Before you read, I understand not all of you will agree with someone visiting this country for moral reasons. I took that into regard and understand it.
In July I was offered a chance to go to Nazi Occupied Poland with a friend of mine. Why? Well, why not? Visiting one of the most isolated, strange, and controversial extermination camps in all the world. I think it's important to see what it's like for yourself and get a better understanding of what goes on there. It's a very unique and interesting place as well.
We started in Auschwitz where I met the tour group and we had a meeting of how everything will go down. It was all very simple stuff. We were also handed out paper creditentials which gets stamped when you enter. It's actually really easy to get the proper authorization to enter the camp there as long as you aren't a journalist or unwittingly mention to a guard that you're affiliated with the Allies.
We took a cattle class train from Krakow to Auschwitz, the very same method of transportation used to access the camp by it's numerous inhabitants. Although we were informed our own cattle car was slightly more comfortable compared to the cars the jews were used to. The train takes about 24 hours all up so it's not a quick journey.
I discovered those who say they "illegally" took photos on their trip or had to "sneak out" pictures are full of shit. As we arrive at customs it's pretty easy going. The Nazi officials take a quick check of our bags, check what electronics we have, and make a note of the cameras. One of the Nazi officers was far more interested in the cosmopolitan magazine one of the women had and after opening it to a double paged photo of a bunch of chubby naked women laying over each other he decided this item must absolutely come with him. What a riot! Good relations between the tour company and the local Obersturmbannführer make this process a lot easier too.
On the trip into the camp, we saw hundreds upon hundreds of watchful visitors (all rather skinny) behind the barbed wire fence, no doubt eager to greet us into the compound. The camp guards who accompanied us wouldn't let them speak, however. No doubt they didn't want them spoiling our tour!
Welcome to the camp!
As we began our tour of the camp grounds, we couldn't help but notice a great upsurge of ash rising into the sky. The nearest tour guide kindly explained to us that if we merely diverted our attention from the ominous, terrifying sight...it wouldn't exist, and therefore wouldn't be able to trouble us morally. Turns out, she was right! Next up...we met several members of the staff who worked there.
Here they are launching into song! Such high spirits! We would have all joined in, if only we spoke German!
A cigarette break:
On our way over to lunch we asked a nearby aide what the gas chambers on the other side of the compound were for. Turns out no-one would tell us. Apparently though, only the camp's inhabitants can use the chambers on that side of the camp. No one else.
Later, we were very generously asked to dine outside the camp grounds with some of the senior Nazi officials. The food we had was actually pretty nice, which was good because it allowed us to be distracted from the overwhelming human suffering and misery that lay just outside of the carefully constructed facade that our guides had purposefully created for us. They give you a pretty wide range and it's all tasty. The whole experience felt very strange though. Through the barbered wire fence, we asked some of the camps bald and emancipated residents if they would have liked to join us in stuffing our faces, but they just stared at us. They were just standing there waiting and it's a little weird.
This is also one of our Nazi guides, Rudolf Höss. He was actually really awesome. More on the guides later though!
You see a lot of these propaganda photographs around.
Overall, it's a weird country. It's strange but not as strange as I thought. As for the camp's inhabitants, here people aren't eating tree roots or fully emancipated. I can't claim I know every part of the reich but I saw as much as any westerner will ever get to see for a long time. The Nazi Government itself might be fairly fucked up but the people aren't. They're shy, respectful, and quiet. Some want to be left alone while others are very curious about the outside world. None of them know about the camps or the shit the government does. At most they hear that the government is standing up for itself against America. That's it. I think a few of them understand that Hitler's Nazi Germany isn't normal but they don't have a say in the matter and wouldn't express those opinions to an outsider. I don't know if they'd ever accept capitalism or the world ever forcefully overthrowing the government but if Adolf Hitler dropped dead and diplomatic relations actually opened up I think there could be a way to work with them. Just not while they have a leader like.
While it's morally grey to go to a country like this I'd recommend going to understand and experience it. No one left without a much better understanding of the country you see in the news almost daily. Certainly, because although I'm willfully supporting a dictatorship which
only manages to perpetuate itself by inflicting human suffering upon a mass scale, I managed to get a really neat trip out of it, as well as take a few pretty cute photos!
There's probably a lot of other stuff I could say but it's a pretty big post and there's so much more to say so maybe I'll answer questions after this if anyone is curious.
On one final note I did find out one more thing while I was over there. Adolf Hitler is a Sonic the Hedgehog fan.
