On my last day in Kraków, I finally made it out to Auschwitz. I went out with a small, late tour in slightly rainy weather, which just made the trip seem more depressing. I thought it was appropriate. As we arrived, crowds of people were leaving, making the camps very desolate during our tours.
Our guide didn’t even want to walk us around the second camp for a fear of lightning. In the end, some of us insisted so she walked us out, and the rain eventually stopped. However, I thought that one of our goals was to see the big memorial at the end of the camp, and we still missed it.
I’ve heard some people complain about their tours of the camps, where the guides try to change the story and make the Poles seem more like victims. Our guide was not like that. She was unapologetic and simply told us what she knew. Some of the story that stuck with me was their restoration efforts. We saw evidence of this at both camps, scaffolding and tape that we weren’t supposed to cross. Not only were costs prohibitive, but they couldn’t be sure what condition to restore the buildings to, since some had been altered after the war.
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- Auschwitz Gate
The iconic gate at Auschwitz I.
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- Auschwitz Gate
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- Rows of Barracks
Some of the buildings serve as museums, each containing different items, history of the camps, or examples of what the rooms looked like during the war.
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- Tallises
After the war, many of the Jews' possessions were found at the camps. They are on display inside the buildings.
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- Suitcases
The bags are labelled with names, addresses, and birth dates. This is one reason why so little survived in many families. People packed their most important possessions, only to have them taken away. The survivors never got those items back.
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- Buildings
Some buildings had different purposes. A couple were used as infirmaries, another was called the "Death Block". This might have been the laundry, but I could be wrong.
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- Gas Chamber
This was the original gas chamber. It was a test model for those built at Auschwitz-Birkenau.
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- Barbed Wire Fences
These surround the camp, along with guard towers.
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- Auschwitz-Birkenau Train Entrance
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- Train Tracks
Looking back towards the entrance after walking well into the camp.
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- Train Car
A solitary car sits on the tracks, an example of what brought prisoners to the camp. It is piled with rocks in remembrance, like a gravestone.
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- Remains of a Gas Chamber
The Nazis tried to destroy the evidence of much of what they had done.
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- Memorials
One each in Polish, English, Hebrew, and Yiddish. "To the memory of the men, women, and children who fell victim to the Nazi genocide. Here lie their ashes. May their souls rest in peace." The gas chambers are just behind these to the right.
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- Barrack
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- Rows of Barracks
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- More Barracks
The wooden barracks are no longer standing, only the chimneys remain. There are more chimneys than remaining barracks at the camp.
The URL of this post is http://idogenealogy.com/blog/2012/11/14/auschwitz/.
All photos and content Copyright 2012 by Banai Lynn Feldstein.
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