On Saturday morning, we left Olonouk and started to make our way to Krakow, Poland. On the way there, we stopped for a tour of Auchwitz.

The tour started at Auschwitz I, which has now been converted into a museum. We had a guide take us through and explain the horrible events of the holocaust. The museum and the guide did a good job of making it an emotional experience as opposed to a simple history lesson with statistics.
They have a section, which just has piles of possessions -such as shoes, luggage, combs- that were confiscated from the Jewish prisoners. These sections really help quantify the massive amount of victims that went through the camp. There was even a room that featured all the hair that was cut from the women's heads to be sold for textiles. That was very disturbing.
The museum did a good job of respecting the victims and giving them all identities. There was a hall of photos that featured the name and occupation of countless victims.
The last stop was in one of the gas chambers. The room had such an awful feeling in it, knowing that so many people spent their lat moments there. I felt like I could've been sick.

Afterwards, we did a walk around of Auschwitz II, which was twenty times the size of the first. There were examples there of prisoner barracks that were simply unlivable.

The whole experience was sickening and saddening. But I am grateful for the experience. As it has been said, if we don't remember the past, we will be doomed to repeat it.