Alison Davis 1955-2013: Auschwitz

The approach to the Auschwitz I concentration camp

Sunday 23 Sept 2007: After the relaxed and carefree previous days, today was a sombre reminder of the evil of which human beings are capable.

We visited the two main Nazi concentration camps at Auschwitz (in Polish: Oświęcim). It is estimated that 1.3 million people were incarcerated in the camps at Auschwitz, of which 1.1 million were put to death or died. About 90 percent were Jews: one-sixth of the total number of Jews killed in the Nazi holocaust lost their lives at Auschwitz.

The entrance of Auschwitz I with the misleading sign Arbeit Macht Frei (Work Sets You Free)

The first camp, known as Auschwitz I, was a former army barracks close to the centre of the town, which the Nazis converted into a camp, holding prisoners from 1940.

23 Sept 2007: Ali at the Auschwitz I camp

The paths were bumpy and it was painful and difficult for Ali to get around, though of course she made no complaint. She wanted to be aware of what had taken place there, including Block 11 which was known as the "death block," where many prisoners were tortured and killed, sometimes by starvation.

At the end of July 1941 ten men were chosen to be starved to death in punishment for the escape of a prisoner. One of the men chosen, Franciszek Gajowniczek, was distraught for his wife and family. Hearing this, the Franciscan priest, Fr Maximilian Kolbe, volunteered to take his place, and had his offer accepted. He encouraged those condemned to death with him, leading them in prayer. Without food and water he alone was alive after two weeks, and so the Nazis ended his life on 14 August with a lethal injection. Franciszek Gajowniczek survived his incarceration and lived until 1995, dying at the age of 93. He was present at the canonisation of St Maximilian Kolbe in 1982.

The entrance to Block 11 (the death block)

Block 11 - the death block . The execution wall (see below) is in the yard through the entrance on the left

The Execution Wall between Blocks 10 and 11

Looking into Cell 18 in Block 11, where St Maximilian Kolbe and his companions were starved to death

Inside Cell 18 in Block 11.

Between Blocks 10 and 11 was the Execution Wall, where thousands of prisoners were shot. Being at these places of death, seeing the block with shoes and trunks piled up, and also seeing the crematorium, was a sobering experience.

The crematorium at Auschwitz I

Because of the increasing number of prisoners at Auschwitz I, a new camp, known as the Auschwitz II - Birkenau camp, was built from October 1941, a couple of miles away on the outskirts of the town. It was designed to house up to 50,000 prisoners, who would also be a forced work-force, but its numbers grew to about 200,000 at a time. It became not only a work camp but an extermination camp too.