Auschwitz-Birkenau is a series of death camps established in 1940 by Nazi Germany in the suburbs of Oswiecim a polish city that had been annexed by the Third Reich.
Arbeit macht frei = Work will set your free- The famous sign about Auschwitz1 entrance was erected my metal workers in June 1940.
Since I took world history in high school I had been fascinated by the personal survival stories of WWII and the aftermath. It was in the last 10 years that I also became increasingly interested in my paternal grandmothers family background that may have been effected by the cruel treatments and mass murders that transpired during this time.
The tracts that led to death. birkenau
Since I had been living in Germany this past year playing volleyball I thought it would be both educational and spiritual to make the journey to Poland after my season. I am both sad and proud that I have come this far to visit this place. After reading and learning about it I thought I had a pretty good idea, until I stepped foot onto the both camps. The Auschwitz complex was divided into a few camps. I had to take a bus to and from visiting them. Had the Nazi’s not been stopped in the mid 1940s They would have continued to build more camps
standing in Birkenau in between camp districts.
the underground crematory
A memorial standing before the gas chambers
Remembering the lost.
One of the many cremation rooms.