Auschwitz - Birkenau

Today was a very powerful day as we visited the Auschwitz - Birkenau concentration camps. It is one thing to have learned about these places and events in class and through books, but seeing the camps first hand provided a completely different experience. We spent the first two hours at Auschwitz I where we went through the houses that the workers were held in and saw many different pieces of information to help illustrate what happened at the camp. We saw numerous pictures and material evidence of the horrible crimes that we committed. For me the most impactful sights were the amount of items that the Nazis collected from those arriving at the camp, they took all of their belongings and sorted them. We saw rooms full of dishes, brushes, clothes, shoes, glasses, and the most striking of all - human hair. Those being taken straight to the gas chambers had their heads shaved so that the hair could be sold and used to make nets and into other material. Everything that we saw was only a fraction of the total of amount of people that were at the Auschwitz camps. The Auschwitz camps were the largest out of all the concentration camps and it is estimated that about 1.3 million people were brought there. We saw the area where the prisoners were kept and were medical experiments took place. We also went into an enclosed courtyard where Nazi soldiers shot women and children and we left a bouquet at the wall on behalf of Drake University to commemorate those that died there. Everywhere you looked you could see the evidence that the concentration camps had been planned out to the last detail. Windows were covered that face the courtyard where the shootings took place so that those inside wouldn't see what was happening, and in the square where roll-call took place there was a small shelter for the officers conducting roll to be inside of during harsh weather. The camp was heavily guarded by two layers of barbed wire that was electrified and guard stands. We then entered the crematorium and saw the gas chambers and the furances that were used 67 years ago and the emotions were overwhelming.

We then took our bus to Auschwitz II - Birkenau which is the largest of all the concentration camps and as we arrived, the sight was uncomprehendable. The size of the camp was unbelievable and I had no idea the magnitude of Birkenau. We walked down the length of the camp in silence and I couldn't imagine what it must have been like for those that got off the train and made the same walk to the gas chambers. At the opposite end of the camp to the gate stands a memorial for all of those that died in the Holocaust. There is an inscription that is written in 22 different languages for the 22 different languages of the people that died. We saw the ruins of the gas chambers, there were 4 at Birkenau and each one could hold 2,000 people and within 20 minutes a total of 8,000 were killed. We continued on to see the brick houses where a total of 700 men were kept in each house. The living conditions were horrific and can not even be considered livable. We also saw the wooden houses that became more common when the Nazis realized that they were faster to build and used less material. These houses held 400 men each but were just as harsh of conditions and lacked warmth or sanitation.

Seeing Auschwitz is an indescribable experience but it is one that I am very grateful to have had. The courage of those that were brought to the camps astounds me and they all have my utmost respect. I asked our guide if any of them tried to escape and she said that about 800 tried to and 114 successed. She said that the prisoners were obident and they did as they were told. There is no way that I or anyone else will ever understand how this happened and how human beings could do something like this to one another but I will never forget what I saw here today and it has truly made a strong impact on me.