By Teacher Andrzej Litwin and The Students of Szkola Podstawowa, Nr 1 (Class 8, A and B) Gdynia, Poland
Barracks at Auschwitz-Birkenau
Living on a rather peaceful planet, going to school, enjoying your free time, it is hard to imagine that before, and during, World War II, the Nazis continued the systematic destruction of over six million Jews. Horrible as it was and still is in our minds, it was us the people -- the human race -- who made those six million die. Some time ago we watched on TV a program about a woman who faced the tragedy of the Holocaust, and even now, it is difficult for her, and us all, to understand and to accept it. She and her family were captured in a small Polish village and immediately put into a train. The journey lasted incredibly long. Many died on their way in the terrible conditions of a cattle train. They did not have anything to eat or drink; the carriages were dark, crowded, and there wasn't enough fresh air. When the Jews finally reached the end -- the death camp -- all of them were let out and divided into groups. The woman had a younger brother who asked her where he should go. She thought for a while and said, "Follow Mom; she loves you. She won't let them hurt you," and so he did. He followed his mother believing everything would be fine. Later, the woman learned that the group in which her mother was had been sent straight to gas chambers. Later, she said, "I will never forgive myself; I killed him. But how was I to know? Mothers love their children; they protect them." How scary and tragic must it be to live with such a burden, which can never be forgotten and never will be? There was a Polish writer Tadeusz Borowski who spent years in a death camp and later wrote a few stories and poems about it. We would like to give you at least an idea of his work, which is why we translated the poem in this article.
Probably the worst thing about the death camps was making people feel dehumanized and degraded for the price of their lives and with full consciousness. We did some thinking and came to the conclusion that sometimes it is extremely difficult and dreadful to introduce the theory of some philosophical idea into real life. There is a saying: "We know nothing about ourselves until we are checked in extreme situations." Sometimes it is even scary to ask, "What are we?" or "What acts are we capable of committing?"
Maciek: "It was one extremely huge paranoia. Millions of people died just because of their origins, religious beliefs, and hair and eye color. All kinds of beliefs grew especially when connected with the way people looked. Because Jews controlled the trade, Germans wanted to have their money."
Sebastian: "In my personal opinion, a human being is a human being, no matter the country he or she is from, no matter what color he or she is, and no matter what his or her beliefs are. By killing others, we did a great damage to ourselves. We showed the world our 'beasty side'."
What are you, you who is afraid at night Afraid of limestone holes and pits I would return across the sea across the ocean So scary your voice is What are you And here I am fighting with you Fighting with my screams and the screams of thsoe I remember And still I'm too weak Too weak to run away And I keep returning to the places I'd like to forget about Tadeusz Borowski