Auschwitz Entrance Gate

Prisoners' Blocks at Auschwitz I

Death Wall Between Blocks 10 & 11

Entrance to Auschwitz II Birkenau

Auschwitz, known all over the world as a symbol of terror, genocide, and the Holocaust was established by the Nazis in the suburbs of the city of Oswiecim which, like other parts of Poland, was occupied by the Germans during the Second World War. The camp was a deserted former Polish army base. Auschwitz and Birkenau, the two 'death' camps, were liberated in January 1945. The remains of the camps, the survivors' and liberators' testimonies, and the documentary evidence leave no doubt as to the enormity of the crimes against humanity which were committed there.

The cynical sign “Arbeit macht frei” (“Work makes you free”) was put on the main gate leading to the camp and is a reflection of the Nazi policy, full of racism, hatred and intolerance.

A visit to the camp consists of two parts. Auschwitz I is the smaller of the two camps. The exhibitions are housed here. Many photographs, documents and exhibits show the tragedy of this place – the barracks where the prisoners were kept as well as the interior of nazi buildings; the location for the camp orchestra which played during roll calls; the square where prisoners, dressed only in poor clothes and clogs were held for hours in both hot and freezing weather; block 10 where the medical experiments were carried out; block 11, known as the “barrack of death”; and the “wall of death” which joined blocks 10 and 11 and is today a reconstruction of the former original one. This tragedy is still fresh in the minds of people who visit Auschwitz and many pilgrims leave candles and fresh flowers there. There is also a building where there are remains of the original crematory ovens and next to it, on a small square, a place where Rudolf Höss, the first and long lasting cruel commandant of the Auschwitz camp, was hanged on the 16th April 1947.

Auschwitz II Birkenau houses the infamous 4 large gas chambers and crematoria where 2,000 inmates were gassed to death in a 15-20 minute period. Here also is the pond filled in with human ashes, and the memorial monument erected in 2005.

Human dignity was destroyed in Auschwitz but not the memory. Here we see the reality of evil and here we recognise the evils of world history, yesterday, today, and probably tomorrow unless we decide to do the only thing we can to bring it to an end – pray! It is no coincidence that Our Divine Lord chose His ‘Apostle of Mercy – St. Faustina’ from this persecuted land of Poland, and chose His ‘Successor to Peter’ from this same land to guide us all into the 3rd Millennium!