Memorial and Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau

Where to start with this one... I never thought a museum could have such an effect on me, but then again this isn't just a museum, it's the site of a mass genocide. If we start from the very beginning taking into account that I was not having the best few days and was getting a bit worried about going here alone due to reading that it can cause emotional stress and it's best to have someone with you in case. I figured I'd probably not get the opportunity again and decided to go. I'm glad I did, this is a necessary experience as a human being and I'd like to put into words what happened on the bus because this is something I'll never forget.

The bus ride was unpleasant, crowded with locals and a driver who was blowing smoke into the bus. People got off at one stop and I moved to my own seat and started looking at the museum on Google Maps. Then out of nowhere, another passenger taps on my shoulder and points to a 2 zloty coin on the seat next to him. I look at him confused and then he picks it up and gives it to me. I ask if it's mine without taking it and he obviously doesn't understand English but keeps trying to give it to me so I take it, wondering how I could have dropped it. He gets off at the next stop and an old man moves to his seat. Once we start moving again, the man taps on my shoulder and gives me a 2 zloty coin. I stare at him and slowly take the coin as I realise what's happening. Everyone knows where I'm going and they are paying their respects. Suddenly I get very emotional as I realise the significance of this place and what it still means to people who live so close and travel the same route as so many Holocaust victims before them. I spend the next few minutes trying not to cry only to realise that the man next to me is crying too.Read more