Auschvitz-Birkenau, Poland

Auschvitz was the largest concentration and extermination camp used by the Nazis in the II World War.

Actually the most important museums of London, Frankfurt, Berlin, Amsterdam and the concentration camp of Sachesenhausen have helped me to understand the History since I started to visit them 4 years ago...

However, I knew that an important piece would be very important to finish this puzzle. It was exactly Auschvitz...

I have planned to go to Auschvitz a few years ago and then this day has come!

When you are in Auschvitz you do not think about past or present, you do not think about money or job, you do not think about your future and debts...

My experience was that a deep peace and profound serenity came to me and made me stay in silence for hours and hours while I was there...

I spent almost 4 hours visiting Auschvitz and Birkenau...

It was a time of reflection and pause...

It was a time to think about life and death...

When you are there you do not focus on anything...

You only focus on the pictures that you see, the barracks that were rebuilt because the original ones were burned by The Nazis as soon as they realized they were losing the war. However, some of those original barracks are still there and they show you exactly how they were...

The same happened with the gas chambers...

The gas chamber was rebuilt in Auschvitz but you still can see the ruins of the Birkenau's gas chamber that has been left...

I really got impressive by observing and understanding the strategy of The Nazis...

They covered the windows of some of the barracks(block 11)and then they could kill the prisoners in the wall and no one wasableto see what was going on. No one could see and no one could hear because they used a kind of "silent bullets".

By the way, between 1941 and 1942 the world did not know and notice what was going on in Auschvitz because The Nazis' strategy was "perfect"....

From 1943 the world started hearing the rumors...

But during these horrible years they were able to deceive the world...

They separeted and selected children and mothers and immediately they were led to the gas chambers because if the mothers went to work (even though they had physical condition for that)and the children were put apart from them the children would cry and so in order to avoid the noise and calm down the "atmosphere" they killed both (mother and children)...

The crematory and gas chamber were at the end of the concentration camp and then as soon as the newcomers got there they would not be able to see what was going on...

Those ones who worked in the crematory did not have any contact with the other prisoners and so The Nazis were able to keep everything in secret and "order"...

The horrible physical condition of the prisoners and because The Nazis mixed the groups and nationalities made the situation be much worse and then the prisoners did not have enough strenght to fight or organize any rebellion due to these huge diferences about languages, culture and physical condition....

For me one of the most interesting thing has to do with the heating...

They had heatings in the barracks but they were just in order to show to the Red Cross and make them think they were "following" the rules for having prisoners of the war. However, the heatings were never used and the Red Cross was "deceived" when they came to investigate the concentration camp..

Once the Nazis knew the war would be over they started burning and destroying everything. They did not want to leave any evidence of the crime and genocide...

As a result of that nobody knows the exact number of people who died in Auschivtz. They mention 1,5 million people.

Most of the Nazis escaped...

One of them...

It is Josef Mengele who was responsible for selecting those ones who would be working and those ones who would be going to the gas chamber...

And also he was the famous doctor who made a lot of human experimentation by using twins and the prisoners...

He escaped after the war and lived in Argentina...

However, after some years he drowned and died in one of the beaches of Brazil, Bertioga.

The memorial of Auschvitz-Birkenau is something that shows us how the History may be repeated...

The memorial of Auschvitz-Birkenau tries to teach us what human beings are able to do against other human beings...

Being there has made me think about what we value and what we do not value in life...

It has made me reflect and do a break & pause about my own life and attitudes...

I left a small stone on the memorial because it is exactly how the Jewish culture does in order to show respect for those ones who have passed away...

It has made me think about all and thank God for the privilege to put my feet on the History and learn so many lessons and especially grow as person...

I hope I encourage you by writing this text and may be able to make you think about your own life...

Fabio
Krakow