The famous front sign translated as, “Hard Work Will Set You Free.”
Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it ~ George Santayana
It’s always been my traveling bucket list to see Auschwitz. From a very young age, I’ve always been fascinated and connect to this particular camp. I don’t know if it’s because my grandfather (whom I never met) received a similar demised in North Korea.
Auschwitz Concentration Camp is located in Birkenau, which is about an hour away from Krakow. The shocking part is how close the residential area is. I estimated the camp to be about 5 miles (give or take) away from the nearest house. It’s clear to me that there was no secret on what the Third Reich was doing. The Nazis took over Birkenau. The houses around the camp would house Nazi soldiers and their families. Higher ranking officers and their family would live on the camp very far away from the Jewish people. I’m not here to give a in depth history lesson, because I’m not the best person for that. Instead, I’ll be showing the photos of Auschwitz I and sharing the information I learned from the tour.
My tour guide showing the railroad passages to Auschwitz II and III. Towards the end of the war, Nazi soldiers were planning on expanding Auschwitz III.
Auschwitz is broken up into two main camps. The camps itself is free of admission. Everyone was given an ear piece, so we can all hear our guide better. There was a lot of people visiting the camp, which was quite uncomfortable. We would be squished into rooms and narrow hallways, which kinda gave me a glimpse on how the Jewish community was treated. Physically and mentally, this tour was hard to handle. It was hard to hear about children being killed and looking at all the visiting families in the tour. It dawned on me that I wouldn’t have made it in the camp. Early in the camp’s history, they would kill all women and children. Not until a couple years later did they decided to keep healthy women to work in the camp.
One of the many railroads that flows into the camp
In the beginning, the Jewish community was tricked into thinking that they were going to be moving into a Jewish town. They were given instructions that they could only bring one piece of luggage with them. When they arrived to Auschwitz, the Nazi soldiers took all their belongs, separated all the men and women. I couldn’t imagine how everybody felt coming off the train and being ripped away from your family.
Bunkers used to either house the Jewish community or Nazi Soldiers’ offices.
The Nazis made sure that all “openings” were boarded up. During the Summer, the Jewish people would have limited ventilation. In the Winter, there was no insulation.
Inside one of the bunkers. The hallway was narrow and filled with pictures of the Jewish prisoners.
Rows and rows of photos
Ashes found (after the liberation) in urn. It’s estimated to have 50 (or more) different people’s ashes inside.
A huge crowd looking at a photo where a huge crowd of Jewish people arriving at Auschwitz.
Glasses taken away from the Jewish community before execution. It was reported that the Nazis would send glasses (and other materials like: clothes, hair, pots, etc) to Germany. They would give it to the German community.
Crutches and such
Pots and such
Luggage. Each luggage would have a name (owner) and year of birth. The saddest luggage was a little boy who was only 5 years old. I didn’t have the heart to take a photo of it.
Shoes
A pile of hair. Some of the hair were turning white, because of the sunlight. (Sorry for the blurry photo)
The original wall where Nazis would execute.
A watch tower. At the time I took this photo there was no light, but every time I took a photo of this tower there is a random light. I don’t know where it’s from and the photos after didn’t have a spot of light. I have no clue what it is. Some people believe it’s an orb. I believe it’s just a goof.
Stats
I had a hard time emotionally with this tour. I found myself getting angry more than sad. I can’t believe this was happening. To this day, I’m still very upset by this experience. With that said, this was THE BEST (and most important) thing I’ve ever done in my whole life. I’m glad that I got to experience it first hand.
Auschwitz Concentration Camp Museum Website
Wow. Learning history from a book is certainly one thing, walking through it’s halls is another. What power a place can have. Thanks for sharing your experience- and I hope you did some self-care after visiting. Peace in ourselves, then peace in the world, right? Aloha.
I like that quote, “Peace in ourselves, then peace in the world”. That’s 100% true in my eyes. I went to the Holocaust museum in D.C. and even that was pretty traumatic in itself. But that doesn’t even remotely comparable to the actual camp. Just being there for four hours wiped me out! I was so drained and felt depressed for a couple of days. Was it worth it? You bet your fanny, it was! If I had to do it over, I would do it again.
while history is also fascinating to me, i don’t know if i could go through with that tour. just reading and knowing about it and the horrifying history of that camp is enough to keep me away. it’s so awful it almost doesn’t seem real yet it is. very sad that all those people lost their loved ones and their lives.
I’m not going to lie, it took us (myself and my two traveling friends) a couple of days to shake off the depression. Everything about my trip reminded me of the camp. Like, a overcrowded train reminded me of how the Jewish were shuttled from their home to the camp. Many places had their own statue to honor the Jewish taken away in their town. I mean, it’s everywhere. The Europeans may not talk about it, but there are signs everywhere.
Must be a sobering place to visit. I can’t imagine the feeling you get just walking around the place.The shot of all the shoes is just a bit mind boggling.
Very sobering. The creepy part was how eerily calm the surrounding forest was. It was so quiet. Very creepy, if you ask me.
Thats pretty horrible. Those are all glasses?! (cause it kinda looked like hair)
This reminds me of when I was at the Tuol sleng genocide museum in Phnom Penh. I think the collection of objects made this museum powerful.
Those glasses do look like hair. There was a huge room filled with hair, but I didn’t take any photos. I don’t know why…I just did.
I agree that the collection of objects makes any museum powerful. Especially, when you have similar things at home. For me, it hard to NOT imagine myself and my love ones in their (Jewish/whomever affected by genocide) shoes. I’m glad I did it.
I can’t even imagine what it must’ve been like to be there in person; I think I would’ve had a hard time, emotionally, too. Especially the photos — it makes it so *personal* seeing photos of the people who actually lost their lives there. Sickening. I don’t think Auschwitz would’ve been on my travel bucket list before this, but it might be now. I’m really fascinated by museums, historical places, etc., so I think I would like to have that experience.
On a lighter note: I’m having so much fun reading all about your European journey!
PS: My schedule’s pretty crazy right now, but let’s get together soon! xo.
You are right. The photos are hard to look at. I must’ve blocked it out of my mind, because I didn’t remember them until I looked at my camera. It’s hard not to get emotional. I remember seeing a lot of people (even guys) caring tissues. The hardest part was seeing families visiting their family members who died at Auschwitz. It’s like us visiting Pearl Harbor. It’s so surreal.
Thanks! I’m glad that you enjoy reading them. Girl, you gotta go Europe. Seriously!!! Best experience of my life. I want to go again, which I’m slowly saving money for. I think I might want to go by myself….unless…you wanna come!
No worries, we can meet up next week or the week after that.
That is so sad even to look at via a blog. I know you said you were angry more than sad, but wow. I cant even read the post and not get choked up.
Thank you for sharing though, that’s something I’ve never seen anywhere. Its important not to forget… even if it is painful to remember.
I totally understand. I mean, it was hard for me to even write it. I thought it was important to share it, because I will have something to remember it by. I don’t know if that make sense. I thought it was even weirder to see my tour mates buying from the gift shop. Yes, there are three gift shops in Auschwitz. They weren’t selling t-shirts or pens, but mostly books, DVDs, and snacks/drinks. I thought that was odd.
Thank you for sharing your visit to the concentration camp. I don’t think I’ll have the opportunity to visit myself. You know, I’ve seen Schindler’s List and that’s probably the closest I’ve ever gotten to the horrific event. But seeing your photos, and all the captions (the luggage, shoes, glasses, the people being pulled from the train and separated from their families!) really hit home to the reality and cruelty of the event! I couldn’t imagine what the Jews went through, how some of them even survived, and how one man could have brain-washed a nation into thinking this was right and just! Again, thanks for sharing. Your experience will stay with me forever.
@Lisa: You are very welcome. I’m glad to share my experience. It was surreal to be there. i’ve been wanted to visit this place every since I was a little kid. I have a love-hate feeling during the tour. I was grateful that I was there, but I was so mad at the same time. It was really hard to work out my emotions. In the end, I feel accomplished. I don’t know if that’s the right word. I’m glad I did it.
My mom was in Auschwitz and survived. My grandparents, all four of them and my great-grandparents were executed there. I am in the process of writing my mother’s memoirs but another thought has crossed my mind while viewing your photos. I wasn’t aware there was an urn of ashes on display. I would love to know what my grandparents looked like and had an eerie thought about all the DNA stored in the urn and beneath the ground in the death camps.
@columbo1es: Wow, that’s amazing. Your mom must be filled with stories and wisdom. I’m sorry to hear about your other family members. It must be hard not meeting them. I never got to meet my father’s grandparents and it hurts not meeting them. My grandfather met a similar faith in North Korea. My family doesn’t know when he died or how.
I in awe with your book. Good luck with your writings.
I had that same thought about the URN. I wasn’t expecting that at all.
Check out my blog. A story I wrote about my research connecting the dots to my mother’s past is there. It’s called Holocaust Revelations. I’m also on wordpress.
Thanks! Yes, I just read it. That’s amazing. I can understand why your mom doesn’t fully share those experience to the public, but I’m glad that she is open enough to share it with you. I can’t wait to read more…of course I know any good book takes time.
This was really some post. I’m of Jewish descent, and I’ve never really had any interest in visiting Auschwitz until now. I’ll have to make sure to add it to my bucket list. It really is great to know though that so many people of all backgrounds are visiting here. Hopefully more and more museums are set up to all the past genocides of the world, so people can fully appreciate how terrible they are and will stand more firmly against them in the future.
On a more random note, I love the photos you took! I’m looking around to purchase a camera for my upcoming travels, and I was wondering if you have any recommendations.
Hey @Doosterama:
That’s awesome that you recently have aspirations on visiting Auschwitz. I think everybody should, whether or not if Jewish or not. It’s important to learn history, then to repeat it. Do you know if your family were in any concentration camps? You should look into it. That would be a great bucket list idea!
On this particular post, I used two different cameras. I bounced in between my iPhone 4s and Sony Cyber Shot DSC-HX5. Another camera I use sometimes is the Canon Powershot ELPH 300HS. I’m currently looking to buy into a dslr, maybe a T3i or T4i…I haven’t decided.
I think luckily most of my family, at least immediate family, left Eastern Europe after the Russian Revolution. It definitely is vital thought to always remember the past. The Santayana quote sums it up perfectly.
Thanks for the camera details, too! I’m looking into buying a Canon G12, but I’m still not completely sold. I’ve heard the T4i is absolutely amazing, though.
Good luck on the camera search. it’s hard to find the perfect camera for your needs. I like to read CNET reviews. I trust them a lot. Also, I use YouTube. I like to see the camera up close. Let me know what you get or I’ll read it on your blog.
Hey Jen, some amazing and disturbing pics. Thanks for sharing your experience. I don’t know if I could have done that tour.
@Griff: Thanks for stopping by! Ya, the tour was pretty brutal. It was hard to continue on my trip, but it was something I need to experience. I want to say I’ve become a better person after this experience.
Great post. Here’s hoping we never revisit any of WW2 atrocities including Aushwitz.
@S: Totally agree. Thanks for stopping by and not only reading my post, but commenting as well. Thank you so much and I hope to see you again.