What a birthday present. Most cannot say they have been to Auschwitz, even fewer can say they have been on their birthday. There were a lot of surprises, one of which is how nice it is outside of the buildings in Auschwitz I. I do not say this to denigrate what its victims experienced, but to ask, "Why?".
I have become so confused over the Nazi concentration camp issue because I cannot understand why anyone would ever have so much work go into killing someone... The inmates were forced to build housing upon housing at Birkenau (Auschwitz II), but why? So they could house more Jews to be exterminated. It is still baffling. Why not just shoot them in their homes? Why not some other way? If one escaped, ten were tortured. They carrier their dead back to camp after a day's work so the Nazis would not accuse anyone of escaping.
Auschwitz is nothing less than horrible. At the back of Birkenau there are several ruins of the gas chambers and crematories the Nazis blew up with dynamite to hide what they had been doing once they knew the liberation was about to occur. The families and survivors have decided to leave the ruins as is to show the world the Nazis really were evil.
Staying in Poland is in itself an experience that is humbling. These people have gone through more than their fair share of torture throughout the centuries. I am staying with in the home of an engineer and his family in Glogow, Poland. Glowgow was a German city during WWII, but went to Poland thereafter. If you go to the city center, you see new buildings disguised as they were prior to the war and also churches and the empty shells and foundations of others. These buildings were destroyed by the Allies. The families here are from all over Poland because the eastern half of the country was then given to Ukraine and Russia.
As Americans we really did a number on Europe after the end of WWII. We are taught about the reconstruction from our point of view, but never take time to wonder if it is simply another case of "the winners writing history." The Polish people look up to us. They see our country as a beacon of light and chance for opportunity, yet we have closed the doors on what was once the American Dream. It is no longer about a chance for freedom, but now about a chance to become as rich as possible at the expense of all others.
I am not saying I want the government to take all of our money for the spending programs they see fit, but why is it we are hoarding our money? The typical defense I hear is, "because I have the freedom to do that if I want." That is true if you are referring to "the law of the land." When we read the Scriptures we do not see that though.
2 Corinthians 9: (9) As it is written, "He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever." (10) He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. (11) You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God.
While Poland democratized 21 years ago on January 1, 1990, the effects of communism have not left. Buildings are still very plain and aesthetically boring on the outside, doctors and engineers make not much more than my wife and I in the U.S., and the people are still heavily taxed. Socialism has not yet left the nation.
In Glogow, the small town I am staying in, there are ruins all over the town. Only in the past several years has the town been able to rebuild. Seeing Auschwitz, Birkenau, Krakow, Wroclaw, Glogow, and Lubin have all made me extremely thankful God did not choose me to be born into those shoes. However, Ephesians 9 also reminds me that what God has blessed me with, he expects me to bless the world with. He did not give to the saints for sole purpose of blessing the saints, but gave to us abundantly and generously so we can do the same for the rest of creation while proclaiming the love of Christ to the world.
Location:Oświęcim, Poland
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