I just want to start off by saying that the words I say in this post will not even come close to the feelings and experience I had today at Auschwitz. It is actually extremely difficult for me to write this because I am honestly still trying to process what I saw.
Today, I laid foot on the largest Nazi concentration and death camp. As soon as I pushed through the turn stile and saw the words “Arbeit Macht Frei” my heart sunk to my feet. It felt absolutely unreal that I was standing where hundreds of thousands of people were brutally tortured and killed. There was a melancholy presence while I was walking through the gate. There was even a sense of guilt that rushed through me while treading through the mud and snow of the camp. It seemed unfair that I was able to walk here today. My footprints followed those of men, women, and even children who may have never made it back outside.
While stepping into one of the blocks, my tour guide mentioned that she was not going to speak a lot because she believed it spoke for itself. And that it did. I saw mountainous piles of hair, shoes, hairbrushes, suitcases, pots, etc. that belonged to, and were taken away from prisoners. These people had no idea what was about to happen to them. The enormous piles of personal possessions illustrate this. Once they got to Auschwitz, these items were never to be seen again.
One thing that indubitably stood out to me was when my group walked out of a block and into a courtyard that consisted of the extermination wall. Two by two, prisoners were sent outside, the same way my group walked, and faced the infamous wall. They were then shot in the back of the head. I was standing behind the group as they were observing the extermination wall. I instantly pictured the prisoners with their backs facing just as my group was. I had a horrifying image of the lifeless bodies just hitting the ground after receiving a bullet to their head. Families, however, were all killed together. So, then I pictured me and my own family, standing there together, trembling, and having everything be over within the second.
All of the thoughts and emotions I experienced today can be formed into an entire book. For my own health, I need to stop writing here. There is just a lot of information I am trying to still take in and it is hard for me to write when I can’t even come to terms with my own feelings. Every thought that passed through my head was needed for me to truly put everything into perspective. I will end by saying, I will never forget today.
Examining the role of communication in Hitler’s dictatorship
Originally, Auschwitz was meant for political prisoners. Then came the Jews, homosexuals, gypsies, people with disabilities and anyone who threatened the superiority of the Third Reich.
However, it’s important to note that labor and extermination camps started with the most outspoken critics of Hitler’s dictatorship––– political enemies of Hitler’s regime.
This includes communists, academics, journalists and anyone else who threatened the German dictatorship.
Yesterday, we saw death lists of political prisoners published by the Nazis displayed in the Schindler Museum in Krakow. The list consisted of more than thirty names of Polish prisoners their death sentences. This begs the question––– why did the Nazis feel the need to advertise death when their concentration camps were hidden from the rest of the world?
The only word that comes to mind is fear.
Former Abwehr (German Secret Police) chief Maj Wieser explained the concept of fear through the press in a letter. He wrote, “We can expect that the publication of such details will reach wider circles of the Polish population and terrorize them into submission.”
Throughout this course, we’ve focused on the beginning of Gutenberg’s press and the expansion of print accessibility to the masses. However, for the Nazis, Gutenberg’s groundbreaking invention contributed to the death of millions of innocent people. In particular, printers were used by the Nazis to incite fear and public discord in Poland at the beginning of World War II. The death list posted in public places of deceased political prisoners became synonymous with the reminder of a bullet. Every newspaper article published from German “news” media was a reminder of the Nazi’s unwavering power. As a result, more than 500,000 Poles were drafted by the Nazis at the cusp of the war, while others deemed inferior were sent to work campus such as Auschwitz and Birkenau.
Even so, one of the most horrifying aspects of visiting Auschwitz and Birkenau was the fact that it was completely hidden from the public view during World War II. Despite publicizing the deaths of political prisoners, the Nazis never wanted the public to know what actually happened inside the concentration camps. They covered their tracks through strict nomenclature. For example, the eradication of Jews was described as their “Resettlement.” Gas chambers were “Disinfection” rooms. In addition, the Nazis hid and burned any literature with any reference to their twisted acts of horror towards those deemed “inferior”; however, their gas chamber plans were recovered in the end.
It is truly mind-blowing when people deny actions of their own atrocities through hiding their meaning to others. All we can do is remember and reflect. And hope the misuse of rhetoric doesn’t lead us down paths that end in blood and barbed wire.
-Theresa Prayther and Abby Gibbs
Journey Through Media's Impact in Europe 