Auschwitz-Birkenau

On Saturday Adrian, Iza, Samuel, Kayla and I went to Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp.  It was an experience that I will never forget.  First we went to Birkenau (Auschwitz II) and walked around for 2.5 hours. 

We went inside some of the barracks and saw the horrible living conditions these people endured.  Some barracks were made of brick and others were former stables.  Each one housed 300 people. 

 There were separate buildings with drop toilets.  It was incredible to see how massive the Birkenau camp really was.  I would have never imagined it so big.  

In this camp there are also four huge gas chambers that could each house up to 2000 people at one time.  Retreating SS to try and hide the evidence of their crimes and blew them up.  You can still however see the large changing room where prisoners were told to undress, the gas chamber, lifts and rails to push the bodies along and on the surface we can see the large hollows left by the furnaces. 

Then we went to Auschwitz and took a tour of the former Polish Army Barracks.  We were each given a set of headphones so we would all be able to hear the tour guide with out trouble.  Then we started off the tour through the gate saying Arbeit Macht Frei (Work Brings Freedom).           

First we went into Block 4.  We learned a lot about how the location of Auschwitz was important, as it is very centrally located in Europe.

We saw a diagram of the large gas chambers and crematoriums at Birkenau and learned about Cyclone B.

In another room we saw just a fraction of things found at Auschwitz and Birkenau that had been taken from the prisoners.  Because people didn’t have any idea where they were going they often packed almost everything they had especially valuables.  

Shoes

Glasses

Brushes

We also went into Block 11 (The Death Block).  This was a prison with in the prison.  Prisners were completely isolated from the rest of the camp.  The basement has several different cells; we saw a starvation cell, standing cells and dark cells used as harsh forms of punishment. 

Between Blocks 10 and 11 is The Execution Wall where people were shot, the courtyard is enclosed by high walls and the windows of Block 10 and 11 and bricked off the prevent witnesses. 

The last thing we did was tour the small gas chamber at Auschwitz.  It was very eerie to walk through.  In places you can see scratches in the walls from the people who suffered and died there.

Touring this camp was defiantly and experience I will never forget.