"Auschwitz by any other name is still Auschwitz" Oswiecim by RickinDutch

Oswiecim Travel Guide: 362 reviews and 957 photos

Picture cannot capture the feelings

I had seen many pictures and read many accounts of what horrors took place here at Auschwitz, but seeing it first hand is a profound experience.

We had spent the morning with the Black Madonna at Jasna Gora and we were on our way to Krakow. In our small tour bus of 15 passengers I was the youngest, my dad the next youngest at 70, and the rest up from there. The only non-Polish born on the bus besides myself was a 94 year old jewish man from London. He quietly asked if we were stopping at Auschwitz. A long pregnant pause followed and then our bus driver/tour guide took a vote on who wanted to stop at Oswiecim. Only four of us wanted to stop and see it. The others were either silent or said they had already seen it.

I had not realized how controversial Auschwitz was in Poland. I expected perhaps a trace of tension, shame, or horror. But what I was hearing was anger that this place of death for so many Poles is dominated by the sorrow of the Jews. I think it bodes so many sad memories for so many people and stands as such a powerful testimonial to a society gone mad that it belongs to all mankind.

But noone asked me and I didn't offer my opinion. Many of my bus mates had fought in the Warsaw underground, or like my dad, been marched off to Siberia.

But for some reason I will never know, stop at Auschwitz we did. Four of us got off, everyone else stayed onboard the bus. I'm so glad I was able to see it. Unforgettable.

Unbelievable

Block house and wire

A room filled with eye glasses taken from the prisoners before entering the gas chamber. Another room filled with shoes. Some of the main sleeping rooms. The wall of death where hundreds were shot. The cell of the Polish priest that changed places with a young man and went to his death. Sight after sight to tug at your senses.

Absolute Silence