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| -Short Attention Span Theater- |
| Into the despair and beyond it: a visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau |
| 2009-08-27 |
| Rachel Lucas ...The first thing that surprised me about Auschwitz is that it is not as secluded these days as I expected; it is just right there in what seems like the middle of this average small town. It's just...right there. It is jarring. There's a busy parking lot about 50 yards from the "front door," a lot that is filled with buses and cars and noisy tourists. Again. Very jarring. Admission to what they now call the Auschwitz Museum is free. The "museum" itself is actually, interestingly, contained within several of the old barracks. But first you have to pass through the most infamous gate in history. It was the most surreal moment of my life so far. There I was, facing this object I've seen in a thousand photographs, something that is attached in my mind to pure abject despair and massive human suffering...and it's surrounded by happy tourists. It was almost like a Disneyland version of hell, just because of all the serene camera-toting tourists. Of which I was one, I know that, but still. It was nothing short of the worst case of cognitive dissonance I think I'll ever experience. Also, I was surprised by the small size of that gate. I always imagined it much larger, more imposing. As it is, it's even a little creepier than I anticipated. It looks like something a person might put at the entrance to their garden. Goddamn Hoess. Do you know the origin of the slogan on the gate, Arbeit Macht Frei? Rudolf Hoess, head of the camp, had been in prison himself during the 1920s, and supposedly remembered that the only thing that had gotten him up in the morning during that time was the knowledge that at least he could work. So as he said later, he copied that slogan from the gate at another camp to help ease the experience of the prisoners. Clearly, he was a humanitarian. I will tell you right now. The entire day was a series of intensely upsetting moments of terrifying and physically sickening clarity, interspersed with tears, laced with disbelief and all surrounded by a general feeling of impotent but genuine strong rage.... Go read it all. |
| Posted by:Mike |
| #1 I had a similar experience when I went to visit Dachau with my brother about seven years ago. It was shocking to see how pretty the little spot where the Soviet POW's were executed as soon as they came in (no records were kept of their names or even how many were killed, they were that inconsequential). The sunlight through the leaves was so peaceful, but even there...there were no birds singing. I had seen birds all over Germany, but there were none there. It was like even they realized what happened there and wanted no part of it. Just like Ms Lucas, we both kept walking through the complex, tears welling up but refusing to fall, angry, disgusted and heartbroken. Once we finished the tour, we couldn't get out of there fast enough. Only after we were "safe" at our hotel outside Stuttgart could we even start talking again. I don't remember all that much about the rest of my trip to Germany. I'll remember that day forever, though. (Thanks for posting this, Mike.) |
| Posted by: Cornsilk Blondie 2009-08-27 18:16 |