The train ends here….

I will start by saying that I have had the privilege of visiting and experiencing many beautiful and less than beautiful spots on this earth in the past few years. Spots that are filled with hope, love, intense scenery, mystery, history and yes, even sites of pain and suffering. However nothing, and I mean nothing could have prepared me, or those around me, for what lay in store for us today. Today I visited evil in its purest form……Today, I visited Auschwitz Birkeneu Concentration Camps.

In my 39 years on this earth i’ve (like anyone) have experienced my share of joy, sorrow and heartbreak but never have I ever felt such a sudden wave of emotion overtake my mind, body and soul. The atrocities that took place on the grounds before me is beyond definition and the very thought of them could bring (and has) a grown man to his knees.

As I walked up to the main gates of Auschwitz 1, I was greeted by the those now world famous entrance. The words “Arbeit Macht Frei” which is German for Work sets you free scroll overhead.  The dull overcast morning a fitting tribute to the my location.  As I stood there, still in disbelief of where I was, a cool shiver runs through my body. It was as if Hitler himself was breathing down my neck. If there were ever actual gates of hell, this was it.

As I walk through the gates I see the rows and rows of buildings running in both directions. Our tour guide takes us from there and leads us in and out various barrack style buildings, piling fact after fact on us. It was almost too much to bare some times. Although I hear the horror stories with my ears, it’s the pictures and artifacts that hit home. You can hear something over and over without much emotional affect but when you see those pictures, you see actual people and you  then put a face to the horror. There were glass cases filled with personal possessions of the victims. There was everything from a pile of eye glasses to luggage and from toiletries to human hair. Yes…….human hair!  Over a ton of it! One room had over 80,000 shoes removed from victims after their deaths. This represent 5%, yes only 5% of the people murdered there from 1040-1945.  The numbers are absolute staggering.  1.1 million Jews, 140-150,000 Poles, 23,000 Roma (gypsies), 15,000 Soviet prisoners of war and 25,000 from other ethnic groups. These numbers are just estimates and it’s believed to be higher.

Most areas didn’t allow flash photography and some no photography at all.  We walked through basements where people were punished by having to stand up in a small dark cell for days on end. There was one story of a man being led to his execution and started to beg for his life stating he had small kids. Up on hearing this, another man yelled to take him instead and the guards did just that. The cell of which this man offered his courageous gesture was there with a giant candle sent by Pope John Paul. He was also canonized into sainthood.

The tour of Auschwitz I ends at one of the crematoriums or as most of you know them as, the showers! The big empty concrete room was were many were led to with the promise of getting a shower. However once inside, the Zyklon B pesticide was dropped into the rooms killing them all. From there, they are thrown into the incinerators. As I walked around this room, the silent screams of a million souls is deafening.

After a quick break, we head just a few minutes drive over to Birkeneu, Auschwitz II. This camp is far bigger in circumference and is responsible for an even higher number of the deaths.  At one point in 1944, there were over 90,000 people there at once. As you walk up to it, the gates are once again haunting due to the train tracks that lead right through them. The reality of where those tracks are going and why is hard to comprehend. We visit the different wooden buildings where the inmates were held and got a glimpse of what life was like for them there. We walk to the very end to the remains of the crematoriums are and take it all in. The train tracks that led through the gates end here. It was the end of the line in more ways that one for these folks. I sat on the ledge where the track ends and pause to think of what the significance of that meant. This where my title for this blog got it’s name.

Walking back through the grounds, seeing the endless brick chimneys  left from buildings that had fallen gave me a final view of how very big this place was.  I had made it through the entire tour with a little more knowledge of the place, a little heavier on the soul and most importantly, a little different of a man than I was just a few hours earlier. It was a humbling experience I will never forget. Although I don’t think I will, or ever could go back there, it was something I needed to do and now it was crossed off the list. I recommend it to every one.

I was struggling to put todays feelings into words for this blog tonight so I went for a walk through the town square here in Krakow to clear my head. With the giants cathedrals lit and chiming on the hour, the square offers up music by different musicians in different spots playing for change.  The echo’s of people chatting and laughing fill the night. I look around at all the beauty of this place and then think of what I saw today. We must remember that with all the tragedies in this world, the earthquakes, Hurricanes, floods and so on, the very worst atrocities endured by humans were at the very hands of other humans. We must learn from the past and educate ourselves for the future. There is enough bad in this world brought by earth itself, lets not cause pain to our fellow man for our own satisfaction. You may not agree or like how others live but you do need to coexist with them so why not do it in peace? We often get caught up in every day lives and our thirst for the next gadget the only thing propelling us forward. trust me I know, I do it myself. However I then get back on a plane and go somewhere new. Some where out of my comfort zone and I once again quickly realize what’s important. If you make your lives less about material things and more about experiences, you will live a much more meaningful and happy life.

That’s all I have regarding todays tour of Auschwitz. I will write about my time here in Krakow and the things i’ve been doing in a separate blog. I wanted to give today it’s own place on my website as I did with my picture album on Facebook. Check them out.  Cheers and good night. Dobranoc

The World is Vast and Meant for Wandering