Poland: Auschwitz

This is probably one of the most sobering places that anyone could ever wish to go to. I've read many nonfiction and fiction books on this place as I've always tried to understand how human beings could do such things to one another. I think- since leaving here- I've been left with more questions than answers. It's an absolutely mortifying place. One would expect it to be so, but it was even more so than I imagined. The only way in which it is 'interesting', is to see how carefully the sadistic Nazis planned this, the macabre systems put in place to murder people on an en masse basis and the lengths they went to to hide their crimes. Everything was planned for from the start for their Final Solution to the 'Jewish Problem'. For example, all the death camps were built in Poland and not Germany for fear of reprisal from the German civilian population if they ever found out. Poland was also selected as it had the largest Jewish community in Europe at the time (over 3mil Jewish people). They chose Oswiecim (the town in Poland germanised to 'Auschwitz') for its excellent train transport links to the whole of Europe. They cleared a 10km radius around the camps so no one would know what was going on ie the only people intended to leave the camp were the SS officers. The list goes on. As tragic as this place is, I do think it is almost a place that everyone should visit. Empathy, integrity and respect were completely lacking in this place and visiting this foul place reinforces the fact that EVERYONE is deserving of these attributes. Sorry, some of the images are sadly quite disturbing, but people need to understand the horror of this place so as not to forget one of the worst events of history.Lue lisää