Poland : Aushwitz + Birkenau
awkward moment when you're not sure if you should smile or not? so this is my half smirk...
^^ all above photos taken at aushwitz
just a few miles down the road is Birkenau - it is way bigger than Aushwitz and it has all the ruins of the buildings from when they bombed them after the war. it was crazy how many there were.
the railroad tracks ended within the camp - they would load up the train cars (shown a couple photos below) crammed with people and they would stop inside the camp, then sort them out.
^^ this is the "wash room" where they would bathe and the circles in the concrete were the toilets
i wasn't quite sure how to feel being in this place and learning about the history of all the jews and polish people that were killed there. it didn't hit me until we went inside one of the buildings where they had all the hair, shoes, belongings, eye glasses, you name it all stacked up into heaping piles. it felt more real seeing all of that and seeing the faces of all the people on the walls. it's terrible what happened there and i hope that our world will never forget it. ever since learning about WWII in grade school, i always had an interest in visiting Aushwitz. for some reason though, it didn't phase me that it all happened in Poland; that is why even many polish people haven't visited it.
**All photos taken in September 2013
**All photos taken in September 2013
12 comments
wow. I am fascinated by WW2 and hope I can go to Poland one day. Thanks for sharing these. They touched my heart!
ReplyDeleteI went to the concentration camp in Dachau, Germany, and it was insane how creepy it was to be there. Such a sad history. I enjoyed all your pictures, they're really quite similar!
ReplyDeletebwaterloo.wordpress.com
The two things that I want to say are both very true but very contradictory. The first thing is that these pictures are great as photographs that is. It shows that even through all of the sorrow people lived and even they people that lost their lives are still remembered and will be forever remembered. Second of all, the stories and images of places such as Aushwitz and Birkenau are so unbelievable to think that this happened. Such a sad place to visit but filled with so much history. Didn't mean to get all sad in this comment, it's just hard not to. Thanks for posting your travels :)
ReplyDeleteWow this was incredibly powerful. My family is Polish and German and I had relatives in the camps. I want to visit the camps too. I can't imagine how powerful this experience must have been. Thank you so much for sharing.
ReplyDeleteEm
Tightrope to the Sun
Great photos! I was also wondering if you should smile in a picture like that. It is crazy to think that so many peoples lives where destroyed in a place like this and now it is a tourist attraction. I guess it is such a vivid reminder of the horror humans are capable of and how much more so we should cling to God. What a terrible place. On a positive note, I do believe it is good that we not forget the torture these people went through. When justice prevails and we forget what it was we won, has justice really prevailed?
ReplyDeleteBeautiful photos, Andrea! I have always wanted to visit Auschwitz. I agree, it's so important that we never forget the horrors of what happened there... even if it results in some "half smirk" photos ;)
ReplyDeletehttp://sierrabritton.blogspot.com/
Wow nice pictures! I will also visit Auschwitz and Birkenau, because I learned about it in high school and it really had a big impact on me!
ReplyDeleteIt's true that those situations should never be forgotten!
Noesjn
stunning photos- so unbelievably tragic... I've never visited a concentration camp but I can imagine that it makes the gravity of the holocaust much more real.
ReplyDeletewow. i can imagine how it all feels so much more real... but I can't really understand it. i really want to visit this place, and have that understanding...
ReplyDeletexo,
rn
www.rachelnicoleblog.com
This looks like a very powerful trip. It must have been difficult and interesting all at once!
ReplyDeleteOMG I dream of going to these camps one day. I am obsessed with all things Holocaust (not in a creepy, Nazi-type way) and totally am eager to go here! Thanks for sharing! xo
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing these photos. I have always been interested in the stories of the Holocaust. I think it is so important that we know about these moments in history.
ReplyDeleteleave us some love
xo, him&her