I only had 2 nights in Krakow, so had to get cracking with sightseeing. Although I don’t usually opt for organised tours, I did book in for one to Auschwitz to save from stuffing around with how to get out there & back. The tour was advertised as going for 6 hours including 3 ½ hours at the camps. While not a lot of time to see & take in everything, I thought it would be enough. However, we left at 3pm & the drive out there took 1 ¼ hours, & we ended up only getting 1 ¾ hours at Auschwitz & ½ hour at Birkenau. The guide there was great though. While we only got to see about a third of all the Museum, she revealed a lot about the history & was extremely respectful in doing so.
The feeling of being in a place where 1.1 million people were murdered was quite intimidating. I could myself going into self-protect mode to block out some of the negativity of the place. But, of course, I still got overwhelmed by the monstrosities committed there - the calculated & systemic annihilation of all these people as part of a bigger plan for complete genocide. How people were treated not as people but as insects to be exterminated. Their personal items collected & valuables separated for recycling. Even human hair was used to make cloth. People placed overnight in standing pens, four at a time, so they couldn’t sit down, then forced to work through the next day. Children sentenced to crimes against the state & executed - all innocent.
The feeling of being in a place where 1.1 million people were murdered was quite intimidating. I could myself going into self-protect mode to block out some of the negativity of the place. But, of course, I still got overwhelmed by the monstrosities committed there - the calculated & systemic annihilation of all these people as part of a bigger plan for complete genocide. How people were treated not as people but as insects to be exterminated. Their personal items collected & valuables separated for recycling. Even human hair was used to make cloth. People placed overnight in standing pens, four at a time, so they couldn’t sit down, then forced to work through the next day. Children sentenced to crimes against the state & executed - all innocent.
Once a survivor from Birkenau on reviewing photos taken of the site had said "there was no grass here, if there had been some, we would have eaten it".
I am convinced that every person needs to visit one of these places to understand what intolerance can ultimately lead to. The seed of intolerance that has the potential to lead to hatred lies within each of us. But we just don’t learn from the past - or maybe some of us just don’t want to. A sign on one of the doors, a quote by George Santana, reads "the one who does not remember history is bound to live through it again".
I am convinced that every person needs to visit one of these places to understand what intolerance can ultimately lead to. The seed of intolerance that has the potential to lead to hatred lies within each of us. But we just don’t learn from the past - or maybe some of us just don’t want to. A sign on one of the doors, a quote by George Santana, reads "the one who does not remember history is bound to live through it again".
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