Auschwitz

On Monday we made a trip about 45 minutes outside of Krakow to the Nazi death camps at Auschwitz-Birkenau. The trip to Auschwitz was much anticipated; when our team was first organized we all expressed strong interest in visiting the camps. We were led on a private tour of the Auschwitz, then over to Birkenau, which was mostly destroyed before the camps were liberated by the Soviet Army.

Visiting death camps is an overwhelming experience. For those of you that have visited the Holocaust Memorial Museum in DC, you may have a good idea of the feelings and emotions you might feel. Confusion, sadness, anger, doubt, a desire for hope.

Just the number of people who were sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau is mind-boggling. The museum that has been set up at Auschwitz contains displays that try to help visitors understand the impact - long hallways full of piled up baggage, eye glasses, shoes, and hair that belonged to the prisoners.

Our visit was impressive and unforgettable. As we left Auschwitz we ran into a Rotarian from Lodz who had brought some guests to the site. It was interesting to talk with her. She was not going to tour the facility because she had done it before, but more importantly she expressed how difficult it is for Polish people in her generation who were born just before or during WWII to visit Holocaust sites because it was their parents, aunts, uncles, and grandparents who lived through it. Her comments seemed to make it all seem so much more real and personal. I am grateful for the freedoms and opportunities that I have been blessed with.