Never Forget

My travels for work have taken me to Krakow, Poland (my first time) for an international conference. I took the opportunity of this trip to visit the nearby concentration camps at Auschwitz-Birkenau which became the killing center where the largest numbers of European Jews were killed during the Holocaust.

Perhaps nothing can prepare you to confront the visual and psychological reality of the systematic human extermination that happened here. We had an extraordinary guide, Berta, who is a native of the small village of Oswiecim from which the camp draws its name. A history teacher, Berta was amazingly knowledgeable about all aspects of the camp. Allowing her facts and observations to unfold before us with patience and sensitivity, Berta invited us to face a reality that is impossible to ignore. I found a very interesting blog post about another group’s recent visit to the camp and our guide Berta here.

As a continual reminder of our own responsibility to prevent such atrocities from happening, visitors to the camp see this quote from George Santayana at the museum’s entrance: "Those who do not learn from history are condemned to repeat it."

-- Pat Jones