What to think about when you're visiting Auschwitz

Auschwitz is an attraction; for tourists, for historians, for those of Polish ancestry (like me!). But, if you’re like me and really excited to visit Auschwitz this summer, there is something we need to keep in mind. Now I know we all know the stats, we all know that WWII killed a lot of Jews, Gypsies and homosexuals, among others, but it’s important to remember just how bad it was, and just how bad Auschwitz was.

Auschwitz was not built as a tourist attraction or as a museum. When the Nazis established it in 1940, they did so as a concentration camp. In 1941, the Nazis evicted an entire village in order to build Auschwitz II, or Birkenau, in order to house more prisoners. Auschwitz, along with its sub-camps, executed an estimated 90% of its 1.1 million prisoners, mostly Poles. Remember, Auschwitz was the number one death camp during WWII. Prisoners here, and at other camps, experienced malnourishment, slave labor, torture, criminal medical experiments, death by gas-chamber and were forced to participate in the death marches.

So when we visit Auschwitz this summer, we need to remain respectful, we need to remember that this is a place where mass murder took place, among several other horrendous activities. We can’t just read placards, look at the sights and sigh. Auschwitz today serves as a memorial, not just to remember those that lost their lives at Auschwitz, but all those that lost their lives during WWII, both in the gas chambers and in the trenches, both on the death marches and in the bombings; that’s an estimated 62 million people.

When you enter through the gates, “arbeit macht frei,” remember, work did not set these people free. Instead, pray; pray for the souls of the dead and pray for all those still alive who suffered through this, pray for the tortured and the torturers. Most importantly, pray that humanity will learn its lesson so that this never happens again.