8th May, 2015 marked the 70th anniversary of the end of world war II. 70 years have passed, but the word “war” is omnipresent. Now, we have more technically advanced weapons to destroy humans and humanity! Did we progress? Before we answer this question to ourselves, let’s remember the famous quote.
The one who does not remember history is bound to live through it again.
by George Santayana
The concentration camp in Auschwitz, Poland
Today I will take you to Auschwitz in Poland, the largest Nazi German concentration and extermination camp or in other words a factory of mass murder! A factory where the inputs were living people and the outputs were the ashes of those people. Inputs were innocent and powerless human beings and outputs were tyranny, inhumanity, immorality and dictatorship.
Auschwitz Museum , Poland
Auschwitz Museum , Poland
Work sets you free
“Arbeit Macht Frei” or “Work sets you free”, are the chilling words on the gate at the entrance. The greenery failed to bring peace in my mind that day.
The concentration camp in Auschwitz.
Prisoners held in this concentration camp, died from overwork, starvation, exhaustion, tortures, appalling living condition, being used for medical experiments or arbitrary execution. Prisoners who were too weak or sick to work were sent to the gas chambers or murdered with phenol injections.
The concentration camp in Auschwitz, Poland
Cans which used to contain the gas to kill prisoners
Though, now, these cans lost its power to terrify, but these were the cans, which used to contain the gas to kill thousands of people. Alas humanity! Alas morality! Alas!
Auschwitz Museum.
A vast factory of murder
Undoubtedly, Nazis invented various methods to perform mass-murder like a factory. It was an organized factory, where the shoes, comb, shaving kits, suitcases, hair, clothes, utensils etc of the victims were recycled.
Auschwitz Museum.
Auschwitz Museum.
Auschwitz Museum.
The prosthetics of the victims were also recycled—- wasn’t it a full-fledged, organized factory of mass murder?
Auschwitz Museum.
Inside the museum there were hundreds of photographs of the victims.
Victims
Travel Realizations
From the photograph of Mr.Pinkas Klapper, the fear is prominent. Was it the fear to die or the inhuman torture, I don’t know. I felt whoever went inside these camps, for them the only solace was death because after death there will be no more bodily pains…perhaps emancipation from this unjust world! It is evident from this picture that it was hard to bear the torture for long. He was deported on 26.02.1942 to this camp and died on 17.03.1942. He didn’t survive even a month! Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site (Germany) also bears the same agony! It is also a testimony of hundreds of victims of Adolf Hitler, the leader of the Nazi party.
Innocent children were also labeled as enemies
Children of all ages were subjected to murder as well. All innocent children were also labeled as enemies for powerful Nazis.
When I saw the photograph of this child, numerous questions crisscrossed my mind.
The combination of innocence and fear is evident here. It is unknown how he died. Perhaps due to the medical experiments or inside the gas chamber or might have worked till death! The irony is, such injustice is still going on in the name of race, color, caste and sex.
The concentration camp in Auschwitz, Poland
The tragic road of death in Auschwitz
All of us will die one day, that’s the most certain truth of being alive. But when I saw the tragic road of death in Auschwitz, which leads to a horrific death, I questioned the almighty, why?
In my next blog post – Concentration camp (Part 2) , I will write about this tragic road where thousands of powerless people had walked!
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- The tragic road of death in Auschwitz, Poland !
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- I can’t breathe!
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Balaka Basu
Such a spine chilling place….It reminded me of a movie I had watched long back called "night and fog". the movie showed the horrors of these camps… waiting for your next post
Travel Realizations
Yes, Indeed a spine chilling place that echoes an unbelievable history of human tyranny! Never hard of this movie before, will definitely watch it! I will come with my next post soon.
Suparna
Feels just very bad, bad, bad.
Travel Realizations
Welcome to my blog, Suparna!
Indeed, it pains the heart, mind and soul.
Chinnomul
mon ta boddo bhari hoye gelo
Travel Realizations
Manusher proti manusher hingsha aajo obbahoto…etai obaak korey!