muzeum Auschwitz-Birkenau is a Nazi concentraion and extermination Camp established by the Nazis due to 'capacity issue' in Auschwitz I. The rail road here is specifically used to transport Jews and Gypsies for extermination. Foto above is our bus arriving at the railroad gates of the camp and fotos of Jews lining up for the selection upon arrival, 65 years ago.
Auschwitz II - Birkenau railroad tracks. Auschwitz concentration and extermination camp is the largest Nazi death camp.
This is the gas extermination chamber, now in ruins. They are left as it is, as they were.
Auschwitz II - Birkenau camps, first foto is the common sanitair for prisoners, middle foto is the sleeping quarters of prisoners (lucky enough to be selected to work and live) and last foto on the right is a group of Jews with the Israel flag. We saw many of them with flags drape around their bodies.
Auschwitz II - Birkenau, this is the work camp area and on the next foto you can see a wooden watch tower.
Barbed wire are wired with electricity, there is no escape. Next foto is an examplar of the train cabin that was used to transport the Jews and Gypsies here.
Here is a memorial plaque dedicated to the victims of the Auschwitz terror. There are placques in every language of the victim and for blog purposes I have posted the English version. Next foto is a group of Jews from Israel conducting a memorial service.
Unlike many Hollywood holocaust films that show us feisty and passionate scenes of families—husband, wife and child clawing to grab each other and crying as they were torn apart by SS soldiers, some even shot on the spot in an attempt to frighten—this appears NOT TO BE THE CASE 65 years ago. Many of the Jews that arrived in Auschwitz were lied to, they were told that they will start a new life, and this is also the reason why many have brought household items such as pots and pans that can now be found in the museum of Auschwitz I. The ghettos were becoming overcrowded and remotely attractive to bringing up children thus promises to a better future outside of the ghettos were very assuring.
In reality, there were thousands of Jews disembarking from the trains in Auschwitz II – Birkenau whilst the number of SS soldiers on location were few, the Jews could have easily staged an impromptu uprising. However, no one knew. No one knew that it is their last day on earth; that they will be sent to the gas chamber. There were some people that had doubts, eventually rumors spread about the death camp but fellow Jews who were working for the Nazis were told to keep mum. They were even instructed to reassure the doubting Thomases, and for the sake of their lives, they cooperated. Our guide said that many of these Jews that cooperated with the Nazis committed suicide after the war. Their conscience haunted them.
As I stood there I tried to imagine what the place must have been like 65 years ago. I cringed at the thought and my sympathies go to the survivors who were brave to come back to the same place that have shattered their dreams and lives of their loved ones. They faced the unspeakable fears they once had. Many of them would never be the same again.
More fotos here: Auschwitz II - Birkenau, Poland
Read the previous entry here: Concentration Camp: Auschwitz I
The tour to Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II – Birkenau can be booked at the many tourist points in Krakow. Duration is half a day.
.
