Auschwitz-Birkenau, the camp which is so vast you can spend hours walking round and still miss so much of the history of this dreadful place. The gates were covered by the tent so that is why there is no photo of the snow covered gates which symbolise the whole camp in the modern day photographs. Of course we were there for the 70th Anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz, something which I felt honoured to attend, standing in the freezing cold for 4 hours was nothing, as we kept saying 'we are cold in 8 layers... imagine the poor prisoners who hardly wore any clothing at all' It really does make you feel emotionally unstable, just walking through this vast land.
The first time I went into Birkenau was at the 70th Anniversary, it was getting dark and the snow was falling down, I felt lost even though I was following hundreds of others on the way down to where the public area was. Looking from left to right, all I could see were hundreds of barracks, destroyed or still standing, the barracks, which held over a thousand most of the time, seemed so small when we walked past them, it just made me feel that they must of been like sardines in a tin, squeeze in tightly, with the Nazis hoping they would die because of infections and diseases spread by the closeness of each inmate when squeezed into the barrack bunks. The snow was freezing our feet, even with thermals on, we couldn't imagine how awful the winter season must of been for the inmates as they would have only wooden clogs if they were lucky enough to have them, if not a lot of inmates were barefoot.
We walked down the selection ramp, the feeling of utter loss took over, knowing this is where millions of lives discovered their fate, left or right... left or right, life or death. On this selection ramp, the SS doctors would choose if new arrivals would live or die, most of them being sent straight to the gas chambers. Families would be spilt up completely, women and children from the men, some would not see their families, friends and loved ones ever again after getting out from the cattle cart. How scared they must of all been when they arrived at this platform, with dogs barking and the smell of burning bodies in the atmosphere, not knowing if it was snow falling on them or ash. Having their families torn apart at the seams then to be marched away, either to the sauna or to the gas chambers... Not knowing if it would be water falling or gas. These thoughts over took my own thoughts, the feeling they must of felt not knowing what was going to happen, where their families members were... it must of been hell on earth.
We walked towards the Sauna and Canada, this was one of the two sorting areas (The other being Mexico) named after two countries which the Nazis believed held wealth and riches, something which they wanted, here mainly women inmates would spend hours and hours sorting through the belongings of the newly arrived transports, however this job was a wanted one, as here women could find food or small items to trade in their black market. We took photos of the destroyed area which was once Canada, this place was completely destroyed. This part of the camp is right opposite the shower, also known as the sauna, this was the real showers which were used by the prisoners who were selected for work. Their hair was shaved, their clothes taken from them and replaced by the striped clothing with the star of David on them, and soon tattooed with a number which would replace their name. This was one way the Nazis completely dehumanised the prisoners who arrived.
I am still unable to describe this place, as still I am at a loss for words most of the time, unable to put my thoughts into any sense of a sentence. This is probably why I believe everyone should see what hate and propaganda, finding an enemy to use as a scapegoat can do, even know in 2015, there is one religion that we blame, one race we always judge, why? What is the point? This is the same as what happened in the rise of the Third Reich, people need to realise that the right-wing are coming back and they will if we do not act now will rise into power and these things, could happen again, Genocides have happened after the Holocaust, there are still Genocides happening, and we need to do something to stop these from happening ever again.
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