Why am I blogging a trip to Poland?

For over 20 years I've been working on a Family Tree, tracing the BETEL family back to the late 1700s.

Traveling to Berlin and then Poland was a life changing experience. I hope you take the time to read through the stories and see the many images included.
Michael



Wednesday, April 6, 2011

The Final Solution

Today was the hardest day of all.  We arranged for a private tour starting at 8:45am.  Our plan was to go to Schindler's Factory for 2 hours (used in the filming of Schindler's list), then Auschwitz and finally Birkenau, for another 6 hours.  After writing yesterday's blog, I ended up sleeping only 5 hours.  Anticipation was quite high, seeing something so relevant after hearing about it my whole life.

First stop: Oskar Schindler's Factory.

Who was Oskar Schindler?

"When Krakow's Podgorze district became the site of the Jewish Ghetto for Krakow's huge Jewish population, many Germans set up businesses in the area in an attempt to profit from the Nazi invasion of Poland. Oskar Schindler was such a man, but in the end he came to save the lives of over 1,100 Jews that worked in his factory, often at great risk to his own life and at personal expense. A state of the art permanent exhibition chronicling the Nazi Occupation..." opened in June 2010. http://www.cracow-life.com/culture/culture_details/1163-Oskar_Schindler's_Factory

Schindler's Factory approx 1944 
Oskar Schindler 


The Schindler Factory was a really top notch exhibition.  It was a full multi-media experience with a well designed tour including images, stories, and even background music and voices depending upon which room you were in.

Oskar Schindler Factory Today Full Building


Schindler Factory Today (Sign Removed for Renovation)

 In the exhibit, in the section examining the Krakow Ghetto, there was recognition of an individual named Tadeusz Pankiewicz and The Eagle Pharmacy:

The Under the Eagle Pharmacy as it Stands Today
The only working pharmacy enclosed within the Kraków Ghetto belonged to Tadeusz Pankiewicz, a Polish pharmacist permitted by the German authorities to operate his "Under the Eagle Pharmacy" there upon his request. In recognition of his heroic deeds in rescuing Jews from the Ghetto he was awarded the title of Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kraków_Ghetto

Tadeusz Pankiewicz and Staff




"Under the German Nazi occupation of Poland during World War II, Podgórze district was closed off in March 1941 as a ghetto for local area Jewry. Within the walls of the Kraków Ghetto there were four prewar pharmacies owned by non-Jews. Pankiewicz was the only proprietor to decline the German offer of relocating to the aryan side of the city. He was given permission to continue operating his establishment as the only pharmacy in the Ghetto, and reside on the premises.[3] His staff were given passage permits to enter and exit the ghetto for work.

The often-scarce medications and pharmaceutical products supplied to the ghetto's residents, often free of charge, substantially improved their quality of life. In effect, apart from health care considerations, they contributed to survival itself. In his published testimonies, Pankiewicz makes particular mention of hair dyes used by those disguising their identities and tranquilizers given to fretful children required to keep silent during Gestapo raids.


The pharmacy became a meeting place for the ghetto's intelligentsia, and a hub of underground activity. Pankiewicz and his staff, Irena Drozdzikowska, Helena Krywaniuk, and Aurelia Danek, risked their lives to undertake numerous clandestine operations: smuggling food and information, and offering shelter on the premises for Jews facing deportation to the camps.
" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tadeusz_Pankiewicz


Under the Eagle Pharmacy

One of the most impactful parts of the museum were the taped interviews with actual Schindler's list survivors.

Myer Witnessing the Testimonial of a Schindler List Survivor

There were many other exhibits, some of which will look familiar from the movie Schindler's List.

Nazi Uniform

Pots Made in Schindler's Factory

Oskar Schindler's Office
Here's a closer look...

Oskar Schindler's Desk Front View

Oskar Schindler's Desk View From His Chair
  
Auschwitz & Birkenau

We arrived around noon and it was quite busy.  We joined a group and spent the next 4 hours walking with the group and listening intently to every word spoken by the guide.  He was sensitive and quite aware of the array of the possible range of emotions of the millions of visitors to Auschwitz.

It is clearly impossible for me to describe Auschwitz except to say that to be there in person is quite different from reading books or watching films.  The best way to share what we saw today is to simply post many of the images I took, so you too can witness the environment where so many human atrocities took place.

For Myer and I the most gut wrenching exhibits were a showcase with 2 tons of human hair. It literally made me nauseous thinking of all the people who perished.  (No photographs were allowed in this room).  We were both shocked and taken by the exhibit displaying a mountain of artificial limbs, eyeglasses, suitcases and myriad other personal effects.  These you can see below:

Cups and Bowls Taken From the Victims

Eyeglasses

Suitcases - Prisoners Were Told to Write Their Names on Their Bags

Shoes
After the prisoners were stripped of their belongings they were told they would be taken to be showered and deloused.  Below are images of the rooms they were taken to and the Zyclon B cans that held the poison used to murder them.  Each can could kill 300 people. Seven cans could kill over 2,000.

Zyclon B - Used to Kill in the Gas Chambers

Oven Used to Cremate Remains of Those Killed

Oven Used to Cremate Remains of Those Killed

Auschwitz was a massive complex of buildings. Below you will see many images of the complex, including the barbed wire electric fences, guard towers, railway tracks and barracks.

Font Gate Inside the Camp

Inside the Gate Railway Tracks

"Work Will Make You Free" at Entrance of Auschwitz Camp


Barracks for Prisoners

Barbed Wire Electric Fences

One of Many Guard Towers Beyond the Electric Fence

Translation of Sign: "Caution. High Voltage. Danger."
Birkenau Barracks - Bunks Are 3 Levels Each

Birkenau Barracks

Birkenau Looking Through the Countless Bunks

Birkenau Barracks - Bunks Were Removed From This One

Birkenau Latrine


Many Birkenau Barracks Were Demolished Post War

The Holocaust
by Barbara Sonek
www.auschwitz.dk/id6.htm

We played, we laughed
we were loved.
We were ripped from the arms of our
parents and thrown into the fire.
We were nothing more than children.
We had a future. We were going to be lawyers, rabbis, wives, teachers, mothers. We 
had dreams, then we had no hope. We were 
taken away in the dead of night like cattle in 
cars, no air to breathe smothering, crying, 
starving, dying. Separated from the world to 
be no more. From the ashes, hear our plea. 
This atrocity to mankind can not happen again. 
Remember us, for we were the children whose dreams and lives were stolen 
away.

1 comment:

  1. I just found out that Barbara Sonek, the school teacher from NY who wrote this poem, passed away 4 months ago. Her words will not be forgotten.


    Barbara M. Sonek
    BORN: June 22, 1942
    DIED: December 22, 2010
    LOCATION: Jamaica, NY

    ReplyDelete