This is not a normal vlog for us. No, we probably won't be talking about cheese
we won't be laughing as much as we do. I doubt it at least and I definitely won't
be talking every person that walks by. We are in Poland this week and so today we
are in we're visiting Auschwitz and Birkinau concentration camps.
In 2014 we sold all of our possessions put our jobs and set off as a family for a
one-year adventure in Costa Rica. The one year was not enough so we rolled up our
sleeves and figured out how to make this journey continue. We are World Towning!
Join our family! Largo, Jessica, Avalon and Will, as we travel the world to connect
deeply to local cultures, go on epic adventures and grow closer as a family,.
It's gonna be heavy guys so if you decide this is it for you we understand.
We chose to shoot this in two days so yesterday we took a six-hour tour with
the kids and out of respect for the people that have passed and to be
present with our children as well as to learn ourselves we shot very little.
We will do some flashbacks to that time but today we're going to take you on the
journey of the things that we thought were everything's important for the
things that we felt were the most important to share with you.
We are currently in a Auschwitz One. There are three camps in the area and we're
going to visit a Auschwitz One and Auschwitz Two which is usually referred to
as Birkenau. Now, what made that this place really interesting to the Germans is
that this place was centrally located on a main railway station line.
So between Warsaw and Austria to the west there was an infrastructure already
in place and right here it was where they had a main junction which made it
easy for Germans to bring in supplies and bring in people and make this place
a ideal place to house prisoners. And it was already built as an army barrack so
they didn't have to build it from the ground up.
Yesterday on our tour the most profound statistic I heard was that 1.3 million
people arrived here - Auschwitz One and Auschwitz 2. And 1.1 million people died.
That number is huge huge, And the people that were imprisoned here were primarily
Polish political prisoners, Soviet POWs, Jehovah's Witnesses, Roma people, homeless,
from Romania, homosexuals and they were housed at Auschwitz one and then all the
Jewish people that came here, some were held to you later on but most of them
were in Auschwitz Two - and of the 1.1 million people who died 900 thousand of
those were Jewish. So basically one out of every six people who are Jewish who
died during the Holocaust, died within here in
Auschwitz Two - and 6 million
Jews died during the Holocaust across the board at all concentration camps and
in other ways that's I mean that's... it's a horrific amount.
I'm going to cry throughout this whole video.
We're going to take you around this place and show you what what this place look like because it's pretty
much, well, in tact so far.
So I'm sure a lot of you are curious to... if it was appropriate to bring the kids
here and our thoughts on it and how we prepare the kids. So for us we felt that
at this point our kids were ready for this magnitude of a concentration camp.
We've been traveling in Europe for a year and a half they've had a lot of
exposure to the history they've been on a bunch of Tours with historians we've
studied D-Day at great lengths they watch documentaries
we've also visited Dachau and Terezin concentration camps there's been a lot
of open conversation in our family as well as discussions after we read a book
or they watch a documentary about how they feel. From my opinion and Will's
opinion our kids were ready for this but a lot of people asked us, you know,
should be take kids here? I think you need to base it on your kid and their level
of knowledge and understanding of the event and also how it emotionally
impacts them.
It's not only adults they came to Auschwitz. There was also a lot of kids.
Now this camp, about two hundred thirty two thousand kids came - arrived here on the trains
within Auschwitz one and Auschwitz two of which immediately two hundred ten
thousand kids were sent to the gas chamber
which left only twenty-two thousand kids that were actually registered here and
admitted and became a part of the community here and of those twenty two
thousand - on that January day when the Soviets liberated the camp about 650
kids were liberated of which four and fifty were under the age of 15 and the
youngest liberated child was two years old. But the thing is this, so I mean, when
when they lived here they actually still were kids they still decorated the area,
they still had hope, they still believed that life was going to continue after
the war and they decorated their life as such I mean some of them you could tell
what the drawings are on the walls that they they could feel the tragedy and
others they had they had so much color and light and life and flowers that they
they had hope that life would go back to the way it was and I think that says a
lot about kids and their resilience.
So this is really ominous what we're seeing here and we are - it's just it's
just a lot to take in I mean it really really is. Be prepared when you come here
do your research I mean it's it's tough it's really hard and...To know that you're
walking through the areas where people basically only had a six-month life
expectancy. Right the life expectancy of Auschwitz one was six months and it
Burkenau (Auschwitz two) was two or three months. Right so this (Auschwitz one) was the preferred location
to be at. However walking through these areas all
these buildings have been turned into at this point like exhibits not all that
most of them and memorials and you can see a lot of what life was like and a
lot of the remnants of what's been left behind so one of there was one we went
in that they requested we do not film in out of respect for the people who've
passed and and we absolutely respect that so I'm just gonna tell you a little
bit but about it. They had the hair of 40,000 women. They were killed, but before
they killed them in the gas chamber they took their hair off and then they used
it for wigs and resale and this display behind a glass of all the hair was
something they found in a warehouse when the camp was liberated and they put it
on display and for me that was that was the hardest part for me to process and
everything we saw. You really just have to have the right mindset when you
come here that this is not a day in the park. No! Absolutely not. But it is a
profound, profound education and if I had my way I'd send everyone here like from
age 15 on...probably. Or in our case, ten.
Overall why did you guys think about the
experience at Auschwitz and Birkenau? Personally I don't think it
was as bad as Dachau was. In what respect how was it different than that? Um...I
think that tour got the tour guide on Dachau wasn't...like I don't know how
to say this but it was like, he wasn't better tour guide but he was...umm, like
more gruesome information I'd say.
our people that kept depended on the color
Of the driver so the colors are trying to play a key role in organizing the camp.
For example if you were marked as a red triangle you had show political
resistance this camp was dominated by so-called politicians other camps were
dominated by criminals.
I think that Auschwitz one is pretty small for what it's
it's reputation. Yeah
I think that Auschwitz two -
Birkenau is much worse. Why do you think it's worse? It's huge. It's really big.
Song Lyrics "don't cover me babe your shadows hanging over me. Breath on me, breath on me.
And don't cover me babe don't lay yourself on top of me I don't
want us to start again get it and I'm not your friend
everything's been said and everything's been done I'll be down the street, all passed out on rum.
cuz I'm trying to forget you... (End of song)
So we're now at Auschwitz two - Birkenau. Now when the
Germans arrived over there, Auschwitz one, the main camp, they realized that that main
camp was not enough they realized that they can actually do more. So with the
train tracks right over there they can build this massive mega camp Auschwitz
one, Auschwitz two became the largest concentration camp in all of Nazi Germany this place that
were standing on right now was loaded with villagers and they move them all to
another place to create this secondary camp. Basically two kilometers long and
800 meters wide and...just horrible
So when the prisoners arrived they basically arrived right into the camp
the Nazis built an offshoot right into the camp so that there was no way of
escape. And once they exited the train cars they were immediately separated
women and children to one area men to another they took their luggage away
from them telling them that they would see it again they never saw the luggage
again and most have never saw their family members again. Right so this place
that we're at right now is called the selection area and this is where
essentially every prisoner was evaluated for whether they're going to be meant
for work or meant for extermination immediately.
So the doctors would sit
right over there and they would say whether they looked
healthy or not and they'll be either moved towards the gas chambers or
towards the barracks and it happened just like that. And at
the height of the extermination camps 75 to 85% of the people that exited these
railroad cars right behind us immediately went to the gas chambers and
almost all children went immediately to the gas chambers.
This is a typical railroad car that people would arrive on and there would
be a gentleman who would sit up here to monitor them and then it would house
between 75 to 100 people barely. Some of them had a little window like this but
most of them had no windows they had just a bucket to use the restroom in and
standing-room-only there was no heat there was no ventilation so it was
either extremely cold or extremely hot and when they made it here to Birkenau
many people were dead on arrival. They were shipped from all over in Europe as
far at North as Sweden in these cars and sometimes they would be in them for up
to seven to ten days before they arrived here. And at the back end each cart had
someone who watched over it in a little house. I don't really know why because it
doesn't look like there would be any way for them to escape so...
It's really impressive being here when it's like, just us. I mean there's like
two or three other people here it's really early morning but amazing looking
at what of what this place is all by yourself and just be notice soak this
all in. Yeah it's making me really sad is it really it's so ominous and no one's
here and it feels like... I'm okay with feeling sad because we have to learn about this
about this and be here and be present, um and I actually do recommend coming here
coming here because most people go to Auschwitz first and then they come here
after and it we came here really early this morning I think it was like 7:30
and the doors were open and it you get to truly experience and kind of be with
your thoughts and processes a bit I actually thought we went to Auschwitz it
would be kind of these crazy tours and loud and everything and honestly the
tours everyone has headsets and it's really quiet and calm and you can't hear
someone yelling from another tour anything so it's it's quite quiet and
gives you time to reflect and process at Auschwitz as well but here even more so
I mean this this is a really this is my fourth concentration camp visit, if you
count Auschwitz one and Auschwitz two as two separate camps even though they
weren't really, and this is the hardest one to take you just you just walk in
those gates there's no trees there's nothing it's just barrack after barrack
after barracks. So I think coming here particularly if you're coming with other
people you kind of all need to process it come here early and take your time
and be able to have that opportunity to talk with your family and your children
about this but
It's a lot...
So we're in one of the barracks now and all the barracks that sit here are
all the originals nothing has been replaced maybe a roof has been
reconstructed to make sure that the actual structure does not fall apart but
these are where the prisoners slept. These bunks which are replicas but
essentially they they slept three in a bed each and the way that it worked out
was that the strongest ones, probably the newest arrivals, would be the ones who
slept up up on top why did he want to sleep on top well because
there's a lot of dysentery a lot of through gastro issues here because the
water was a very safe. People up on top did not have to suffer any type of
excrement on them. I know it sounds disgusting
but that's how people survived here. The strong survived until they became weak
and then they went down the rungs one by one until until they just couldn't
handle it anymore
Right now we are sitting in front of one of the gas chambers at Birkenau and once
the Nazis realized the camp was going to be liberated they bombed it so that they
would get rid of all the evidence of the gas chambers. This place could hold up to
2,000 people at one time in terms of a mass extermination. People would get
undressed right in front and then they would walk inside, go through the gas
chamber and they would do up to two killings a day but for the entire camp
they could actually kill till twelve thousand people in one day. Right it's
horrific because after the gas chamber then they would just put them into the
crematorium connected to it and then within two hours
they were able to they would do another killing - exterminate everyone. What I find
particularly interesting was that the gas chambers were actually created
because the Germa n soldiers were unable to watch and kill the prisoners without
it's psychologically affecting them so they wanted to come up with another way
to dispose of the prisoners that wouldn't affect the German soldiers or
the Nazis emotionally.
What was the most upsetting
thing that you heard or saw on today's tour?
The most upsetting thing I saw on the tour was most likely, all the children's
clothes and all like all those shoes and all the pots and pans and everything
that people have brought with them that they had sorted because it really put
things into perspective and it made me think but that's not all because they
had sent off a ton of it to like other people to be sold.
It was really crazy. I think the most upsetting thing that I heard was that
like 75% of people were immediately gassed.
Yeah, that's bad...
(Song intro)
(Song playing) When the time is right and I'm not alone. I will conquer this and bring you home .
(Song playing) When this world has started and the breeze is sir when the time's right.
(Song playing) I'll sing you a song.
(Song Playing) I'll sing you a song
(Song Playing) Oh
(Song Playing) I'll sing you a song. When the horn don't glow imma let you know what the story fails
(Song Playing) imma be the day bring your spirits out and your full of doubt
(Song Playing) when you're far from found I hope
(Song ending)
So we're now standing at the memorial that's been set up for the Holocaust
remembrance. And I think we have we've been here long enough to appreciate
what's been happening here and I think that we've shown you exactly what it
felt like to be walking through these steps like we have. Hope we did a good
job. I hope we honored the people that have passed I hope we try to be as
respectful at every moment when we were shooting. 700,000 people would
visit the site 10 years ago and today it's as much as 2 million a year and I
think that says- it's says that there is a lot to be learned and people start to
appreciate the fact that it's history like this which is gonna remind us what
it's like to not repeat it in the future. This camp was liberated on January 27th
1945 in which of the 1.3 million people that passed here only 7,000 were
liberated in 650 those were children. I just hope that at this point you
realize as much as we have that traveling this world like we have at
this point is not just about seeing the sights and checking out bucket lists.
It's about remembrance and about paying respects to those who have created this
world that we have now that we can't have the future and the freedoms that we
do have. And it's about not always visiting the happy places but going to
the places that are necessary. I think this to me this is one of the, no,
this was the most important visit we could take with our kids as WorldTowners.
With that we pay our respect.
What do you what do you think that you've leaned most about this?
Don't let
I know I know I know I
know I know
Don't let history repeat itself.
I also learned don't give poison to adults what like toddlers it'll turn out
very badly.
Today's question of the vlog is a little bit of heavier one. Would you
take your children, teenagers to a concentration camp? I know it's a
controversial topic some people just don't want to expose their kids to that
others think it's really important for their kids to learn about history very
early on so that they don't repeat it or support events that they repeat it so
let's share in the comments. I think the more we share about how we handle a
topic like this the better we can help each other.
What are you wearing?
I'm in hiding yeah. I'm cold.
This is our last moment in Poland at least at Auschwitz
we'll be back and we will get back and Poland a little bit back .
I honestly feel
like you know Poland is one of those countries that doesn't get enough credit
for what it has. And I think we need to see more of it because this vlog is just
a tiny piece of Poland even though it's it's a huge part of history. Right.
So if you guys are feeling inspired please give us a thumbs up comment and if you
want to see more we're doing because we're next we're gonna Slovakia.
Who doesn't want you to see Slovakia? So then subscribe okay with that we are leaving
goodbye and, see you next time. See you in Slovakia.
This is like a crazy bomb shelter right here next to the hotel, by the campsite
this is like a real-deal bomb shelter I don't know who's in here
No comments:
Post a Comment