The Killing Machine and Undaunted Courage

I am standing on the Judenrampe at Auschwitz and I can smell the raw fear of those that alighted here, see the hopelessness in their eyes and sense their desperation - this was the end, their life flashing before their eyes. I am entirely overwhelmed, not prepared for the enormity of this place, spread over 6000 acres of Polish countryside, just about 1/5th the size of San Francisco. 

The Judenrampe

Who builds a prison to house and kill more than a million people? There's a pall of death that hangs all over. Built in the sleepy town of Oświęcim, 54 Kilometers from Krakow, the Auschwitz - Birkenau extermination camp remains the world's largest crime scene. 

Unending Ruins of Prisoner Barracks

Herded like cattle in railway wagons with no windows, just like this one, their fate was to suffer denigration, looting, dehumanization, assault and finally murder. 

Railroad Wagon used to Deport Jews from Ghettos

Wearing just striped pajamas, stripped of their humanity, how did the few that managed to survive do so? In this desolate landscape, the harsh Polish winter, the inhuman SS apparatus, the fences, the daily beatings and killings, how did the human spirit survive this hell on earth? 

Arbeit Macht Frei sign

But it did. We now come to Krakow and visit one Oskar Schindler. Schindler, originally an ethnic German from Czechoslovakia, is a member of the Nazi party and an Abwehr (German Military Intelligence) agent, and has come to Krakow with the advance Wehrmacht (German Army) columns to collect intelligence. He acquires an enamelware factory among other things and builds a fortune. 

Schindler's Office

He sees what the Nazis are doing to the Jews and decides to do the right thing and help as many people as possible. As Soviet forces advance in the East, Nazis start closing down concentration camps using their favorite method, murder. Schindler bribes, cajoles and convinces SS officers to move his factory and 1200 workers to Czechoslovakia, thus sparing them a certain death. This list of 1200 people has been memorably fictionalized by Stephen Spielberg in Schindler's List.

What made him do it? In a 1964 interview (below timestamp 1:07:30) with German television, Schindler says: "The persecution of Jews under the general government in Poland meant that we could see horror emerging gradually in many ways. In 1939 they were forced to wear Jewish stars and people were herded and shut up into ghettos. Then in the years '41 and '42 there was plenty of public evidence of pure sadism. With people behaving like pigs I felt the Jews were being destroyed... I had to help them. There was no choice." 

The office building of Schindler's factory in Krakow still survives and has been turned into a museum. Schindler died in 1974 and is buried at Mount Zion on Jerusalem. 

Schindler's Factory - Surviving Office Building

But, did the Jews just take everything lying down - as portrayed often? No, they did not - they fought back. For the next part of the story, of undaunted courage, we must go to House no. 18 on Mila Street in the Jewish Ghetto in Warsaw. These are the ruins of the largest bunker in the ghetto, one amongst several. The fighters from the Jewish Combat Organization directed the Warsaw Ghetto uprising in 1943 from here. They fought in spite of heavy odds, and still remain here where they fell. 

Site of the Mila 18 Bunker

This bunker was made famous by Leon Uris in his novel with the same name, Mila 18. A 2001 movie named Uprising, starring Leelee Sobieski, tells their story.

The Nazi occupation of Europe was one of the darker periods in the history of the planet. It is said that the Japanese were more cruel, but not as meticulous record keepers as the Nazis. One hopes that the world just does not keep watching as atrocities pile up as they did in the 1930s and 40s.

A few notes for travelers:

• If you are planning to visit Auschwitz - Birkenau, the best place to start is from Krakow, by booking a guided bus tour. 
• For travelers that want to explore by themselves, you must first book a time slot to enter the camp. Unguided tours are available only after 3pm. Slots get booked in advance. That said, you can go up to the window and get a slot for the late afternoon. You can easily spend 2-3 hours here depending on your level of interest. Please note camp opening times change in winter.
• At the Krakow main bus station behind the Krakow Glowny (Central) railway station, you can book a bus to the Auschwitz museum stop. It takes about 75 minutes, but sadly, there are no directions posted at this stop - you have to use Google maps. If you search for the Auschwitz concentration camp, it takes you directly to Birkenau, so instead, search for Arbeit Macht Frei sign. 
• Auschwitz and Birkenau are two different camps separated by ~2Km and there's a free shuttle that runs between them. 
• Any bag larger than a small purse must be stored in a locker at Auschwitz but not at Birkenau. It costs 5 Polish Zlotys, or tokens which are available in the book store at the entrance.
• It is best to book a roundtrip bus fare online - if you go in the afternoon, just book the last bus coming back (bus operator is Lajkonik). You cannot do this at the Krakow bus station.
• Ubers are easily available to get back.
• Schindler's factory in Krakow is easy to find and a tram stop is close by. A ticket must be purchased to enter.
• If you Google Mila 18 in Warsaw, you will actually get to a Soviet style apartment block. The old Mila 18 is about 1Km away from this. Instead search for Bunkier Anielewicza in Google maps. 
• You can pay by credit cards everywhere and for everything, including toilets. Only place where I used cash was for the locker rent and a farmer's market in my entire 7 day stay in Poland.
• The famous director Roman Polanski was in the Warsaw Ghetto as a child and smuggled out of there to the US.
• Poland is quite chilly in late September