Auschwitz and Birkenau: Day 2

This morning we went to Auschwitz. 

I was very surprised by the way it looks; there are trees and flowers that make it look innocent and beautiful. However, nothing could prepare us for the horrors that we would see inside and the stories that we would hear. 

We walked into different buildings that had exhibits that portrayed the quantity of belongings that people had and the amount of lives lost. There were rooms full of shoes, luggage, eyeglasses, silverware, pottery and more. 

The exhibit that stuck out to me the most was the one that was full of human hair. The hair was all different colors and there were even braids that remained intact. 

It was a hard thing to witness and for me it put the Holocaust into perspective. The people did not understand that their pictures were worthless and that they would never see their personal belongings again. 

We went to Birkenau where we went inside the barracks and explored different buildings in the camp. The camp is much bigger than I imagined and there were local people biking through it as if it was a normal park. It is hard for us to comprehend that there were people who knew this was happening but did nothing about it. 

Today I learned how important it is to keep the Jewish faith alive and to make sure that everyone knows what happened and how we as a people suffered. 

Submitted by:
Eliana Colman
Class of 2016