A few years ago I travelled to Kraków. I hadn’t ever intended to go there. Not because it wasn’t of interest to me but my first thought had always been to go to the Somme or Flander’s Fields. Many people wonder why on earth someone would want to spend their holiday time going to such a sad place. For me, seeing the world should be about being left in awe. For many, this equates to something like the Grand Canyon — something that makes you stare at the earth’s wonder and remind yourself of what a small part you play. I had wanted to go to the battlegrounds of WWI for the same reason, despite there not being any natural wonder to stare at. The heaviness, the silence, the man-made carvings into the landscape, the gravestones and the many graves unmarked. This was the awe and sadness that I had originally seeked. It was for perspective and a desire to get closer to history’s mistakes. As fate would have it, the Somme would have to wait for another day.

When we arrived at the first site of Auschwitz we met with our private tour guide who would lead us throughout the day. We had decided to go ‘out of season’ (it still feels weird that a concentration camp has seasons like any other tourist attraction) so it was rather quiet. We had been told that in the busy periods there are coach loads of people and it becomes hard to easily get around and see all the exhibits. I am glad we went when we did; it was cold, grey and drizzling. A horrible day for a horrible place. We went about the tour walking through those infamous gates and into the old army barracks turned concentration camp. The first site was quite different from what was to come — it wasn’t a death camp (per se) although plenty of people were shot here. Many of the rooms however had been used as part of the museum to hold the vast amount of items collected from Jews when they entered site II — Birkenau. This is where scale and magnitude begin to sink in. The Nazi’s had been efficient in their ruthlessness.

After a few hours on the first site we got back in our car and drove to the second site — The death camp of Birkenau. This is where the gas chambers were built and train tracks stop. It’s a solemn, sad and desolate place. Most of the site lies in ruins after the Nazi’s tried to cover up the atrocity that happened there. That attempt was obviously futile.

An unexpected crowd

I had expected to see other people quietly walking about the site, observing, trying to take it all in and even try to fathom the sheer magnitude of what lay at their feet. Those people were in the few. Instead we greeted by swathes of what looked like Israeli cadets and/or schoolchildren. They nonchalantly waved their Israeli flags, ate sweets, sang songs and played music. It was at complete odds to their surrounding. We asked the guide whether this was normal. In a soft voice that cloaked hidden anger he informed us that it was completely normal and that he personally found it incredibly disrespectful. I had to agree.

I thought it over in my head. Perhaps this is their sign of defiance at the Nazi’s. They come here loud and proud to be Jewish. That was as far as I could get in my arguments for their behaviour. They did not seem to care about where they were — this was pretty clear. It seemed more likely that they had been carted straight off the propaganda wagon… “Here, here is the evidence for why we deserve Israel”. But what does Auschwitz have to do with Israel? Nothing. I’m sure there are many Jews in Israel who are related to those persecuted in the war but those are individuals — not a Nationalist political movement. There are Jews all around the world who are linked to prisoner of war camps — I am sure if and when they should visit they will not be flying flags.

The irony is too much. Firstly, you only need to look as far as the Torah to know that Jews should not have a state to themselves. Jews would argue this is against their God’s will. Secondly, the Israelis are now the oppressors. They are repeating history. They are killing women, children and unarmed men in their hundreds. They make Palestinians second class citizens. How long until they make them wear patches on their sleeves to mark them out? Arabs have come to the aid of Jews for centuries and now Israel is determined to repay that debt with a knife in the back while the United League of Nations looks on.

It is my opinion that what I saw at Auschwitz was a disgrace. Israel sends its children inside the camps of Auschwitz and then brings them home to man the towers overlooking Palestians. You would have to laugh at the irony were it not so incredibly sad.

“KTO NIE PAMIETA HISTORII SKZANY JEST NA JEJ PONOWNE PRZEZYCIE”

“THE ONE WHO DOES NOT REMEMBER HISTORY IS BOUND TO LIVE THROUGH IT AGAIN”

GEORGE SANTAYANA

UPDATE: I suppose unsurprisingly I have faced some criticism over this post as well as support. To write about even one of the subject matters: concentration camps, oppression, Israel or indoctrination is a dangerous and emotionally charged task. I wrote about this because it was from one of my own personal experiences. I have gone into length discussing this post on my Facebook with friends from both sides of the metaphorical fence. This post was really about how I feel the “state” of Israel works and how I saw it firsthand. Many people who argue differently and many would say this post is distasteful. I also felt that many people probably aren’t aware that these trips happen and so it is also as much as making this information open to other people and they can make up their own minds.

I do not know how peace will ever be achieved in Israel and Palestine as it currently stands. More people will die every day that passes and that saddens me. Only last night was it announced that Israel is deploying troops into Gaza. It is always the good people who suffer the most and there are good people on both sides. However, it will take the good people in Israel to stand up to their government for there to be any real change.