Auschwitz

I thought I would be completely depressing tonight/this morning. Actually, what prompted me to post this instead of tomorrow's entry (my take on travel advice) was the somewhat infuriating conference going on in Iran concerning 'alternative' views to the Holocaust. The conference included a keynote speech by the nuclear weapon seeking president of Iran Ahmadinejad in which he simply bashed Israel. Another fine guest of the conference was one of the South's favorite sons, David Duke. Anyway, Germany responded by hosting their own conference in Berlin that laid out as much evidence as possible to confirm the Holocaust (and Germany would know I should think).

Therefore, I thought I would post something I wrote concerning my own visit to the infamous work/death camp, Auschwitz. Birkenau, the larger death camp was destroyed by the Allies (though you can climb one of the towers and get a panoramic view of where Birkenau would have been) as the war ended, so all that remains is Auschwitz. I visited Auschwitz in the summer of 1991 as a part of my tour through Eastern Europe and I would never be the same.

A person sometimes does not know when they lost the innocence of youth, but after my visit, I knew. Sure, I had heard of the camps, even had read about them at the Holocaust museum in Dallas, but the full weight did not strike me until I stood upon the grounds of Auschwitz. Frankly, the experience was so overwhelming that I did not quite understand until later, and I have had difficulty talking, much less writing about being there. Finally, about 2 years ago, I was able to put into words my visit.

'Auschwitz'

I remember...

Their deaths a statistic
Butchered out of fear.
They were made less than animals,
Judged for being born
In this ghastly, terrible place.

I hear...

Their cries of confusion
Wondering what they had done.
Herded into those rooms,
Slaughtered with cold calculation
In this frightful, horrible place.

I see...

Families torn from one another
Selected for a cruel end;
Crushed without regret.
They were mere numbers
In this maddening, nightmarish place.

I wept...

For what seemed days
Their souls calling to me;
Yearning for vindication,
Haunting me for all time.
I wept in this terrible place.

I remember...
Auschwitz.

C.