auschwitz.

Entrance to Auschwitz I

A memorial where many people died

While in Poland we took advantage of the fact that we were within traveling distance to Auschwitz. As most of you know Auschwitz was a concentration camp during the Holocaust (sorry, I know the link is for wikipedia). And a little background information for those of you interested.. This camp was established by the German Nazis in 1940. At first it was meant to be more of a prison/concetration camp for jews and local prisoners, but it soon turned into the largest death camp of this terrible time. So there are three, yes a whopping three divisions to the Auschwitz property. First we went to Auschwitz I, which held roughly 15,000-20,000 prisoners at most. That was our first stop. We walked around the grounds, through the exhibits, the three of us were at a loss for words. It was an odd feeling being where so many bad things had happened. Walking through the barracks which were more humane than Auschwitz II, if you can imagine. We walked through a gas chamber where the smoke is forever a part of the wall.

Map of Auschwitz Birkenau

 Then we took a bus to Auschwitz II - Birkenau, which as I mentioned earlier was the biggest death camp of the Holocaust. This camp is more in the middle of nowhere. The first one has homes and businesses around it, which was super weird. We walked around in the wooden barracks, they were originally horse stables. It was extremely cold outside while we were there also, so that put things in perspective as well.. Especially considering we had the proper clothing on and we were still cold. While walking around this camp it felt like it was never ending. This camp was built to hold up to 200,000 prisoners, and it is said to have filled up and been emptied 10 times. There were some rooms we couldn't even bring ourselves to walk through because the feeling of being in them were so haunting.

Ruins of Barracks

The rest of the day was just really heavy and haunting. Trying to fathom what has happened in history, and what I'd seen. I encourage you to learn more if you don't already know much about the Holocaust. Or if you ever get a chance, seeing Auschwitz is much worth your time.




Hope you're all well.
Until next time,
Paige