birkenau.
The main gate to Birkenau.
Birkenau is situated about 3 km from the main camp at Auschwitz. My first impression was one of surprise at the vastness of the place. We approached through the main gate and that was a very disturbing experience, walking through the same gate that had led to the death of millions. Whole families, when they passed through this gate were within a few hours/minutes of their death. After journeys of hundreds/thousands of kilometres in rail cars packed together like sardines, old people, the sick, women, children of all ages and even babies - all had but a few moments to be unloaded at the ramp. Parted from their belongings and able loved ones by sadistic SS guards and Alsation Dogs, they were stripped, gassed and the their bodies cremated.
The unloading and segregation ramp.
Perhaps the fact that I have five grandchildren all under seven years of age brought it home more poignantly to me because I could imagine the terror I would be feeling to be see my family ripped apart and savagely treated that way. The sheer horror of those last few moments is beyond comprehension in reality. Those who were fit enough to serve some useful purpose were segregated at the ramps and placed in vast rows of wooden buildings; herded together like animals and fed less well. Around the camp is a long line of concrete posts, watch towers and electrified barbed wire.
The
electric barbed wire fences and watchtowers.
The rows of huts that held those fit enough to work.
The interiors of the huts.
Terry in solitary contemplation and prayer.
Both Terry and I were deeply moved by this place, even more so than the main camp at Auschwitz. Despite traveling a great distance to see this place, neither Terry or myself went to the gas chambers or crematorium - we didn't feel the need to. We had paid our respects by simply being there and we felt no desire to be voyeurs of every single detail of the genocide committed here. That decision also helped us comprehend our own reason for visiting this place. We now knew that our visit was to pay our respects to those who had suffered and not to be party to a sideshow of every gruesome detail. That was important to us both. If anyone considers visiting this place, I suggest you think deeply about the reasons why you want to do so.
We left in the early afternoon and returned to Krakow. I was in reflective mood during the journey. As we passed through beautiful agricultural areas, I tried to imagine how it would have been during the early 1940's when the Germans rolled through this territory with their Panzer Divisions, the unstoppable counter-attack by the vast armies of the Russians, and the thousands of lost souls who meandered starving and homeless after they were liberated from the hell-hole that was Auschwitz/Birkenau. I was unsuccessful but my trip was not meaningless. The visit made me more humble and helped me understand that my own life was full to overflowing of the things that had been denied the poor souls who had been forcibly sent here and decimated.
Here is a site that has lots of photos of those who met their end at Birkenau. Some of the pictures are really heart rending. 'The Auschwitz Album'.