Burdened by the weight of its history Auschwitz concentration camp is not the destination that International Programs (IP) students usually visit on their long weekends. But at the end of February a group of five London sophomores traveled to snowy Katowice Poland to tour Auschwitz notorious for being one of the largest death camps of Hitler’s Third Reich.
The impetus for the trip came from a group consensus that a concentration camp though harrowing is something everyone should see at least once in their lifetime.
“It was admittedly a bit of a morbid trip Natalie Crommett said. But we kept telling people we felt it was just one of those important things we needed to see while we were here. We get to go to all these amazing places but if International Programs are all about learning from experiences then we should learn from the unpleasant ones too.”
Since the camp is largely left intact as it was during World War II the grounds have few displays making a guide essential.
The guide showed them the various prisoner blocks of Auschwitz as well as a gas chamber. Prisoners knew Block 11 as “the death block” from which none returned.
According to the guide an estimated 1.5 million people were killed in Auschwitz of which 1 million were Jews. Among the remaining 500000 were Russian prisoners of war Poles Gypsies homosexuals and Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Amy Brinkerhoff was struck by the atypical processes of the Nazis and their dehumanizing attitudes.
“The world has seen things like the genocide in Rwanda and 9/11 which are horrible but they were different Brinkerhoff said. This was not an act of passion— it was calculated and procedural. The Nazis lied to them so smoothly and went to such lengths to avoid panic.”
Brinkerhoff cited examples of Nazi deception which included telling people they were going to the showers when they were actually being led to gas chambers or refusing to split up mothers and their children to avoid alarm.
Crommett corroborated this by explaining that our knowledge of their manipulation detachment and strategy is heavily lacking. The group never knew that many people bought their own train tickets to Auschwitz under the pretense that they were going to a better place.
This became acutely clear to Hannah Perrin once she stood in a gas chamber.
“I looked up and saw the holes where the poison was dumped and tried to imagine what it was like [being lied to like that] Perrin said. It was underground because they didn’t want other prisoners to hear the screaming.”
Amidst a plethora of horror stories the guide stopped at the site where a Catholic priest took the place of a young man who begged for life when a guard sentenced him to death in a starvation cell. The young man survived the Holocaust and lived to be 94 years old.
“It was the only time I got teary-eyed in the tour Crommett said. I’d prepared myself more for the horrific things to see people at their lowest and all the evil man is capable of but even in the middle of that was this man who was capable of decency and courage.
“The group also toured Birkenau or Auschwitz II down the road from the first camp. Birkenau is much larger and its function was to corral as many people as possible until their extermination in one of the gas chambers and crematoriums on site.
“Birkenau freaked me out more Alanna Lindley said. Despite what happened inside the buildings in Auschwitz looked like nice brick houses on the outside so it had a mask of humanity to it. They wanted to pretend it’s OK but at Birkenau it is what it is. They were just there to die and were treated like less than animals.”
While touring the camps Brinkerhoff said she was bothered by tourists taking photos smiling in front of such solemn sites. Their cab driver remarked that some visitors can be quite irreverent causing some people to push for Auschwitz and Birkenau to be shut down to the public. Though they saw the disrespect to the victims and their families the group disagreed.
“We’re the last generation who can talk to Holocaust survivors Crommett said. As it fades into history and we won’t be able to talk to people who lived through it it’s especially important to have concentration camps there as physical evidence and constant reminders.”
Lindley considered that people may want to close the camps because they are ashamed of what we have done.
“That concrete is still tainted she said. It’s a testament to the evil in ourselves which is the very reason we don’t want to see it— but it’s also the very reason we need to see it. I can’t even imagine people doing those things but I’m no different from one of those guards. They were people.”
Lindsey said taking in differing opinions and convoluted explanations made for an emotionally draining trip and that it continues to color her thoughts daily.
“Now when I walk through the [London Underground] sometimes I think ‘what if we were to take the Tube thinking we were going to Leicester Square and someone were to gas us while we were in there?'” Lindley said. “No one would know it was coming. That’s sort of what happened to them— some bought their own tickets. It’s like a bad dream.”
Recalling the trip brought up more questions than answers for Perrin but she values the experience.
“I have a hard time making sense of it [but] everyone should go; it’s a reminder of what happens when we lose appreciation for each other Perrin said.
After they returned to London, Crommett acknowledged that her thoughts regarding Auschwitz may never truly be clear.
I thought I’d have this ‘aha!’ moment but now I know that may never come Crommett said. It’ll continue to influence how I think and what I do but the trip made Auschwitz even more unfathomable.”
