Auschwitz

2007 marked the second time I trekked the globe and took a trip to Europe. It was quite extraordinary to say the least, but this was expected. The countries: Poland, Czech Republic, and Germany; each of which had their own stories to tell to the world, more specifically our family for the short time we spent between their borders. I'm not going to spend my time writing about the whole trip. Such a story would end up becoming an epic novel. But I will spill some information about the most influential destination I encountered.
All it took was a quick stroll between blocks 10 and 11. 'The Death Wall' stood solitary, staring at the crowd that was taking pictures or leaving it flowers and sympathy. This one spot was responsible for thousands upon thousands of deaths inside Auschwitz. Now I understood the significance of the camp from the start, but when you stand on the same ground that so many people did before they gave up their innocent lives, you understand everything just a little bit differently.
Auschwitz isn't as large as you would imagine. The main area of buildings was only about 1/2 mile squared. The gas chambers stood just outside the holding facitilies' gates. The conditions that the prisoners lived in were absolutely atrocious, more than likely crawling with disease and sickness when 30 people are crammed into an area built for 5. To think that this was the smaller of the two Auschwitz camps was mind blowing.
Not far from the first Auschwitz was its second camp, Auschwitz II - Birkeneau. Birkeneau was about 10 times the size of the original Auschwitz camp. This camp was the largest extermination camp throughout the Holocaust, killing more than 1 million prisoners, mostly being Jews and Poles. The prisoners were kept in horse stables and starved beyond imaginable. The ruins left today show nearly 1 million visitors per year of how cruel the Nazis were.
Though it wasn't the most heartwarming place to visit, it was definitely worth the trip. Actually seeing what these people had to go through does so much more than any book or video on the subject could possibly do. It really opens your eyes to what our world has seen. This can easily be put on the list of places you have to visit.