Auschwitz: a living symbol of man's inhumanity to man
(Vatican Radio) During
his Apostolic Voyage to Poland, Pope Francis, following in the footsteps of his
predecessors Pope St John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI, will pay a visit to
the Auschwitz-Birkenau memorial and museum, the site of a former Nazi
concentration and extermination camp.
Lydia O’Kane is in Poland
with Pope Francis. She visited Auschwitz earlier this week, and filed this
reflection:
A steady stream of young
people passes through metal detectors, making their way to Auschwitz I and
through the infamous entrance that reads “Arbeit macht frei” — “work sets you free”.
Many will have studied at school the horrors that took place here at this
former Nazi concentration camp, but it is only by coming to this place of
terror that you can truly comprehend the full extent of the brutality that took
place.
From 1940 until the camp was
liberated 1,100,000 people were murdered at Auschwitz, the majority were Jews
but also Poles, Roma, as well as other nationalities, perished. The prisoners
here were housed in red brick block buildings, in sub-human conditions. Walking
past them from the outside today they don’t give much away about their terrible
past, but look closer and there are clues. On one of the blocks an inscription
reads, “Extermination of European Roma”. One of the most infamous blocks here
at Auschwitz is Block 11, also known as the death block. It was here that
Franciscan priest Fr Maximillian Kolbe was killed by lethal injection after
offering up his life for a complete stranger.
Continuing along the guided
route there is the stark realization that you are walking in the footsteps of
those many prisoners whose fate was sealed the moment they came here. The
silence is deafening as one’s imagination tries to make sense of the stories of
suffering and hardship.
All around the camp there are
photos and drawings that tell a story more poignant than any words, drawings of
prisoners being shot or living in overcrowded conditions. One picture even
shows the camp orchestra playing as the prisoners file past; it was thought
that the music would keep them in step and make it easier for them to be
counted by guards.
At Auschwitz II Birkenau the
horror escalated. Seventy-five percent of people who came here were murdered in
the gas chambers. It is in this purpose-built concentration camp that you see
the train tracks that led only one way and those chilling carriages that
transported terrified men, women, and children here following their
deportation. Only the fittest survived; the elderly, handicapped, and even
pregnant women were given no chance at all.
A photo outside one of the
blocks, taken by the Nazis, shows the guards making the choice between who
lives and who dies. An old man is among the group waiting to hear his fate. One
guard can be seen talking to the man and his shadow is clearly visible in the
sunlight. In this dark outline the guard’s hand is raised. It is pointing in
the direction of the gas chamber.
This tour ends in the worst
of places here, the gas chambers. They are now only burnt out shells, having
been destroyed by the Nazis just before the Soviet liberation. As you stand
looking at them, it’s very difficult to even contemplate just what happened
here and as you look around you can see people just standing and staring in
disbelief.
The mood of the young people
has altered now from what it was at the beginning of this tour, it is a more
sombre tone befitting what they have witnessed. As they leave, there is a
chance to look at the monument and plaques in 20 languages which commemorate
the victims of Auschwitz Birkenau, a living symbol of man’s inhumanity to man.
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