Evil Clearly Defined and Carefully Chronicled by Maurice

As I watch the Auschwitz documentary on the DVD system on the bus, the mood is somber. As if told by the movie director, the sun is morphed by the clouds, the temp turns cold and the rain begins to fall outside as we make our way up the road to the Auschwitz camp. It is indeed eerie.
I have tried to prepare the children for what they are to encounter. I know in my heart that there will be nothing to prepare them for what will be a memorable day in their lives. While the visits to the Krakow ghetto yesterday were enlightening, the breadth and depth of this experience will be almost tangible.
I write these words while I am on the bus just leaving Auschwitz 1 headed to Birkenau a camp known as Auschwitz II and the site of massive exterminations, crematoriums and barracks to house the “workers”. I wanted to capture my first emotions. I am simply overwhelmed. Images racing through my mind as I recall the exhibits of the glass encased hair, toothbrushes and suitcases, uniforms that were only replaced 1 X per year, tickets bought by Jews from Greece to Auschwitz, the “ovens” and pictures of starved men, women and children. The entrance to Auschwitz is bleak and nondescript except for the gate that has the words “Arbeit Macht Frei “ translated to mean “Work shall set you free.” Our guide is a young woman certified to give tours. She is knowledgeable and careful with regard to her information and while I know she is practiced at this presentation, I am humbled by her hushed but informative discussion of the various rooms, chambers and exhibits. We learn many facts about the process and the condition of the 2 camps. The suffering, not so long ago, is palpable both inside the buildings and outside the buildings. I can’t help but think of the massive efforts involved in creating such brutality and the terrible disregard for human life. The railroad tracks into Birkenau are haunting in their simplicity and efficiency. If you imagine hard enough you can hear and see the “separation process”. On a walk from the “wash house/latrine” to the “barracks house” that held 400 people, I talk with Seamus and Pearse about the foundation of the right to “Life Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.”