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Oświęcim

Tuesday 14 June 2005 | general

Tomorrow Kinga and I are hoping to go to Oświęcim, known of course to most of the world as Auschwitz. I’ve lived within sixty miles of it for seven years now, but I’ve never gotten the nerve to go visit. Though it seems a most depressing thing to do in our last week in Poland, Kinga and I decided that for precisely that reason – that we only have a few more days here – we should go while we have the chance.

It’s a bad time to go. Visiting Auschwitz always seemed more appropriate in the winter. Perhaps in some childish attempt to empathize with the victims, I always imagined going in the coldest period of winter, and purposely not dressing properly, as if my few hours of numbness makes up for anything. As if I should be making up for anything. Going in the late spring makes it somehow seem more frivolous, as if I’d feel compelled to stand in front of the famous “Arbeit Macht Frei” sign in my sandals and shorts and pose for a tasteless picture.

The whole issue of pictures itself is troubling. Should I? I don’t want to be a tourist, but what choice do I have? I don’t want to cheapen the experience by taking snapshots, but I also realize that it’s an opportunity of sorts. In then end, I’ll probably take a roll of black and white film and try to take some “artsy” shots.

It also seems like something one should experience alone. Discussion could too easily fall into idle chit-chat, I fear, but the reality is, the weight of the sense of tragedy there will silence us.

2 Comments

  1. Vivi

    Oh, I wouldn’t worry, you’ll know what to do. I visited Dachau with my high school choir: 50-something 15-18 year olds, and you’ve never heard such a quiet group of teenagers. If we could get through that without idle chit-chat, you’ll be fine. And I took my camera and took lots of photos. I advise just to follow the moment: if it feels right, take the picture. I can’t imagine the authorities having a problem with photographs, as the more photos that are taken, the more people see and learn about the holocaust.

    Oh, and we were there in July. It was just as heartbreaking as I imagine it would be in winter.

  2. Gary

    Odd—I too went to Dachau some years ago. Well, almost twenty years ago. I was there in winter, though.