The horrors of the Holocaust are well known and documented.  Nevertheless, the knowledge of what occurred, and seeing a depiction of those events so brilliantly captured on film in Schindler's List, does not prepare you for the wrenching experience of standing in the very place which was home to such tragedy and evil.

Roughly 7 million people, 6 million of them Jews, were murdered during the Holocaust.  Of that absolutely staggering number, 1.5 million (of which more than 90% were Jewish) lost their lives at Auschwitz, the largest of the Nazi death camps.  In addition to the Jews, the victims of Auschwitz included Soviet and Polish prisoners of war (which included children), Gypsies, Jehovah's Witnesses, homosexuals and criminals.

Reflect on those numbers for a moment, and think of the individuals--fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters--behind those numbers.  It is both staggering and sickening.

"Arbeit Macht Frei," or "work brings freedom", is the inscription that sits above the main gate at Auschwitz.  Established in 1940 as a concentration camp for Polish political prisoners, Auschwitz later became the death camp for people from all over Europe.

When sent to Auschwitz, most of the Jews believed that they were being relocated to new homes, and packed accordingly.  Of course, once they arrived (to the extent they survived the inhumane journey in cattle cars without food, water, or sanitary facilities) they were stripped of all their possessions, which were collected for use in the Nazi war effort.  At Auschwitz you can see thousands of suit cases--all carefully labeled by their owners with their name and address--giving sad testimony to the deception played upon the Jewish people.

Barbed wire is, of course, everywhere.

The barbed wire was electrified, often providing inmates the only escape from the horrors they were suffering on a daily basis: suicide by throwing themselves upon the wire and hoping for a speedy death.

The Nazis were meticulous record keepers and, until 1943,  took photos of every inmate.  Every inmate, that is, that was deemed fit to work.  Immediately upon arrival at Auschwitz, doctors would give a cursory look at each of the new arrivals, summarily deciding whether each person was fit to work.  In this way, each new train load was divided into 2 groups: one that would be forced into slave labor, while the other would be marched directly to the gas chambers.  For those who were murdered immediately, there were no photos or registration--just near immediate, and anonymous, death.  Some of the most haunting photos are those of children--heart wrenching, as you can see the fear in their eyes and faces

When lead to the gas chamber (a small one is seen here), the Jews believed they were being led to the showers.  Soap was even distributed, and the gas chamber fitted with (nonfunctioning) showerheads, all in the interest of realism.

Once the Jews and other prisoners were murdered in the gas chambers, the bodies were brought to the attached crematorium where the bodies would be burned.  Often, the capacity of the crematorium could not keep up with the number of people being murdered in the gas chamber, in which event bodies were thrown into huge piles and burned outdoors.

2 Go Maps / 2 Go Actual Itinerary / 2 Go Photos / 2 Go Home Page

PLEASE E-MAIL US. . . WE WOULD LOVE 2 HEAR FROM YOU!

[email protected]

©1999-2001  Kelly and Rich Willis.  All rights reserved.