Unfathomable and unconscionable insanity

There’s no prize for guessing where we’ve been.  By chance, our visit coincided with the 74th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. Words on a page can never describe the experience of coming here.  It was genuinely moving. Yet at the same time, everything we saw made no sense at all.  The mind-numbing statistics our tour guide rattled off for more an hour are simply beyond comprehension.

For me, one question remained eternally unanswered. Why target the Jews of Europe for such wholesale slaughter?  How in any way, shape or form could such an inhumane and unspeakable act ever be justified? Why target innocent people no different to the Jewish friends, and their extended families, that I know and love?  The Final Solution is simply unfathomable and unconscionable insanity on a truly industrial scale.

Auschwitz-Birkenau is a confronting place. It challenges you at every turn. It forces you to reflect on your own prejudices, politics and flawed, imperfect nature. Winter also proved an ideal time to visit. The snow, the mud and the drab grey sky constantly reinforced and reminded us that this really was a miserable place for all incarcerated here. However, despite its confronting nature, I came away steadfast in my conviction that by bearing personal witness to this place and its travesty, in some small way, those of us who visit ensure its cold, harsh truths are never forgotten. 

Garry, in particular, was overwhelmed by the tiers of bunks we saw in the women’s barracks.  They are rough, dark and foreboding. This wasn't a Hollywood sound stage. Instead, it genuinely felt very, very real. My only regret? The frenetic pace at which our tour guide pushed us through each complex. Sadly he left us with little time to pause, reflect and remember.