nomadicNewman: Auschwitz - Birkenau, Schindlers Factory

Not far from Krakow lies a small town called Oswiecim. Well at least that's what the towns Polish name is. Unfortunately it is very well known by its "other" name. You see, when the Nazis invaded Poland in 1939 they decided to rename all things Polish to "proper" German names... Auschwitz in this poor towns case...

Main gate entering the main camp at Auschwitz. It states "Arbeit macht frei"; Work makes you free.

I think we all know what happened here during those absolutely horrific years between 1939 and 1945. The entire Auschwitz complex would go down in history as the largest Nazi concentration camp. In the end an estimated 1.5 million people were executed in the Auschwitz - Birkenau camps...

Electrified fence that surrounds the entire camp

The death wall, where many shooting executions took place.

We took a guided tour rather than go it alone, which proved to be a great decision. There is so much to know about what went on here, I think all I can do is share some information here and hope to interest some in understanding more...

Here is a link to a great in depth article. Auschwitz

Auschwitz was chosen as it was very well connected by railroad from many areas and a few military barracks already existed. This would allow the Nazis to easily transport prisinors here from all over Europe. The entire area had a 40 square kilometer restricted perimeter area surrounding it so the Nazis could hide what they were doing from the rest of the world. This included German society, as they would have been just as appalled. The camp at Birkeneau (aka Auschwitz II) was built using the labor of the prisoners from camp I. Upon arrival, people, mostly Jews were told they are not there to live and the only way out is through the chimney

Pictures on the walls of the museum.

We had an idea of what it may be like there as we had been to Dachau concentration camp in Germany about 8 years ago. We were partially correct. Auschwitz has the feeling of a large prison with barracks and fences. You see where they would have roll call and march their prisoners to work. Everyone who left to work in the morning had to return to be counted at night, whether they were alive or not. Inevitably some would die working during the day and the other prisoners would have to carry the dead back to the camp from work. There is a wall where the Nazis would execute disobedient prisoners by shooting squad. A very twisted place.

Birkenau however is a little different. It lies about 3 kilometers away from the main Auschwitz camp. It is undescribably big and has much more of an extermination camp sense about it. It was built to accomodate 200, 000. You can see it's purpose right away. The railway tracks make their way through the main building right to the center of the camp. This is where the prisoners would disembark, get sorted, then, for the majority of them, sent immediately to the gas chamber. About eighty percent of arrivals at Birkenau were brought immediately to the gas chambers right from the trains - mostly women, children and the elderly as they were usually deemed unfit for slave labor.

Inside the gas chamber in Auschwitz I

Crematorium.

Train tracks leading into the Birkenau camp.

Rail car that transported prisinors from all over Europe.

Some blown up remains of one gas chamber at Birkenau. The Nazis blew them up to try and hide evidence of what they were doing.

Prisoners barracks at Birkenau.

Inside barrack.

It is all so overwhelming. In the museum you see some pretty shocking things. There is a section of a huge room that is full of human hair. Piles and piles of objects like shoes, bags and clothing confiscated as the prisoners arrived. Their precious belongings were taken from them and sorted and stored in an area of the camp which they called Canada, so called because Canada was seen as a land of plenty and prosperity.

I am so very glad we visited this place. It's been days since we've visited and seen many other things, but my thoughts are still there. I don't really know why - I mean besides the obvious. It just boggles the mind as to how this happened. It was a different time, different rules. No human rights like we have now... But it's still so chilling. This was no solution....

As terrible as it is, it is a part of history that should never be forgotten. At the end of our tour, our guide thanked everyone for their interest. They are genuinely encouraged that they get so many visitors every year, so that it is not forgotten.

Cry of despair is an accurate description.

Oscar Schindlers factory

Just on the edge of the former ghetto is the former Schindler factory. Housed within the factory is a museum dedicated to the Nazi occupation of Krakow from 1939 - 1945. The museum does a great job describing what life was like for Jews and Poles from the beginning of the German occupation up until the liberation.
A definite must see for WWII history buffs.