by: Jeng Yan WongIt was a rainy and chilly Saturday morning and the weather seemed to foretell the atmosphere of the day. We were heading to a destination with one of the darkest moments in history, and it was an indescribable feeling. The saddest part of the exhibition was where a number of luggage are displayed. The victims of Nazi persecution entered the camp believing in a common lie, a lie that reassured them that they will be reunited with their families. Each luggage held its own identity, with individual names written on it with the hope of being reclaimed. The truth was never realized by the victims until the moment of their impending death. The sight strikes a chord in me, knowing that these luggage will never be reclaimed. Their individual identity was striped from the moment they entered the camp, they were shaved, tattooed, and given prisoner clothes. They were reduced to a set of numbers to be selected and sent to the gas chamber. The prisoners were not united by their common struggle but their dreadful fate because the camp system was designed to distinguish the slightest hope of resistance and moral collapse among the perpetrators and victims. Gas Chamber The very reason the gas chambers were built in concrete was aimed at speeding up the chemical reaction. The chamber is relatively small in size with 4 openings that enable Zyklon B, a chemical that releases Hydocyanic compounds (HNC), when it comes into contact with concrete and iron. The scratches on the concrete walls are evidences to the undeniable atrocities that took place within the chambers. Traces of life were no where to be found, all that remained was the scratches that revealed the desperation for life by those who were suffocated to death within the chambers. The gas chambers and the rooms with 4 ovens are divided by a door that connects both rooms. Traces of iron rails can be seen on the floor connecting to the ovens. Images of the carts delivering corpses to be burned flooded in my mind. It was beyond comprehension that these ovens served a terrible purpose. The inscription on the gate to Auschwitz 1 is translated into "work sets you free." From the moment one enters the camp, one is destined to enter a system of lies. Auschwitz 1, with its brick blocks leaves the impression of a civilized settlement, a confined settlement warded off by barbed wires. One would of never thought of the cruelty, unspoken rules and social hierarchy that established within these blocks. Auschwitz was chosen because it is located in a region annexed by the German Reich, the railway links directly "to every capital of Europe: to the old Reich, to Holland, France and Belgium, Italy and to the Polish railway network" (Gilbert, 287). In fact, Auschwitz offered a better chance of survival among other extermination camps such as Treblinka, Belzec, Sobibor and Chelmno, which the survival rate was less than 1 percent. Auschwitz functioned as both labor and concentration camps where inmates were not sent directly to the gas chambers but exploited for their labor to produce goods for the German nation. Among the 300 wooden barracks hastily constructed in Auschwitz II-Birkenau, there were only 2 functional barracks with latrines. Considering there were time restrictions when prisoners were allowed to access the latrines, those who were left behind were forced to pee on themselves. The wooden barracks were occupied by inmates well beyond its capacity. The living conditions within the barracks are beyond human comprehension. Winter months in Poland are dire, given that the inmates are not provided with blankets, clothing, heat and other necessity that are resistance to the cold. The erosion on the concrete floor was resulted from rain, urine, excrement and menstrual blood, the inmates were not provided with the basic necessity of living, let alone paper towels or any kinds of feminine products that were considered luxurious to the people whose lives meant nothing to the Nazis. It was also the very intention of the Nazis to deprive individuality and dignity of the prisoners by having them to live in their own filth. Traces of civilization are no where to be found in these barracks, normal societal orders and moral values ceased to exist. Bread crumbs replaced the value of currency as survival became the sole purpose for many. The gate symbolized the gateway to death as its entrance was designed as a Jewish tombstone's arch. The gate created an atmosphere of death which was meant to be entered once.
The sky is still the same after decades had passed, yet its histories and atrocities remained, it will never be forgotten as Elie Wiesel stated "to forget the dead would be akin to killing them a second time". Work Cited: Gilbert, Raul. The Holocaust, 20 January 1942: The Wannsee Conference. p287
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