Post by romfordkev on Dec 5, 2008 0:03:46 GMT
Following on from my post on Auschwitz I, this is the second part of the tour that I undertook in October 2007.
This is KL Auschwitz II - known more commonly as Birkenau.
Birkenau was the largest of all the camps used for mass extermination - and covered approximately 425 acres.
Buildings numbered over 300 - but today, only 45 constructed of brick and 22 of wood have survived intact.
These are my photos.
ON ARRIVAL:
THE "DEATH GATE" LOOMS OVER THE VISITORS CAR PARK AND SMALL COUNTRY ROAD.
A METAL SIGN CONFIRMS THAT YOU ARE NOW AT BIRKENAU.
INSIDE THE CAMP - A WELL WORN PATH LEADS YOU THROUGH A HOLE IN THE FENCE TO THE WOODEN CAMP HUTS.
TURNING AROUND, THE "DEATH GATE" LOOKS MENACINGLY DOWN ON THOSE BELOW.
LATRINE BLOCK - HOUSED IN A WOODEN HUT CONVERTED FROM A FIELD STABLE.
CLOSE UP OF A LATRINE - NO PRIVACY OR DIGNITY HERE.
PRISONERS WERE FILED IN AT ONE END OF THE HUT AND HAD TO USE THE TOILETS ON COMMAND IN A TIME SPELL OF MERE SECONDS.
FAILURE TO DO SO MEANT PUNISHMENT.....OR DEATH IN THE GAS CHAMBERS.
IF QUICK ENOUGH, PRISONERS WOULD GET THE CHANCE TO THROW WATER ON THEIR FACES AS THEY EXITED THE BLOCK.
LITTLE DID THEY KNOW THAT, DUE TO TERRIBLE SANITORY CONDITIONS AND INADEQUATE DRAINAGE, THEY WERE PROBABLY WASHING IN THEIR OWN SEWAGE.
EXITING THE LATRINE BLOCK, THE GUARD HOUSE IN ALL ITS GLORY.
INSIDE A WOODEN BARRACK:
THESE WERE ORIGINALLY BUILT AS FIELD STABLES, HOUSING 52 HORSES.
ONCE IMPORTED INTO THE CAMP AND MINIMALLY MODIFIED, THEY WOULD ACCOMMODATE UP TO 1000 PRISONERS AT ANY ONE TIME.
CHIMNEY FLUES WERE BUILT INSIDE THE HUTS - THE SMOKE PASSING THROUGH THEM WAS SUPPOSED TO HEAT THE WHOLE INTERIOR.
PRISONERS FOUGHT TO SLEEP NEAR OR ON THE FLUE TO KEEP WARM - OTHERS SLEPT UP TO 8 IN A BUNK, IN RAT INFESTED CONDITIONS.
BIRKENAU WAS SUBDIVIDED INTO VARIOUS CAMPS BY ELECTRIFIED FENCING.
PEERING THROUGH A FENCE, ONLY THE HEARTHS REMAIN FROM MANY OF THE WOODEN HUTS - DESTROYED BY THE NAZIS IN AN ATTEMPT TO CONCEAL THEIR CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES.
LOOKING ALONG THE ELECTRIFIED BARBED WIRE FENCING.
IN THE BACKGROUND, QUARANTINE HUTS STRETCH INTO THE DISTANCE.
A FLORAL TRIBUTE LAYS ON THE VERY TRACKS THAT LED TRAINLOADS OF JEWS DOWN TO THE "UNLOADING RAMP" - AND ULTIMATELY, FOR MANY, ONE OF THE SIX GAS CHAMBERS BUILT.
STANDING ON THE TRACKS, IN THE SHADOW OF THE "DEATH GATE".
THE NEXT 3 PICTURES WERE TAKEN FROM THE LOOKOUT POSITION OVER THE MAIN GATE.
ONLY NOW CAN YOU TRULY REALISE THE SHEER SIZE OF BIRKENAU.
THE FIRST 2 PICTURES ARE WHERE THE MENS CAMP, FAMILY CAMP FOR JEWS, CAMP FOR HUNGARIAN JEWISH WOMEN, ROMANY CAMP AND PRISONER HOSPITAL WOULD HAVE BEEN.
PICTURE 3 SHOWS THE BRICK BUILT SECTION OF THE CAMP - WHICH HOUSED THE WOMEN PRISONERS.
THIS IS THE VIEW DOWN ALONG THE UNLOADING PLATFORMS (OR "JUDENRAMPE").
AT THE VERY END OF THE LINE, DOWN BY THE TREES, STAND THE RUINS OF THE GAS CHAMBERS AND CREMATORIA II & III.
THIS IS POSSIBLY THE BRACKET THAT AN SS MACHINE GUN WOULD HAVE BEEN FIXED TO, AS IT WATCHED OVER THE SELECTION PROCESS ON THE PLATFORMS BELOW.
ALTERNATIVELY, IT COULD HAVE JUST BEEN USED FOR A SPOTLIGHT AT NIGHT.
LOOKING ALONG THE PERIMETER FENCE, SENTRY POSTS POSITIONED AT REGULAR INTERVALS.
THE FOLLOWING 2 PHOTOS SHOW THE CAMP FROM THE WINDOWS POSITIONED HALFWAY UP THE TOWER OVER THE MAIN GATE.
BACK OUTSIDE THE CAMP:
THE SENTRY POSTS BY THE ROADSIDE.
VIEW OF THE WOMENS CAMP THROUGH THE FENCE.
LOOKING BACK TOWARDS THE RAILWAY LINE AND THE MAIN CAMP AREA THROUGH THE BARBED WIRE.
THE LAST PICTURE OF BIRKENAU'S MAIN GATE BEFORE I BOARD THE COACH BACK TO KRAKOW.
CONCLUSION:
Overall, the visit to Auschwitz & Birkenau was a very thought provoking experience for me.
I have watched countless documentaries, thumbed many books on the subject of the Holocaust - but you don't get a real perception of the enormity and indeed, the horror of it all until you actually see it "in the flesh", as it were.
Unfortunately, because of the huge number of visitors on the day, our guide was unable to show us everything.
Time constraints - after a 90 minute journey each way - meant that we only got about 3 hours in Auschwitz I and even less at Birkenau (about 1 and 1/2 hours I think).
For this reason, I never saw inside the Women's Camp, the ruined crematoria or the ash ponds of Birkenau - into which the Nazis tipped the remains of millions of people.
I didn't see Auschwitz's Block 10 - where Joseph Mengele experimented on twins and handicapped people, as part of his sick programme of genetic and anthropological research either.
But I will.
Eventually.
Maybe I'll even travel to Oswiecim by train next time - and just maybe, I'll manage to see everything at my pace and in greater detail.
There is one thing of which I'm certain, however.
I'll remember the Auschwitz "experience" for the rest of my life.