Arbeit Macht Frei

"Work Brings Freedom" - is the translation of this entrance sign that hangs over Auschwitz. The current sign is a replica as the original was stolen in December 2009 by 5 Polish young men and ordered by a Swedish neo-Nazi man who is awaiting trial. It was sawed into 3 pieces to be able to get it in their car - it provoked outrage around the world. I would encourage you all to read the story of Auschwitz-Birkenau http://en.auschwitz.org.pl/m/ 1.1 million Jews were killed here among others who for some odd reasons were chosen by the Nazis - maybe your hair was too dark - maybe you were considered an enemy of the state, maybe you looked at someone the wrong way. 1.3 million entered, 200,000 came out alive by escape (rare) or freed at the end or transferred. They did medical experiements - some of the companies you may recognize: Bayer, Siemenss, IG Furbenau - all "employed" the workers. The warehouses were called "Canada" as it was considered the land of plenty. The prisoners received 1/2 liter of coffee for breakfast, a small bowl of soup for lunch and a piece of bread with butter for supper - the average weight at freedom was 40Kg - or about 80-90 #. When liberated by the Russians they were given lots of food and many died from eating too much too quickly.

This is the wall where prisoners lined up facing it and were shot and killed from behind. All prisoners' hair was cut off to make mattresses, blankets and other things for the Nazis - everything was taken from them; we saw thousands of eyeglass, shoes, kitchen ware - it all went to the Nazis for their use and disposal.

Our wonderful guide Lukas (shorterned version of Polish name) - the guides are all Polish and have a special interest. Lukas' grandmother was a guide for 35 years now retired. His great-grandfather was a prisoner but lived through it and died before Lukas was born. You could tell his heart was in getting this message out to the millions of visitors who pass through this gate. Entrance is free - it is sponsored by the United Nations who in 2007 changed the name to Auschwitz-Birkenau (another much larger camp aka "death camp" about 2km away). We saw photos of prisoners on the wall up to 1943 when to save money they started doing the "tattoo" numbers on the skin. This is the only and very large gas chamber that remains. The Nazis were so organized that had property insurance on these places in case of fire through Allianz a company that continues in business.

This is a latrine (bathroom) - no heat - even the Nazis did not want to enter in winter (freezing) or in summer (smell and unsanitary conditions) resulting in transfers of information and items among prisoners.

This is the "end of the track" - leading from Auschwitz to Birkenau - the gate to Birkenau was also made famous in the movie Schindler's List. Upon entering the concentration Polish people lost their identity first to Germany and then on liberation to Russia. After the "wall" fell down in 1989 Poland became their own country again. Even though I have visited other concentration camps (Dachau by Munich and Sachsenhausen by Berlin) and have read a few books on the subject I continue to be interested in how on earth this could happen -to people all over Europe.

It is now Sunday, May 16 in Vienna - soon we are off to Augustinerkirche (an Augustinian church) as they have the Baroque organ for mass. Then off to a big museum - supposed to rain today so we are choosing inside things for our last day and maybe a little wiener schnitzel (doubt we can find that in a small portion as it covers the entire plate.