Auschwitz is known worldwide for the atrocities committed there by the Nazi's in WWII. What most people don't know is that a majority of the killings occurred at Birkenau (Auschwitz II) about 3 kilometers from Auschwitz. The full extent of the Holocaust could be witnessed at Birkenau. The scale and size of the camp was absolutely shocking. It took us an hour and a half to walk half way around the camp. Deeply unsettling were the photographs posted throughout the camp of people being unloaded from train cars and separated from their families on the way to the gas chambers. You could easily see where decades ago the SS officers had stood and decided the fates of their prisoners. Visitors are allowed to walk freely around the grounds and in most buildings...the latrines and sleeping barracks were haunting. The victims at Birkenau were treated like animals--that is very clear for anyone visiting the grounds. The sleeping barracks consisted of 2 hallways lined on either side with 2 levels of wooden shelves. These 'shelves' would have been lined shoulder to shoulder with women and children or men and their only comfort would have been provided by the wet straw they laid upon or the small furnaces placed at the ends of the building (judging by the size of the furnaces and placement they would not have provided much warmth).
A wave of nausea flooded my senses as we walked up to our last sight at Birkenau...the pond. (See photo above) And the description in our paper guide told the story: piles and piles of ashes were dumped in this spot from the nearby crematoriums and later mother nature filled it with water. Walking past the pond we approached a small forest... thousands of women and children and men not fit to work were sent to the crematoriums immediately upon arrival and because of the large numbers this forest served as a waiting area for those who thought they were being sent to a bath house. In the photo there are a few who are actually smiling...
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