Auschwitz

As it is Holocaust Memorial Day I can’t help but briefly contemplate my visit last year. I think with our own modern day distractions we have been complacent and therefore it has become far easier to dismiss the importance of an understanding for the holocaust and the impact it still carries within our modern world. It is difficult to comprehend the idea that such monstrosities happened only 65 years ago, a result of immorality and people’s fear to say no. Discrimination on this scale will probably never occur again however in its own small way has happened to each of us and its now our responsibility to fight this on going battle with



From talking and hearing of other peoples experience before my trip I was made to expect, understandably, the worst, a day filled with ongoing tears and trauma however for me, this was not the case. The haunting quality that still remains within Auschwitz is something I will never forget however the sense of spirituality and hope is something I surprisingly and instantly recognized, a comfort from a trip I had such preconceived ideas about. Yes the birds sing and yes the grass grows which reinforces the reality which becomes so easy to ignore, the scale alone of the camp being almost incomprehensible.

The ‘Schindlers List’ vision of Auschwitz is obviously something that we should never hide, however it should never frighten or discourage people into visiting Auschwitz, as it is ultimately a personal and subjective experience, and one which I will value forever. Its importance to bring history alive is both educationally immeasurable but also its harrowing impression brings our connection with humanity even closer, something which today needs awakening within our society.


The torture that was carried it is sickening and numerous yet the most significant horror for me was the precision and organization in which everything was carried out, whether this be the tattooing of Jews of disinfecting their clothes which echoed a factory, a sickening simplicity of replicating the same daily motions. A blank and formulaic way of coping it seems, a disengaged precisions that’s was chilling when walking thought its rooms and corridors.

There is an aspect of the holocaust which before my visit I had rarely even contemplated, which are the people behind the workings of Auschwitz. Understandably it is easy to make a generalization that these people are instantly evil minded however, sadly it cannot be that easy. These men and women were often brainwashed into thinking the Nazi mantra, and essentially were people just like everybody else but because of the pressure to comply there was no alternative, no way out. There is no way of condoning whatever happened in Auschwitz however my experience has caused me to think further of its consequences, its damage ever widening.

The holocaust’s effects were far and wide; as such religious hatred is hard to understand within our society today. It is hard to think that within those six million who died there could have a generation of minds which may have changed our world, culturally or scientifically however it is important that these 6 million Jews and Gypsies should never be forgotten, as their unifying struggle, although horrifying, made a lasting impact on our rules of tolerance and right against evil.

Hannah X