WARNING: This section of my trip is a heavy one. I have made the decision to post about this on it’s own and will continue the night portion of Poland in the next blog post. Auschwitz, as we all know, is a deeply important place in history, and should be focused on separately and given the respect it deserves. It is not written and should not be read in the same upbeat, silly spirit as my other blog posts. I recommend you don’t skip this post, because my experience touring Auschwitz and Birkenau was one of the most life changing things I have ever experienced.

Since it has come to my attention that some people may not know Auschwitz by name here’s a quick little history lesson for you:

Auschwitz was the main concentration camp operated by Nazi Germany during World War II and the Holocaust. AT LEAST 1.1 MILLION people were executed there. Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II-Birkenau (where I will be taking you in this blog post) are both located in Poland. Poland was German-occupied at the time of the war.

The concentration and extermination camp was operational from May 1940 until January 1945, when it was liberated by none other than the Soviet Army. Two years after the camps liberation, in 1947, the commander at Auschwitz for most of the time the concentration camp was operational, Rudolf Hoss, was hanged outside of the Gestapo quarters at the camp. Hoss was one of the only members of the SS to not deny his involvement in these heinous crimes and did express remorse leading up to his own execution. (I’m just stating facts here, not my opinion or feelings on the guy and am not giving him any pity).

Day 2 (continued): Auschwitz, Poland

We arrived at Auschwitz I. Auschwitz is generally talked about as one concentration camp but is really two separate sites. Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II-Birkenau. We all had no idea what we were really in for as we stepped off of the bus. We were all laughing and still getting to know one another thinking we were just about to take a historical tour. We were split into smaller groups and led to the entrance of Auschwitz to start the tour.

Quick side note: before we started the tour, a few of us had to use the restrooms, and you have to pay to use the restrooms there. Thankfully, we all just did the currency exchange while we were in the Czech Republic. I thought it was so strange that we had to pay to use the restroom. Never saw that anywhere before…

We walked through the gate with “Arbeit macht frei” at the top. “Work sets you free”. The energy and mood immediately shifted the second we stepped through that gate. The very gate that would haunt over one million people for the rest of their days. Honestly, Auschwitz I looked nothing of what I pictured and had seen from the movies and history books. It weirdly reminded me of a college campus. There were a bunch of brick buildings in rows. It made sense after our tour guide started and told us the camp was military barracks before it was turned into the Nazi concentration camp. I snapped one photo only to remember what it looked like for years to come, but it didn’t feel right taking pictures there, so I just have the one of those brick buildings.

You can read all of the Holocaust books, watch all of the movies, listen to lectures from survivors, and be moved by it and get emotional, but let me tell you, that is nothing compared to that feeling of walking through that camp. Everyone was silent. There wasn’t a single person there who wasn’t crying.

As we walked through the rooms in each of the buildings, we saw items that remained from the people who were kept here. There were piles and piles of shoes, hair that was shaved off of their heads, suitcases, glasses, etc.. The thing that really hit me emotionally was the pile of shoes. So many shoes… so many people… When we walked into that specific viewing room, there was the giant pile behind a wall of glass, and I looked down and saw the tiniest show, presumably from an infant. My heart broke eyes were fountains. I’m even getting teary eyed right now as I write this simply thinking back to it.

We were shown possessions of those who were executed. We were shown gas chambers and crematories. We were shown sleeping quarters where the Jews and sympathizers were kept and in that same building where we saw the sleeping quarters, we saw pictures lining the walls. Pictures of just a handful of the million people who were executed here. My heart continued to break.

When we finished walking through the buildings we were taken to a wall that was covered in memorials. This was known as the Wall of Death. It was a major torture and execution site during the Holocaust. Shivers ran down my spine and I was immediately more nauseous than I was from viewing the various items piled up in the buildings. The wall stood outside of Block 11. Each building was known as a block. Block 11 was known to be the place of punishments and executions throughout the Nazi control of Auschwitz.

We boarded the bus to start part 2 of the tour, and we were headed to Auschwitz II-Birkenau, which is just down the road. This is the concentration camp you are picturing in your head and have seen in the movies and textbooks. The whole camp is surrounded with barbed wire fencing, and there were the infamous train tracks running through the middle of the camp. On either side there were long wooden cabins in rows. Most of the original cabins were burned and destroyed after the camp was liberated, so these are replicas, but they still give you the same chilling feeling.

Inside of the cabins, it almost felt as if it were a barn for animals, and to think of human beings being forced to live in a place in, honestly, worse conditions than animals is just tragic. Forced to live in your own filth and feces. No true separation of where you sleep and where you go to the bathroom. Just rotting away as your friends and family members are being murdered in front of your eyes. Again, I did not feel comfortable taking photos here. It just felt disrespectful, so I didn’t take any.

It is considered EXTREMELY disrespectful to walk along the train tracks that run through Birkenau. You can bet we saw plenty of people walking along and taking those Instagram pictures though. It made me sick to see the blatant disrespect shown. It’s one thing to take pictures of them, but of yourself walking on them? Awful.

We all solemnly walked back to the bus in complete silence. No music. No talking. The only thing you heard was everyone trying to catch their breath from the emotional rollercoaster we just went on walking through the site of one of the most gruesome crimes in history.       

If you are ever in Poland, please take a visit to Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II-Birkenau. It is something you never expect, and your entire perception of life and even the history you were taught changes. It makes it real.

*If you believe I have misspoke or misrepresented anything in this post, please reach out to me so I can make any corrections. This experience really means a lot to me and I want to represent and give all information about the concentration camp as accurately as possible.

Continue reading my journey throughout my entire Contiki series!

Contiki Series
Part I: Why Contiki? Day 1 & 2: Vienna, Austria
Part II: Day 2: Auschwitz, Poland
Part III: Day 2 & 3: Krakow, Poland
Part IV: Day 4: Banska Bystrica, Slovakia and Budapest, Hungary
Part V: Day 6: Lake Bled & Ljubljana, Slovenia
Part VI: Day 7: Venice, Italy
Part VII: Day 8 & 9: Rome, Italy