This year, the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, Dylan Read and I had the opportunity to visit the site ourselves as part of the Holocaust Educational Trust’s ‘Lessons from Auschwitz’ project. It was an invaluable chance to learn about the experiences of those involved and discover the contemporary relevance that it has today.
11 million people. One third of the entire Jewish population. 1.5 million children. Everybody knows something about this dreadful genocide. However, these statistics are so immense that it is hard to fathom the individual lives behind them. During our visit, they gained a new meaning.
We saw the Nazi dehumanisation of their victims devastatingly clearly as we observed the extermination camp of Auschwitz II. There were rows upon rows of cramped barracks like holding pens and, as we walked further, the ruins of the gas chambers and metal ovens. There seemed to be no appreciation of them as human beings, only an emotionless, utilitarian logic.
Once I understood this, the importance of re-humanising those involved became apparent. At Auschwitz I, we saw displays of artefacts taken from the victims. Piles of shoes, ranging from summer garden party heels to leather work boots. Suitcases with names and addresses proudly marked on the front. Most disturbing of all, the room of human hair. In the towering mass, a tiny plait caught my eye.
Suddenly, all those statistics hit me again, but each number was a laughing little girl with pigtails, or a woman putting on her favourite dancing shoes, or a father digging out his old holiday suitcase and preparing for the new life he was promised. I became aware of the stark contrast between the simplicity of a few numbers and the complex reality of all those lives interweaving in one event. I remembered that the people who committed these atrocities were not so different themselves, but lived in very different circumstances.
We cannot change these events, but we can and must endeavour to gain an understanding of them.
The visit, whilst harrowing, was also full of hope. Now, wildflowers grow amidst the barbed wire and the air bursts with birdsong. We must all focus on moving forward, but never forget where humankind has been. For the next steps of our LFA project, Dylan and I are creating a video and blog about dehumanisation since the liberation of Auschwitz and speaking to modern influential figures about the fight to end discrimination. By learning from the past, we can strive towards a future where every human life is considered worthy of respect and love.
Alice Bate
Alice Bate
