Common Sense Reborn

²⁰“All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for their sins will be exposed.” (John 3:20)

“Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” -George Santayana

“Arbeit Macht Frei” these iconic three words greet visitors at the main entrance to Auschwitz I. The slogan of German Concentration Camps translates to “Work Makes One Free”. But as our tour guide explained, in her solemn, thick Polish accent, work never set anyone that entered Auschwitz free. Only death set them free, and most of the labor, mixed with the horrific living conditions led those who were not killed in massive gas chambers to die from that work.

What a dark time in modern human history. Visiting Auschwitz in person was surreal. From the gloomy, rainy weather, to the that haunting accent of our tour guide, today was a trip that I think many in the world need to make. To walk the grounds where some of the most despicable acts of evil were committed is spine tingling. There were several places along this tour where the hair on my neck and arms was standing on edge. One of those spots within the camp was a room that displayed over 4,000 pounds of humans hair. The Nazis had other prisoners cut the hair off the heads of women killed in the gas chamber. When Soviets liberated the camp, they found hundreds of these “hair bales” neatly packaged and awaiting shipment to German processing firms where the hair was used to make everything from stockings for sailors, to stuffing for pillows. We were not allowed to photograph the exhibit, but nearly 80 years after Auschwitz was liberated, the hair still remains intact and well preserved.

Within the museums are collections from the prisoners of the camp, ranging from a massive room of ceramics, to tens of thousands of shoes.

Auschwitz-Birkenau is spread over two different sites. Auschwitz I takes you through the main working camp, allows you to walk between “Block 10” and “Block 11” to the “Execution Wall (Black Wall)”. Block 10 is a building where women were experimented on, many castrated, many murdered just to be used for autopsy practice. Block 11 was a torture cell for the brave few that attempted to raise an uprising during the camp’sfive years of operation. In Block 11, there were suffocation rooms: where no air flow would lead some to suffer a long, drawn out death with no food, water, and eventually, no air. In between these two buildings was the “Black Wall” were thousands of prisoners were executed by gunfire, the least cruel form of death by the Nazis.

Our visit of Auschwitz I concluded with the silent walk through of Crematorium 1, the first gas chamber. Thousands of unsuspecting prisoners were led to an area they believed was where they were to be showered off after their long journey. It was here that the Nazis dropped canisters of Zyklon B and thousands would suffer a horrific death. Our tour guide bluntly stated that the gas would “only take 12-15 minutes to kill everyone” in the chamber. But what she did not explain is the pain, torture, and cruelty that comes from death using a gas agent. Those poor souls suffocated, drowning in their own vomit and saliva. Gagging, clawing, writhing for an exit. Men, women, and children alike.

After leaving Auschwitz I, we headed in somber silence to Birkenau, the “death camp”. Located on 300-acres of land, pictures did not do that site justice. Much of Birkenau was destroyed by the Nazis once they realized the Soviets were defeating the German Army. Crematorium II-V, were all destroyed in an attempt to hide the atrocities committed in those structures, but the truth was preserved through eye witnesses accounts, and now the whole world can walk these hallowed grounds where 1.1 million souls were mass murdered, where their ashes were scattered as fertilizer and along pathways; dumped into nearby rivers; and, finally, collected as a lasting memorial to the many lost by evil incarnate.

I invite you to click all the hyperlinks throughout this post to further explore the history of Auschwitz. And I implore you to never forget these horrors. One moment I will never forget from this tour was when our guide asked us if we were soldiers. We could not deny it. She nodded with a solemn understanding in her eyes. And she said “once again the peace of this world is shattered by one madman’s murderous campaign”. And once again the world sits idly by as it happens.

Why Nazi soldiers committed such evils is part of our case study. Even before Geneva Conventions were established, the Germans had “Laws of Armed Conflict” that forbid the murder of non-combatants. But none of that was followed when the “Final Solution” was implemented. And because of that, thousands of German soldiers carried out illegal and immoral acts upon unarmed, helpless citizens, over and over again. And all that is left is what we have in history books, films, and for the affluent of the world to visit in person, an experience I invite all who can afford to do, to keep the memory of those lost alive in our hearts and minds.