Talking about kicking them while they’re down, the past 100 years have not been happy for the Poles. My pilgrimage this past weekend was difficult, to say the least, but looking back I realize how fruitful it was. I do not claim to have the ability to do justice to any of what we witnessed at Auschwitz, but I will try to share a few things that came of the experience.
While I knew going into the trip that I was not prepared for what I was going to see, I also knew that nothing could really prepare me either. You can’t just brace yourself for the punch to the gut that’s delivered around the “Auschwitz 10 km” sign…or when you actually step off of the bus and stand where millions of others before you stood during WWII—but in very different circumstances. We only witnessed only a small piece of the Holocaust, but even so, the pain was incredible.
The statistics about the place, as you probably already know, shocking. There are these millions here and thousands there, and not to be cold and insensitive, but I found the numbers impersonal, and too third party to comprehend. I will admit that I walked through the first hour of the tour, eyes dry, like a robot…not believing where I was. The Nazi’s did a number on me, too; with people in such large quantities, it’s easier to process them as statistics.
The roof caved in completely, however, when I walked into the room full of hair that was shaven of the victims of the camp to make blankets. Gosh, it became so real so fast. These were not just statistics, they were actual people. Actual. People. With actual hair. Just like me. Only their hair was shaven and used for blankets. That was actually their hair. What else to I say? My eyes were not so dry after that.
The only way I think most of us got through the rest of the weekend was by compartmentalizing what we saw, because to have to cope with the concept of the concentration camps in a few days is frankly impossible. This week in philosophy we have been discussing values, and how intrinsic objective values demand congruent responses from us. I think the congruent response to the horror of Auschwitz is impossible to achieve, but doing it justice may require more than a few days.
Had we not visited the Basilicas of Our Lady of Czestochowa and Divine Mercy over the weekend as well, I don’t know that I would have even been able to revisit the thought of Auschwitz, since I found the reality I could grasp physically crippling. Praying the Divine Mercy Chaplet with the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy and experiencing Our Lady’s healing at the unveiling of the Black Madonna granted me so much consolation. God’s mercy is still present and unwavering and Our Mother is still watching over us despite everything that has happened. It’s kind of incredible.
It’s hard to just move on after seeing so much sadness in one place, but life does goes on. A congruent response to the weekend does not mean forgetting what we saw or keeping it locked up in our brains so that we don’t have to hurt anymore.
I know it’s cliché, but if you really consider it, maybe there’s a reason why so many people repeat the phrase “Those who do not know history are condemned to repeat it.” Not learning from this visit to Auschwitz would be an insult to the memory of everyone who suffered in the Holocaust. They were innocent victims of horrible, horrible human acts.
As the tour ended and we stood at the end of the rail where the prisoners were sent to the crematorium upon arrival, I realized learning from this opportunity means learning that it is my obligation to stand up for the silent victims of crimes against human dignity to make sure this history does not repeat itself. Sadly enough, while so many claim to know the injustice of Auschwitz, another holocaust rages on against the unborn, and therein lies my responsibility.
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