Auschwitz. It’s a name that most of us know and recognize
as the largest death camp in the Holocaust.
Many of you, like I, have seen pictures of Auschwitz and other death
camps and shudder at the evil that took place from 1939-1945. On
January 28, 2020, I stepped foot into Auschwitz and was forever changed by the
experience. I and entered through the gates above which
hung a sign which, translated, read, “Work will set you free.” Everyone in my travel group sponsored by the
Candles Holocaust Museum in Terre Haute knew that this never happened—that work
was what killed many people there if they managed to escape death by
starvation, sickness, or the gas chambers.
As far as my eyes could see, there were barracks where the
prisoners lived and buildings where they worked. The enormity of the evil that created this
was overwhelming. Into every building
that we walked, we learned more and more about the tragedy that occurred there. I was in a state of shock until I entered a
room that showed videos of families before the Holocaust—videos of families
having fun together, walking on the beach together, loving life and family and
freedom. There were children on those
videos, doing things with their families that I do or plan to do with my own
children. Then I learned that they had
all died at Auschwitz. I learned that most
babies and young children were sent immediately to the gas chambers, and my
eyes welled with tears. We then entered
a room that contained drawings from the children who were old enough to work
there. They drew pictures of their
families. They drew pictures of
trains. My older child has drawn these
types of pictures, but they differ greatly.
The families drawn by the children prisoners were crying. In front of the trains, there were family
members being separated from each other.
I could not take this. It was too
much. I wanted to leave Auschwitz, but I
remained and learned more and more so that I could teach my students about the
experience.
On Thursday, January 30, we toured Auschwitz II-
Birkenau. Again, as far as I could see
were barracks or ruins of barracks, among other horrific things, like crematoriums
that had been destroyed by explosives just before the liberation. In the morning, it was cold and windy, but
sunny there. However, the afternoon
brought rain in addition to those elements.
Immediately, the people in my travel group from Candles dreaded this
weather, but we all soon came to the conclusion that we couldn’t complain. We
wore layers upon layers of clothes and held heat warmers in our hands to protect
us from the cold. We wore ponchos, and
some of us had umbrellas. We walked
through mud -mixed with ashes, as one friend told me- but our feet were
protected by footwear that fit us and kept us dry and warm. At the end of the day, we would leave, eat a
hearty dinner, and take a nice warm shower before sleeping in a bed that was
cozy and warm and spacious.
Those at Auschwitz had no such luxuries. Eva Kor, the creator of the Candles Holocaust
Museum in Terre Haute and one of the twin survivors from the camp, had worn a
thin dress that was too big for her and shoes that she likely outgrew before
the camp was liberated. She had to walk
from Auschwitz -Birkenau to Auschwitz I several days a week—walk two miles in
the mud, wearing a thin dress with no coat, no mittens or scarf, no hat-- all
while she was hungry because of the meager food supply that she was given. Plus, she had to undergo criminal medical
experiments there. She retired to a cold
barrack at the end of the day, slept in a hard bed, and felt what little warmth
her barracks provided from the cold outdoors.
And she was ten years old.
What did I
learn from Auschwitz? I learned some of
the extent of the evil in the time period of the Holocaust, yes. But I also learned that good prevailed in the
end. I was in awe that some survivors,
including Eva Kor, forgave Dr. Mengele, the SS doctor who had performed the
medical experiments on her,her sister, and other twins and, in doing so, healed
herself and unbound herself from the dark past.
I learned never to forget so that history does not repeat itself again
and to do whatever I could do, in my power, to bring awareness to the current
genocides that are occurring in other parts of the world. I learned that the Holocaust did not happen
overnight and that racism, prejudice, discrimination, and worse atrocities grow
slowly—in families, in schools, in towns and cities, and in the world, and that
if we can prevent those things on a small scale, they will not have the chance
to grow larger. That is what I am
bringing home to my students.
Finally, I
want to thank the
many people who made it possible for me to visit Krakow, Poland and Auschwitz 1
and 2: the generous donor who made it affordable
for me to go, the Putnam County Foundation for administering the grant, the North
Putnam School Corporation, and Dr. Singer.
I appreciate their support. Furthermore, I would like to thank Beth
Nairn, the volunteer trip organizer; the CANDLES staff; and Alex Kor for their dedication to planning the
trip that will be memorable forever.
Without all of these people, this would never have been possible for
me. I had wanted the opportunity to
visit Auschwitz since I was a student in the eighth grade learning about the
Holocaust, and I am forever grateful that I was able to visit it at last. It was truly life changing for me, and it
will hopefully be something that my students will never forget as well.
I will leave you with some other
pictures of my trip. These are the ones
taken by my camera (not my cell phone).
