This is my blog post from last Wednesday when I was visiting Auschwitz in Poland.
Today was the first day that we would be confronted with a truly heavy Holocaust topic. I knew that walking in Auschwitz would be a very emotion and real experience, but I was not prepared for the actual experience. The first thing that I was surprised by was how well constructed the Auschwitz compound was. My image of the compound was poorly, quickly constructed log cabins that inmates lived in, but instead I was greeted by structurally sound brick barracks laid out in a symmetric grid. The amount of planning that had gone into this complex of enslavement was not what my mind was ready for. The minor phycological details that the German’s planned into the complex to fully break the prisons was also something that I was not expecting. Walking into the prison cells in Building 10 and hearing that specific torturous uses of each cell was another level of awful I was also not expecting. However; the thing that finally took me over the edge was the display of the hair cut from the heads of women before they entered the gas chamber. This was partially a sanitary reason and partially a way to make burning the bodies easier, but worst of all the hair was then sold. German manufacturers would buy the hair by the pound to use to make fabrics. The whole process of this transaction deeply bothered me. That someone would buy human hair because it was cheap material is probably the least moral business decision that a company can make. Having a business ethics class at school made me think about all the things that had to be wrong with a company for this to develop into an acceptable business practice. The complete cultural anti-Semitism that had to be present for this to be a valid business transaction is mind boggling. Shaving the head was only the first step in disrespecting the dead. The bodies were then striped of any valuables, including gold teeth. The bodies were then shoved into a crematorium to be burned. Finally, the ashes were thrown into a pit so they could be hidden. This goes against everything in Jewish culture and religion of the belief that Jews must be buried intact to reach heaven. So not only did the Nazis kill the Jews they would disrespect the body in a way that the family felt they were screwed in the afterlife. Receiving all this information at once but me in shock for the rest of the day. I had never had such a negative, but informative afternoon in my life.
Seattle may have been a fun trip, but I nonetheless am somewhat envious of your opportunity to visit Auschwitz over spring break. As a history major, Auschwitz is a place that I have long wanted to visit. While the Holocaust Museum in DC does an adequate job of telling the story of the Holocaust, I do not think anything can compare with actually visiting one of the concentration camps. The Holocaust was an unthinkable atrocity and the horrible sights you witnessed, including the piles of hair, serve only to show the incredible dehumanization the Nazis subjected the Jews to. It still astounds me that any person could be so brainwashed as to commit such heinous acts. Luckily, Auschwitz and other camps today can serve as a reminder of the past and hopefully help to prevent future mass genocides.
Auschwitz is a place I have always wanted to visit, just because I feel as if it is something that is so important to see so that history doesn’t repeat itself. I was not aware of many of the facts you recited in this post, but is was great to read a reflection of your thoughts, especially when they were so fresh in your mind. This week I went to a Paterno Fellows lunch where the dean of the college recited specific personal stories from Holocaust survivors. They were absolutely mind blowing, and forced me to ask myself how the same specie as myself could act in such a vial and disgusting way. It is a hard topic to discuss and learn about, but like I said, a conversation everyone needs to partake in.