Auschwitz-Birkenau - Hannah Cohen

Poland Day 7:

On Sunday, March 25 we were transported into a vessel of death. One point one million Jews died during the four and a half years of Auschwitz's existence. Auschwitz is a satellite term represeneting all of the surrounding concentration camps. If hell exists than it lays beneath the grounds of Birkenau.

The iconic traintarcks 

Red Wagon of torture 

We began the day at Auschwitz Two, also known as Birkenau, where people were sentenced to die. Chance of survival was almost immposible. The silent blue sky murdered the souls of millions. Jews from all over arrived at Birkenau by train. As I touched the traintracks where my people traveled, I thought of their pain. I felt like a shattered piece of glass. We than saw the famous red wagon which has become a symbol of torture. The more we walked around Birkenau the more it looked like a park. The campsite did not deserve beauty for it was a place of evil. We saw what looked like a pool of ice, but beneath lay the ashes of the dead. We later went into a building called Canada, it was where the Jews were stripped of their belongs and identities. The sad fate of almost all of these Jews was the gas chamber. As a group we entered Birkenau and as a group we left. We walked out so easily, something the one point one million Jews were unable to do.

Pool of Ashes 

The entrance to Auschwitz One

The second half of the day was spent at Auschwitz One. Auschwitz One was where the Jews not sentenced to immediate death were sent and impriosned. Many of these Jews also died due to starvation, suffication, and gas chamber. Unlike Birkenau, Auschwitz One was not kept original, but rather turned into a museum. Imagine being on a college campus where death was a daily occurence, well thats Auschwitz One. Here we saw a book which held the names of all the indentified Jews who lost their lives. Another exhibit that was very meaniful was the box of women hair. In the box lays origial hair cut straight off a womens head. The very last thing we saw was the crematorium, where the dead bodies were burned. The Nazi's has no respect for Jews in life and in their after life.

Auschwitz has become the symbol of the Holocuast because of the vast amount of deaths.  Being there left me with an unplesant feeling marked with evil and fear.

Having hope of life was like finding a pool of water in the desert........
Do you think you would have had the hope to continue living if you were the lone member of your family still alive?