This is the day we travel to Auschwitz. This is the place that so many think of when they think of the Holocaust. Auschwitz - the place where my own great-aunts, great-uncles, and cousins perished (transported from Hungary in 1944). It will be overwhelming (not that every other day of this trip has not been overwhelming) - and it will be personal.
People who have been to Auschwitz come away with mixed feelings and mixed emotions. (How could you not??) I've heard comments that they museum atmosphere and large numbers of tourists takes away the "realness" of the place. Is there a place that could be any more "real"? Our group has now been to several authentic sites, and each is unique.
As we leave the hotel, the day is gray and rainy. We've been told it will be muddy with many mosquitoes at Birkenau. This is strangely (or not) appropriate.
I go with an open mind and no expectations. I do not want to experience Auschwitz as others have. I just need to experience it.
THE ROAD TO AUSCHWITZ
Fields of corn, farms, forests
Houses, small towns
New homes and some untouched by time
The past and the present will meet
We leave the present
and enter another world
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