Auschwitz and Auschwitz Birkenau Visit

Upon arrival in the main camp Auschwitz, we participated in a series of tours around the camp and the Birkenau camp. We got the chance to visit different Blocks in, which each held its own secrets and history.

'Arbeit Macht Frei' - work will set you free. As the Jews thought that they were being sent to labour camps, the Nazi's (SS) deceived them further by creating the illusion of it not being a death camp - to not raise suspicion within them. Once inside the camp, many prisoners only lived a few days. They were put into a selection process upon arrival where the SS decided who was fit enough to work within the camp and who would be too young or weak for the work that needed to be done. Mostly young children, mothers and the elderly were sent to the gas chambers within hours of them arriving. The 'lucky' ones that were selected to work then had their heads shaved, all body hair shaved off with blunt razors, all possessions taken away from them and were cleaned with either boiling hot water or freezing cold. They were then put into striped clothing with wooden clogs for footwear.
When I visited end of January, temperatures were hitting -13 and colder - I was freezing in all my layers of clothes and thermals. It emphasised even more the suffering that they were put through as they were only in thin prison clothing. They tried to find and steal paper to insulate themselves in a poor attempt to stay warm. During the winter months, some of the punishments that the SS took advantage of - many were made to stand outside still from dawn to dusk bare footed, many died from pneumonia, or frostbite. They were also provided with wooden clogs as shoes which they had to oil up to ensure that they did not rub or become stiff and painful to walk in. 

We also went to blocks 10,11 and 12. Inside these were the prison cells, and one block had been made into a museum. In here were the thousands of shoes, glasses and human hair that had been found by the red army upon liberation. We were allowed to photograph everything apart from the human hair and inside the gas chambers, out of respect. We visited the only gas chamber left standing as the others were destroyed by the Nazi's in an attempt to cover all traces of their mass murders. It was silent with scratch marks up against the majority of the walls where people had struggled to escape from them, once they realised their fate. On the way out there was also a small number of crematoriums where some of the corpses were burnt by fellow inmates and turned to ash. 

Block 24a which was turned into a brothel. Previously this was used as housing for male prisoners before the Birkenau camp opened. I have already blogged in a  previous post about the brothels and the idea behind them.

This was a plaque that was in one of the museums, that shows how many people were murdered between the years of 1941-1945. Next to this plaque was also a monument of the remaining ashes that were found in the crematoriums/open land pits upon liberation in 1945.

1,100,000 Jews
140,000 - 150,000 Poles
23,000 Roma Gypsies
15,000 Soviet Prisoners of War
25,000 Prisoners from other ethnic groups

1,100,000 of these people died in Auschwitz, approximately 90% of the victims were Jews. The SS murdered the majority of them in the gas chambers.

These are a couple of photos that I took of the shoes and glasses that were taken from the prisoners upon arrival into the camp. There was two corridors of the shoes behind glass, and a huge box full of the glasses on show. Upon arrival they were also 'cleaned', where the SS washed them with either boiling hot or freezing cold water, and shaved any body hair from their bodies with blunt razors - this was painful for the prisoners. As well as this, they also shaved their heads and packaged the human hair into paper bags to be sent back to Berlin to be made in clothing for the SS collars of their uniforms. 

Between blocks 10&11, there is a small courtyard situated inbetween. The SS used this as an execution wall. Many Jews that we're being 'trialled' for crimes would be murdered here. Many women that had younger children were made to watch their children die before they were killed as well. In the camp now are memorial flowers and candles to remember the innocent that were brutally murdered for no reason other than being a Jew. Below is a photograph of the execution wall and the memorial reeves. 

After we had visited the Auschwitz camp we took a five minute drive to the Birkenau camp. Here we saw the vastness and size of the camp the Germans had built. In the wooden huts that the prisoners slept in, were two heat ovens which only could burn for two hours a day due to the lack of coal they were given. Many died of pneumonia and typhoid during the winter months.
There were bunk beds with 3 levels, 8 or 9 people would sleep on these wooden slats with one thin blanket between 2 of them. Disease was rife due to starvation in prisoners made them sick and with severe diarrhoea. Therefore typhoid and other diseases killed many. Some desperate prisoners also murdered others that were dying or weak/suffering so that there was more room and heat for themselves - survival of the fittest. 

We also saw the small cattle carriages that the SS transported the Jews in, cramming 100 people into a small carriage for weeks on end sometimes, with only a small bucket for water and another for sanitary use. Many died on the way to the camps. These carriages could only hold 8 horses, and they crammed over 90 people into them, this helps us to comprehend the squeeze and struggle. If people died during the journey, the corpses were piled up on top of each other and sat upon. They attracted flies and disease so this spread, helping the Nazi's with these sadistic murdering spree. 

Upon reflection, Auschwitz actually seems more emotional a few days after you've visited the camps, as whilst you are there it is too overwhelming to understand the vast scale of killing that went on. Looking back at my trip, you realise how lucky we are to have every small thing that we take for granted, such as shelter, clean water, and heat. I would encourage everyone to visit Auschwitz once in their lives, it may see a morbid thing to do but it will change your outlook on life as you know it.