Our visit to Auschwitz I and Auschwitz-Birkenau

We all know the history. We are told the atrocities. We may feel sad, for a moment. But...there's nothing like being in Auschwitz and experiencing the loss, the evil, the injustice and the darkness. We spent five hours through both, Auschwitz and Auschwitz-Birkenau. The first part of our time was spent diving deeper into the history. Looking at documents, lists of the deceased, pictures of the conditions and so on. We entered into rooms that had been preserved to expose living conditions of those kept here. As all of these moved me in one way or another. One thing really got to me. The physical artifacts that were taken by the Nazi's and were recovered by Russian soldiers after the liberation. These artifacts are in the order that I saw them.1. Approximately, 2000kgs of human hair. This hair was shaved off of the heads of women upon arrival. It was sold to production companies in Germany. Most women's hair would be in braids, which were still completely in contact. This hair was just a minuscule representation of reality. The Germans were unable to redistribute the hair before the liberation, hence why we see it today. This made my stomach turn. I imagined the women and young girls brushing their hair that morning, making it into a braid, being taken by soldiers, terrified for their lives. They would then be led to a man who would shave off their beautiful locks and tattoo them with a number. Their identity lost forever within a matter of minutes. 2. An infinite number of shoes. Piles so high you couldn't see the back wall. These shoes belonged to the men, women and children who were gassed in the chambers. 3. Thousands of tools and household items that were confiscated upon arrived at Auschwitz. Many of the prisoners were told that they were being relocated or going to work in a new part of town. They were instructed to bring everything of value, including tools and house hold items. As I said before, they were taken and sold for profit once in the hands of the SS officers.I can only share my words to explain what I saw. There are no photos allowed in these viewing areas. And rightfully so.  We continued to walk trough places where millions of people died each day. Through crematoriums, past the shooting wall, along the hanging posts, dormitories unsuit for even the cruelest of animals...all around the property, there was at least one soul lost. The Nazis had bombed most of the gas chambers moments before the liberation; in attempts to cover up an evidence polluting their innocence. We walked through the the ruins and watched hundreds of Jewish students, wrapped in the blue and white flag, chanting and singing praises to the dead. It was beautiful to see the strength and passion of the youth. It's a lot to experience in one day. Maybe later I will have more words to share about my experience. I could go on about how sad it was, but I imagine that's easily assumed. Forever let this place be a cry of despair. And a warning to humanity. Millions of lives were taken by the hands of evil. How can we perpetuate their six million dreams into our own?       To follow our journey in even more depth please check out our other social media outlets! Instagram: @christinabammbina @marlon_cramdo#boygirlandtheworldYouTube: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCC9qwNoy9QSRXLHKgoKLHtw