Day on Auschwitz visit
turned into an exhibit in which there were piles of belongings taken from some of the last prisoners to arrive at the camp: combs, glasses, pots and shoes as well as other everyday objects.
One of the things that struck us all the most was that one display was full of Jewish prayer shawls that the men had packed so they could continue to practise their religion wherever they were taken. These exhibits made us realise that those who arrived in these camps had absolutely no idea what was in store for them.
One room featured a large display case and inside were more than two tonnes of human hair, tied in ponytails and braids, which had been shaved off the heads of the corpses of the Jewish women after they were sent to the gas chamber. We discovered that the Nazis would send hair like this to textile factories to be turned into lining for jumpers and jackets. All of us were horrified by this news and the sheer disregard the Nazis had for the Jews.
While at Auschwitz we were also shown around the prison section of the camps, where we were told about some of the punishments used by the Nazis. In this section a large memorial had been set up next to the wall that was used by the firing squad. This was the only bit of colour in the camps except the endless rows of red brick barracks. We were also shown one of the last remaining gas chambers, which had survived the war because the Nazis started to use it as a bomb shelter.
After walking through it a completely different atmosphere surrounded our group, with those who had been talking and taking pictures now looking down at their feet in silent thought. It was strange that just the memory of the horrors that took place there could silence a group of teenagers.
We then headed to AuschwitzBirkenau, the concentration camp. We discovered, through testimonies from survivors, the horrors faced and the tragedies that occurred at this terrible place. As we were led down the long railway that split the camp into male and female sections we were overwhelmed by the number of people who were at the camp, especially the number of Jewish people – obvious by the large Israeli flags they were carrying.
It was their reactions to the camp that surprised us the most. Some were silently mourning those who had perished, while others were running up the railway to the exit, laughing at those who ran the camps, showing that they failed in their mission.
This was the first time that many of us realised that the Holocaust was not necessarily something to be upset or angry about, rather something that should be remembered and always learned from to prevent similar tragedies in the future.
The last thing that we did before returning to the airport was to take part in a memorial service at the end of the railway tracks in between the two gas chambers for all those lost to the Holocaust.
We listened to a series of poems written by people who experienced the Holocaust and a reading from the rabbi with us. At the end we were each given a candle to light and place on the tracks to dispel the darkness surrounding the camp.
By this time it was dark and we were all cold and tired and ready to go home. For many of us it was at this point that we began to realise just how difficult it must have been for the prisoners at the camp. We were all shivering while wrapped up in our warm hats and jackets and scarves but they had nothing to protect them from the elements.
We were tired from a long day of walking but we could just go home and sleep till noon, whereas they would be up and working at dawn the next day – and the next and the next.
We realised that, while we can learn any facts about the Holocaust that we want, we will never truly understand what it was like for those imprisoned in the camps.