The rain hasn’t stopped since I left Krakow. It fell like teardrops from heaven as if it shares the sorrow I felt in this place. As I walk the makeshift little avenue where the stories of some Auschwitz survivors were put in display, I tried to conceal the tears in my eyes. My heart succumbed to the stories of tragedy and hope of those who survived the horror of Auschwitz. Auschwitz is where humanity has forgotten its humanity.
I arrived in Auschwitz from a two-hour direct bus journey from Krakow. Krakow bus station8 is a 10-minute walk from the old town and it cost 13 ZLT* for a one-way trip. I left early as based on my research I can visit the camps by myself without a guide before 10AM. I wanted to see the camps in my own time and as a precaution due to the threat of Covid-19. The thought of being in a group made me feel vulnerable. However, I was told that going on a group tour was mandatory. Though I was initially disappointed, it ended up being for the best. Joining the tour has given me a more valuable insight of the stories of Auschwitz. The tour cost 70ZLT* when I visited in March 2020.
Visiting Auschwitz is something one must do during their lifetime. We all have an idea of what happened here, but to see the place with your own eyes will give you an in-depth perspective of the true horror of its history. Our tour guide has beautifully summarised what visiting Auschwitz means, he said: we were not just touring these camps for photos rather we are pilgrims. We were there to understand, learn, feel and reflect the horrors of what human beings are capable of doing against other people.
The two - hour guided tour started on the famous gates of Auschwitz bearing the phrase ‘Arbeit Macht Frei’ which literally translates to ‘Works Sets You Free’. The phrase is common in many camps built by the Nazis and has become one of the symbols of horror of the World War II. Upon entering the camp, we visited different buildings called blocks. Each block has its own stories. Each building is a standing witness to the testaments of survivors. The Blocks also house images and evidences of Nazis atrocities inflicted against the deportees. In some blocks, collections of confiscated personal belongings such as shoes and spectacles were put on display.
Other exhibitions show what each tattoos means. Most images on display show the suffering of people whose dignity were stripped bare for the reason that they belong to a different ethnicity, gender and religious group.
One of the displays that touched me most is the collection of hair that were shaved from the head of the deportees. What shocked me most is when I learned that some of the deportees shaved hair were made into linens or boots lining during the war.
I guess one of the most important parts of the tour is when we enter the first gas chamber used by the Nazis as part of their so-called ‘final solution’. The first gas chamber was made of concrete and its walls were blackened.
This is where deportees, many have never been naked in front of other people except their own spouses were asked to strip in front of strangers and to enter a room where they were compressed like livestock. It is where the worst violation of human dignity happened.
The gas chambers’ blackened walls were the silent witness of the cries and the horrors women, men, children and everyone who were misled up until the last milliseconds before they perished that they are only going for a ‘shower’. Until the last grasp of air, until the last of their lives, they didn’t know that they are going to be killed.
Block 11 and Luis Krakauer
There’s a brief moment of silence. I was the last one from our tour group to leave the hallway of Block 11 where pictures of people who suffered and died in Auschwitz were put on display. I felt that one tiny moment of solitude has allowed me to give them the respect that they deserve.
Block 11 is a notorious site for punishments and tortures. This is where the first gassing took place. This is where some prisoners were punished to stand for several days in standing cells without a break. These punishments were used to break not only the physical resilience of human beings but also to demoralise them. This is is where many deportees mostly women were shot dead on the Death Wall. The Death Wall has been rebuilt as a reminder and a memorial for the lives lost in Block 11.
One photograph that I will never forget in Block 11 is the picture of Luis Krakauer. For the Nazis he is only known as prisoner number 26239. There are no other accounts available about his life apart from the details I gathered with his photo. Luis was born on the 25 November 1921 in Hultschin a town located on the border of Czechia and Poland. He was deported to Auschwitz on the 31 January 1942.
Luis was wearing the well-known pyjama striped like prisoners uniform. A two triangle patched on topped of each other to make a Star of David was visible on the right side of his uniform. He was looking straight in the camera. His hair was shaved. He has a prominent nose and his lips were thin. His eyes carried a burden of sadness yet it was full of hope.
When I saw his photo, I imagined that he was thinking that one day he will walk out free regardless of how ruthless Auschwitz is; that one day this photo will just be a reminder of his ordeal in this forsaken place. His image and every other images displayed in the hallway of Block 11 seems to bear the question, what did I do to deserve this inhumanity?
Luis is one of the millions of Jews, Poles, Romas’, homosexuals, and Jehovah’s Witnesses who perished during the Holocaust. They were victims of man-made human tragedy that stemmed from hatred, divide and othering of people deemed as different from the rest of society. His picture among others is a reminder that those who were killed and tortured in Auschwitz are not just numbers but human beings whose lives were intentionally cut short by the people who vilified them.
Luis perished on the 15 March 1941. Coincidentally, 3 days before his 79th death anniversary, I was there standing in front of his photo and for some reasons his image is the one that hit me most.
This part of the tour ended by crossing the original barbed wires that have been touched by thousands of deportees who suffered here. As we cross it, I couldn’t help but reflect on the thoughts the deportees may have had whilst looking beyond these barbed wires. There were only two destinations for them far beyond this point, the gas chamber or freedom. Sadly, only a few managed to cross these fences for liberty.
I’ve seen some of the world and what I cherished a lot are the memories of people I’ve met on my travels. They’ve told me stories that later became mine to share too. I may have never met Luis in person but his memory among others who perished in Auschwitz will forever remain in my heart. Travel has an extraordinary way of connecting not just with people but also with the memories that they have left in this world.
We have no means of changing the bitter facts of history, but we have the capacity to make sure that the atrocities that many have inflicted to other human beings such as what happened in Auschwitz does not happen again.
For Luis and for all those who perished in the Holocaust, may we never forget.
We remember.
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