We left the side of Block 10 and went to Auschwitz I, the first crematorium
(
photos-b.ak.fbcdn.net...), and among the most advanced in killing
techniques.
We went inside (
photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net...) and walked through empty
and small rooms. There is a memorial inside the building that reads: "In the memory of the people tortured and murdered within these walls by the
S.S."
Outside was the camp's execution yard (
upload.wikimedia.org...).
The only person hung on the noose there was Rudolf Hoss, the camp commandant who was executed on April 16, 1947
We left Auschwitz I, towards the buses. We all sang songs about Israel, the anthem, and "Am Israel Hai" – The Jewish people live.
We slept well that night only because we were tired from the day; otherwise I think I wouldn't ever sleep after a day like that.
That was day 5. It was overwhelming and difficult to explain or understand. Thank you for reading day 5.
Day 6.
We travelled in the morning to Kielce, to the Jewish cemetery there. Around 20,000 Jews were transported from Kielce to Treblinka, or other death
camps. Some survived and returned to Kielce.
We were acquainted with polish youth our age. They were with us in the cemetery
(
photos-e.ak.fbcdn.net...).
The story of this grave goes like this: After the war Jews returned to their home in Kielce. The Poles did not like their returned, and welcomed them
with an attitude of "what, you're still alive? We thought Hitler got all of you".
One day a polish child from the village went to a neighbor village for three days, and a panic started concerning his whereabouts. Looking for a
scapegoat, the local Polish community blamed a Jewish Auschwitz survivor with the kidnapping of the child. The survivor was mentally ill and scarred
after his experience in the death camp, and was an easy target. A pogrom pursued. The Poles killed 42 Jews because of the incident. Here
(
photos-b.ak.fbcdn.net...) Is their memorial, in English: "Here lay
42 holies that were murdered on the 5th of Tamuz (consult your Jewish calendar) 1946 in Kielce. May god have vengeance!".
The Holocaust for some was never over.
The Polish youth held a ceremony in their honor for us
(
photos-f.ak.fbcdn.net...), and sang a Jewish prayer for the Jews
killed there. We accompanied them to their school; we were welcomed beautifully and had a great time with them. They feel terrible and responsible for
the actions of their previous generations.
We spent the afternoon in the city with them
(
photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net...).
We left the Polish youth and went on to Radom, A city near Warsaw. During the Nazi occupation there were 280,000 Jews in the Radom district. The
ghetto in Radom was plagued with disease and starvation. 6000 Jews from the Radom ghetto that held 25,000 were sent to Treblinka in 60 train cars (100
per car) on August 6th 1942. Two weeks later the entire ghetto was sent to Treblinka. 4000 Jews survived the transports. The remainders were sent on
June 26th 1944 on a death march to Tumaschov, were they were sent to Auschwitz.
300 Jews survived the Holocaust and returned to Radom. Only 2 families intact.
When they returned the local Poles slit the throats of 9 Jews strapped to chairs. Out of hate, simply more hate because (Sarcasm – a natural
emotional defense mechanism-) there was just not enough hate in the world already. A warning went out to the rest of the Jews to leave Radom or suffer
the same fate as the nine murdered.