Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II Birkenau

We visited Auschwitz on Friday. First to Auschwitz I and later took the short drive across to Auschwitz II Birkenau. It’s difficult to know what to write to describe the experience of being within the compound of both camps. For me personally, there were several images that I’d been accustomed to through history lessons and the media. The mountains of shoes, suitcases, spectacles and human hair are as shocking as the word 'shocking' can describe. The ‘Death Block’ at Auschwitz I evoked thoughts of torture and cruelty that simply go beyond the realm of humanity. The often screened image of a line of twins walking through the camp to take part in Mengele’s cruel experiments came to mind at the spot were it had been filmed.




At Auschwitz 11 Birkenau, the image of the Tower is the first thing you see as you drive to the small car park. Once inside, the railway yard is as it was and it is easy in the mind’s eye to see a steam locomotive with a long line of cattle trucks being unloaded at the same spot. The walk along the line towards the Crematoria then passes the location where tables were set up and so many had their fate decided there and then. Standing where thousands of new arrivals had been directed either Left or Right to decide whether they went immediately to their death or began to try and survive is a humbling experience.






I recently read this debate on the future of Auschwitz as it crumbles away through time. Having been there, I am convinced that the site needs preserving for our future generations. Apart from the site of the murder of approximately 1.1m innocent people, Auschwitz also represents the story of the Polish nation's struggle to exist against the best combined efforts of Hitler and Stalin. Of all the countries involved in the 2nd World War, none lost as high a percentage of its population as Poland. When we as a nation, rightly still honour those who gave their lives in the 1914-18 conflict, it must surely be too soon to decide on the fate of this monument.




nick