Let Us Never Forget

Today, International Holocaust Remembrance Day, marks the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camps by soldiers of the First Ukrainian Front of the Red Army.

Entrance to Auschwitz I. The sign says "Work makes you free."

Although there were more than 1,000 concentration camps run by Nazi Germany throughout its occupied territories, it is the camps known as Auschwitz that are most familiar to the world. Auschwitz was a complex of more than 40 concentration and extermination camps. Of the 1.3 million people sent to Auschwitz, some 1.1 million were killed or died of starvation or disease. Some 900,000 of those murdered were Jewish.

My group of 10 Americans and one Canadian visited Berlin and Oswiecim, Poland, to learn about the roots and history of the Holocaust. After a few days in Berlin, we traveled to Poland, where we spent several days delving into the history of the camps, getting in-depth tours, and going behind the scenes to talk with archivists and conservators who work to preserve everything left behind when the camps were liberated. We spent an entire afternoon with a local Polish guide touring the original camp, and another full afternoon walking the much larger Birkenau camp. The scope of this camp left us all stunned and silent as we tried to imagine the horrors and suffering that took place there. A gloomy and rainy day only added to the sombre nature of our visit. 

I have read dozens of books about the Holocaust, among them works by some who survived the horrors of the camps. I visited both of the main camps very briefly a few years ago. But nothing could have prepared me for the reality of life and death at Auschwitz. Even then, because Auschwitz has been preserved as a museum, the true horror of the camps is evident only in the imagination.

We did a service project at the original camp that consisted of raking leaves and reviewing English-language displays for damage and for correct word usage and punctuation, as they had been translated from Polish. These tasks, while mundane, made me feel that I was in some small way atoning for what others had done. Knowing that I have German ancestry made me wonder whether any of my relatives took part in the atrocities. My paternal great-grandparents had immigrated to the US before the war, but I wonder whether I have other, distant relatives who were there.

Entrance to Auschwitz-Birkenau camp

This was without a doubt the most moving, impactful and emotionally and physically draining trip I have taken. The one question that remained unanswered was "Why?" Why did this happen? Why did most of the German people turn a blind eye to the atrocities taking place in their name? 

Now, more than 80 years after the start of the war, those questions, despite years of study, still have no answers.

Our group leader asked us one evening during our daily reflection and discussion about what we had seen and experienced that day, what would we do with the information and experiences of this trip once we returned home.

Writing about my experiences in this blog, which I did previously and now again on this sad anniversary, and sharing a few of the many images I gathered, is my attempt to encourage others to never forget.

Each of the members of my group, whether Jewish or not, reacted differently to what we saw, heard and learned. Some explored their family history and looked for relatives lost to the Holocaust. Some, like me, simply have an interest in learning more. But the memories of this trip will remain with me forever. Members of our group still stay in contact.

Being so deeply immersed in the story of the Holocaust on several levels was incredibly overwhelming. We struggled to describe the trip. Saying that it was a 'great trip' somehow seems inappropriate. It was intense. It was overwhelming. It was mind boggling. And yet, what we saw is, in reality, a whitewashed version of the enormity and depth of the horrors that confronted millions of people. My mind struggled to comprehend the atrocities that took place in the camps we visited. I didn't shed a lot of tears, but what I saw and heard kept me awake at night. Even as we raked leaves and picked up trash, we were reminded of prisoners forced to work outside in all kinds of weather. We, someone pointed out, were dressed properly. We had suitable shoes and gloves. And if we got thirsty, we could take a break for a drink of water.

All of us who shared this trip are joined by a common experience. Our backgrounds, our family histories are different. But I think I can speak for all of us when I say that we will never be the same after this experience. 

Brick barracks at the original Auschwitz camp were previously used to house the Polish army.