There should have been dark dreary gray clouds with rain threatening but it was a beautiful sunny day. Exactly what I didn’t want. It made it seem that more surreal.
After visiting the site of the greatest mass murder in the history of the world how do you describe the mountain of shoes, eyeglasses, suitcases, children’s clothing, human hair ? Maybe you could talk about the barracks conditions where inmates were crammed 8-10 in a space that was meant for 4 while rats visited at night and lice tortured them. The communal toilets that accommodated 20 people at a time where you were given 3 minutes to do what you needed to do in front of everyone ?
Block 11 was especially evil. The torture building. If you were told to report there for some tiny infraction it was a really good chance that you would never come out alive. There were rooms where people were purposely starved to death, suffocated or just put in front of the firing squad wall. Very organized and brutally efficient. The Nazis had it all down to a slick running killing machine.
On their best days they ran 10,000 thru the gas chambers and ovens. They ran out of places to dump the ashes so it was used as fertilizer.
This sadistic play ground had a brothel. In a moment of softness Himmler thought the deserving Sondercommando (Jews who manned the gas chambers and crematorium) should have a little entertainment before they too were put to death. What a guy.
Our guide spoke with great respect for the million plus people who died there in its 4 years of operation and I’m not posting pictures because you’ve all seen them. Or if you haven’t you should.
I went on this trip to bear witness.
When I get home I want to hug my children and grandchildren so tight that nothing could ever hurt them.
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