Amalia, Sept. 27, 2006. Photo by Eric Francis.
[Editor’s Note: This article was originally published Oct. 12, 2006. For a more detailed introduction to this series, please see this link. The approximately eight articles and 15 photos in this series will be published evenings at about 6 pm Eastern Time.]
AUSCHWITZ WAS just part of my trip to Poland, a beautifully alive country. I think Krakow may have been the most pleasant, vital city I’ve ever visited in Europe. The great thing about it from my viewpoint is that you can basically talk to anyone; they are for the most part curious and friendly people.
Through much of western Europe and England I find that people look down at the ground when they walk, or they walk past you like a horse wearing blinders staring straight ahead. In Poland I saw a lot of eyes looking back at me.
What I’ll remember from my trip to Auschwitz – Birkenau are the young people I met there. One thing everyone who gets to that horrendous place has in common is that they’re willing to face the truth. Whether it’s for curiosity, to observe the tragedy or to pay respects to ancestors, the willingness is the same. Every day, thousands of people come there seeking the truth. It is like a temple to reality; a place where denial is suspended.
Two students I met there stand out in memory. One was a guy named Robert, who I met when I cozied up with the group from Norway and Sweden, and sat down on the lawn outside gas chamber/crematorium #2.В I was half expecting the usual reaction of mild hostility when you tag along with someone else’s tour group — nothing of the kind; I was welcomed.
Someone in the group asked about this in-ground, concrete pool of water that was standing next to the train tracks as you came into the camp.
Leonard (pictured earlier this week), who was giving the presentation, said, well, it’s like this. The Nazis wanted to insure their facility, and the insurance company required them to have a little reservoir in case they needed to fight a fire.
Robert turned to me and said, “Isn’t that sick? They took out an insurance policy on a death camp.”