Day 54 - Auschwitz Death Camp

*Content Warning*

Today's post probably isn't suitable for the young ones, people with weak stomachs, those of Jewish decent or anyone who knew people/family/friends involved in the Holocast etc.

Even how to approach this post has required a little bit of thought. I guess it is a matter of trying to present some content not as "look at all these wonderful happy snaps I took", but a chance to think and reflect upon some incidents in our past.

One of the main factors in coming to Krakow was for the Auschwitz Death Camps 60km away from Krakow - not as a tourist but to try to get a better idea and understanding of what is out here and what occurred. I'd been thinking about the whole evolution good and bad question for months now - see previous post
Its Evolution Baby.

This is the area that the film "Schindler's List" took place. It is hard to know exactly how many people were killed in Auschwitz but your looking at millions of people. I don't feel it is appropriate to come up with some philosophical bent and/or bring out the cliches.

The place itself was pretty fucken sickening. You can't really describe it beyond that and any attempt to articulate it is going to fall way short. The photographs and films of emanicipated people were unbelievably disturbing. Reminded me of the Australian POWs of the Japenese in South Pacific during WWII and how they were treated similarly - never have been able to take that. Most of the things I saw were pretty distressing and I hope I never see things like this again.

In a nutshell people were told that they would have a better life elsewhere so they filed onto trains like cattle, from all over Europe, arrived at Auschwitz train station where those were 'selected' to go to the death chambers. After being on trains for several days, they were told to strip naked and go into the showers so they could be washed. The showers were actually the gas chambers so right until the last, they were decieved. Right next to the gas chambers were the cermortiums where the dead, gased prisoners were burnt to ashes.

Those who weren't initially 'selected', were put to hard manual labour for several months until they were no longer fit enough for hard labour (generally poorly feed and clothed during these months so it was inevitable they would become unfit for work but the SS had gotten several months of good work out of the prisoners). Then they were told to take of their clothes for the showers and were gased.

This was the main gate at Auschwitz. The motto over the gate is 'Freedom Through Hard Work'



This was a 'smaller' gas chamber and would hold about 700 people. I'm standing in the doorway taking the photograph so gives some idea how brutually efficient the whole operation became. The 'larger' chambers would hold about 2000 people. After about 15-20 minutes of Cyclone B gas being poured into the room, everyone would be dead.



This is the cremortium right next to the previous room. You can see the rail tracks and the little contraption that would be used to feed the bodies into the furnace. A body would be ash in 40 minutes.



When people first arrived at the camps, they were stripped of everything, including all personal effects. These personal effects where then recycled for use by the SS. A great deal of the camp was destroyed by the fleeing Nazis to cover their tracks. Here are some glasses that were found.



Nothing went to waste. Before people where gased, they had their heads shaved and the hair would be made into german textiles. The photo here shows some of the hair and the textile under it.



In the same room, here is 2 tonnes of shaved hair left behind by fleeing Nazis. This wall was about 10m long.