Auchwitz-Birkenau
I was already in an interesting state of thought –
contemplating my own life and my role within society. This may have been the
perfect mindframe to be in when going somewhere like Auchwitz, or maybe it just
put me into a vulnerable state. I would recommend for anyone who is travelling
to Europe, however you are going, for work or study or backpacking or on a
guided tour, to make sure that you can go to one of these sorts of locations –
I went to Dachau from Germany in 2008 and I know there are others. I think it
is something which should do out of respect, and out of a willingness to open
your mind and to really confront the realities. You go to school and you’re
told statistics but they don’t compare to being right where such tragic events
took place.
Logistically, just to cover off on the how and the scheduling before going on more of an emotional tangent.
Transport
I chose to not use a
tour company and instead to make my own way independently to Auschwitz. I
literally showed up at the bus station at about 8:50pm and there was a bus
leaving at 9:00am. I bought a return ticket from this particular driver – it
appears that there are different companies which do the trip to Auchwitz. The
one I took cost 24 Zloty return, which upon conversation with other people who
I met throughout the day, was comparable. It was a 16 seater bus, and it didn’t
just go to Auchwitz - it also stopped at
some random stops in a couple of villages on the way there and seemed to
service like a regular bus route. By booking my return with him from the
outset, I was restricted to when that particular bus service was returning, and
I was given a card with all of the departure times. Really it worked out fine,
I was sitting waiting for maybe half an hour longer than necessary – if I’d
booked the single, there was a different bus with the times listed. If you want
to have flexibility, then don’t worry about booking a return, there are many
different bus options available, particularly if you’re getting there around
when I did.
The tour
During peak hours (I think 10am – 3pm) you are required to
purchase a guided tour. To be honest, it is the kind of place where you are
best having a tour guide, or an audio guide of some description anyway. At the
main Auchwitz site there are lots of information boards so you could still go
bright and early (if the buses run then) or later in the day after the block
out period and get the appropriate details. I enjoyed the delivery of the
guide, it was very appropriate that we all had headsets as there were about
seven tours leaving at the same time, plus other independent groups, and if all
the guides were shouting it just wouldn’t have been appropriate given the
environment. You are being taken around like sheep so you don’t get the option
to spend longer in particular areas if you desire. It is timed very well, we finished the first
section at Auchwitz, had about ten minutes break time then the shuttle bus was
departing to go over to Birkenau (about 3km away) which is actually the larger
of the sites. Birkenau you are not required to have a guide, however there are
not many information boards so I think it is worthwhile to be there with a
guide who you’ve come over with from Auchwitz. We finished at Birkenau, the bus
was leaving about five minutes later, and then when we arrived back at Auchwitz
about ten minutes later a documentary was beginning – not in English, but still
some moving/horrific imagery.
Guided tours from
Krakow
Multitudes of companies do a guided tour from Krakow.
Between the price of the bus and paying for the tour at the site, I probably
only saved about 10 Zloty by doing it myself. The advantage would be that, if I
had wanted to, I could’ve stayed back longer at Birkenau; or when we went back
to Auchwitz it was after the ‘peak hours’ so I could’ve gone back in. By
arranging my own transport I gave myself that flexibility. However, for the
convenience level, it isn’t much more cash for a guided tour. I’m not sure if
those sorts of tours offer any sort of general ‘Krakow’ or area commentary
while on the bus on the way to Auchwitz and back. To me this would be something
that might make it more worthwhile to simply pay one fee for the whole package.
Reflections
My experiences in Poland were really hard hitting for me. While
I was in Ostrava, a lot of the conversation that Craig and I had revolved
around how lucky we are to be Australian. We’re lucky to have English as a
native language, we’re lucky to have grown up somewhere with good social
support systems. Craig recalled stories about basic things, like items of
stationery, which you physically cannot buy in the Czech Republic, they just
don’t exist. We talked about missing just regular white bread, the kind that
would zoom round me at Tip Top Bakeries and I wouldn’t really think much of it.
Going to Auchwitz was important for me because even after just a few weeks away
from home, I was missing petty things. I think a dose of reality is healthy. A
dose of ‘you have your whole life to eat bread, you’re in Europe, embrace it!’
kick up the ass can be necessary.
As I already touched on, what I find the most striking when
going to concentration/death camps is the reality of it all, hitting you right
in the face. Some of the buildings are reconstructed or they are upgraded due
to deterioration, but on the whole they are authentic and a large volume of it
is original. When you study these horrific events at school, you can’t truly
understand it, not if you’re a middle class white Australian with no (known)
Jewish ancestory, no one in your family affected. But you go to concentration
camps and suddenly ‘extermination’ has a whole different feelings. When you’re
told ‘this is where 10 people would sleep’ or ‘this is the train track where
the train would pull up and they would then sort them – into who will be killed
immediately and who will be kept around to do labour.’ When you’re standing in
a room with toilets and told they got to use them once a day, when you’re
walking through collections of glasses and childrens shoes gathered from the
camps... it’s all very real. Sometimes I feel like what went on during World
War II seems so unreal, so outrageous, that you cannot comprehend it as being
something tangible. It’s like a story they tell you in school to discourage
racism and promote democratic ideals. But it was real.
Homelessness in
Europe
 |
| Outside Russian Orthodox church in Tallinn, Estonia |
After my time at Auchwitz, I found myself spending more time
contemplating me and my experiences travelling and my role within wider social
responsibility. If I had a dollar for every time I’ve had to ignore someone on
the street who wants money in Europe, I could fund another round the world
trip. I know that on a certain level for them, the mentality is “you’re rich
enough to travel, what’s a dollar to you?” and my God, so many times when I
walk past homeless people holding out cups in desperation, I think that maybe I
should’ve just never travelled and taken all this money and donated it to some
amazing charity which helps create support systems for these people. It really,
really hits me when I see people who are homeless and disabled – often
disfigured in some way. I think to myself that in a western country, more of
these people get government support with disability payments. It’s so sad to
see someone who is maybe in their 30s or 40s who is disabled and homeless – to
me it means they probably have no family, and they don’t live in a world where
the government will arrange housing and send them a cheque every week.
When you’re in countries in eastern Europe and doing a tour
or something of the like and they go over a brief history, I’ve had more than
one tour guide say with this sarcastic roll of the eyes as they recount the
conclusion of World War II: “And we were liberated
by the Soviets.” I don’t know a lot about the realities of life under Soviet
rule, but apparently a large contributing factor to homelessness in eastern
Europe is a flow on affect of the fall of the Iron Curtain – particularly in
some older generations who have less skills, less education and under living
for years under Communist reign, the inability to build wealth. Suddenly
capitalism was in and here they were without the skills or ability to make
money for themselves; and the building of social support systems from a
government level obviously doesn’t just miraculously happen overnight.
Is Australia ‘the
lucky country’?
This was a debate topic we did back in high school. I mean,
from a debating perspective, it comes down to your interpretation of the word
‘lucky’ - the negative team can break it down and say that yes we are
‘fortunate’ but is ‘luck’ (definition: sheer chance, fluke) anything to do with
it. We seem to have tragic weather related events (floods, bushfires) but on
that deeper social level, Australia and Australians are so sheltered. We get
‘kind of’ involved in these world conflicts but on the whole, we are fairly
isolated. When your average person wants a big ‘cultural’ experience they go to
Phuket or Bali and shop at markets and laze around at the beach. Maybe this is
why we’re laid back and carefree – we haven’t had the experiences of time and
world events to jade us into being guarded and wary.
But at the same time, I feel like it is only the people who
travel who really understand how fortunate Australians are, who appreciate the
opportunities that we have. Whether it be from the perspective of social
welfare and benefits, government assisted job find and upskilling, our
education system supporting people to study and if you choose not to study,
having other options available which are equally supported. We are lucky to not
have to go to the pharmacy to buy simple things like sunscreen and panadol. As
a white Australian who speaks fluent English who has a university degree – I am
in a position of greater power in the world. If I was prepared to work
anywhere, the colour of my skin and my mother tongue, things which I take for
granted every day, are things which make me ‘powerful.’
Sure, alcohol is expensive but maybe people should drink
less and read more, just a thought!
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