Two tons of hair and 43,000 pairs of shoes

Auchwitz Birkenau is not a happy place. I'm sure you don't need to be told so, but I feel I must say it. It is not a happy place. Systematic, brutal death of over a million European Jews and over 500,000 others. From the soon-dead, they stripped their clothes and shoes, 43,000 of which I saw leftover when the Nazi's left the camp. They seperated them from their families, and when they were done with that, they sent them off to the showers where they were showered with cyclone B. They killed with incerdible efficiency-- 1500 people dead in 15 minutes. From the dead women, they cut off their long hair, often done by the hand of Jewish me from the same transport. I saw this hair, two tons of it. It had been waiting to be shipped off to make fabric and mattresses. When i say it is not a happy place, I mean my skin has goosebumps and there is simply a cold, dark feeling, even in the bright sunlight.

Auchwitz-Birkenau is not a beautiful place. It was built (or converted from other buildings) to become a death camp, to exterminate an entire group of people and then some. It was designed as a place of disease, inhumane treatment. Of freezing cold and stifling heat, human beings packed as tightly as possible and then more. When it was built, it was designed with not enough toilets, no running water, and no heat. Each prisoner was allowed one minute, twice a day to use the toilet. Mind you, there were rows of holes with no privacy and diarehea rampant. If you passed over your one minute, you could be shot. So much for those with stage-fright. When I say that iw as not beautiful, I mean it was a palce that had no right to exist in this world and had nothing, nothing that could redeem it. Across the barbed wire, there were trees and flowers. Inside, the only thing of beauty were the souls of the people who were forced there.

Auschwitz-Birkenau was powerful, but not because it was a strong place. The control exercised by the Nazi's was brought on by fear, exploitation, mistrust, hate, and lies. It evoked a powerful feeling because it exhibited all of that. Yesterday, I explored a number of churched int he old town of Krakow, all of them still functioning. Boasting histories of hundreds of years, continual worship, and ornate splendor, today I had to wonder where was their power and splendor when all of this was happening a few miles away. They (we) speak of a God of love, mercy, all-powerful, omnicient, full of truth and beauty. Auschwitz was the exact opposite of all of the. I know God allows bad things to happen to good people-- but this bad? And what about all the other people who lived and worshiped in these grand churches? I know it is easy to sit here, be able to see it all 70 years seperated, and leave, and judge the people before. It is shocking I think because is it so recent, and so close-- people of Europe-- educated, cultured, and yet so many fo them involved in this systematic brutality. It is frightening because what is to stop it from happening now? And it does.

This place. THis place... I went because I wanted to remember, to be a witness and have yet another reasont o be convinced that I must do something human. And I am never coming here again.