It’s day 3: We’re in good spirits and in-flow as a group. Only, this morning, we all know where we’re going, but many of us don’t know what to expect seeing or feeling…
Krakow’s Umschlagplatz:
We start the day by visiting Krakow’s Umschlagplatz. Like Warsaw, this central square saw the movement of Jews from the Ghetto onto trains bound for camps. From the original architecture around us, we’re introduced to Ghetto personalities who acted in subtle defiance despite Nazi rule on their doorsteps.
More recently, this city square has become an artistic memorial commemorating the people who passed through here from 1941-1943.
Birkenau:
Our tour of Birkenau starts at the location of a single boxcar, out of sight of the camp’s entrance. “Touch it,” Richard tells us. With this, we immediately realise how hot it must have been inside, for those who would have arrived on a June day, 80 years ago.
From here, we set off by foot towards the camp. Emerging from its infamous archway, my first impressions were of its enormity. Buildings and foundational remains stretch in all directions. Movies and books don’t do it justice, nor can they capture the unmistakably heavy energy that’s present here.
Parallel to barbed wire fencing and twinned railway lines, and beneath tall wooden sentry posts, we walk the camps’ length. Along the way we paused for insights and appreciation of subtly installed memorials. Here Richard explained the process new arrivals took, the camps’ strategic layout, and the deceptive naming of camp sections, including (to my horror) “Canada” and “Mexico”.
At the farthest end of the camp, sits what remains of the gas chambers, where we learned the mechanics of mass extermination. The scale is overwhelming. Over a million people were systematically marched down the stairs that still remain today.
Back towards the entrance, near the women’s dormitories, we paused together for a moment of reflection.
Auschwitz:
Creatively designed, the approach to Auschwitz begins with a long narrow incline, channeling visitors upwards, like livestock to slaughter. Opening onto a deceptively peaceful field, it’s only steps further where we paused for a group photo beneath the infamous iron gate. The archway above cynically reads “Arbeit macht frei” (work makes you free).
Through our local guide, we learned of the collective and individual horrors that happened here. Disguised as orderly workers’ dorms, where upbeat live music once playing near its entrance, Auschwitz reveals the dehumanising process of systematic murder that took place in the camps.
After visiting several buildings, now housing informative displays, and Yad Vashem’s Book of Names, with heavy emotions, we concluded our tour by filing through a gas chamber and crematorium.
As much as Birkenau seems sprawling and industrial, the Auschwitz displays of personal belongings -in the thousands- are horrifyingly tangible. These will stay with me forever.
Back outside and on the coach to Krakow airport, we verbally processed what we’d just seen. It will, however, take time to fully grasp the questions raised and emotions experienced on this important trip.
