Today, I stand before the gates of Auschwitz

Reflections on my visit to the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp

Standing on the railway tracks within Auschwitz II-Birkenau, looking towards “The Gate of Death”, the camp’s main gate and watchtower

Today, I stand before the gates of Auschwitz in Oświęcim, Poland. A place I have imagined for a long time, and the primary reason I am here in Poland. Standing here at the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp entrance, I break down in tears, already feeling the enormous weight of this place. I have known about Auschwitz since first learning about the Holocaust in elementary school, but now I am here. I hide my tears underneath my sunglasses, mindful that I am still an outsider to this particular story in human history and my own emotions aren’t to be centered. As we wait to proceed beyond the gates, a few others vent about the sudden downpour of rain on this otherwise sunny day. Overhearing complaints about this pesky inconvenience angers me. In Auschwitz, of all places. If anything, I think, the brightly shining sun today feels out of place here.

My ticket for entry into the Auschwitz-Birkenau camps

The rain ends abruptly, and we enter into the Auschwitz I camp, beholding the infamous Arbeit Macht Frei (“work shall set you free”) sign on its main gate. I feel the weight of this history upon me as I stand in the surviving gas…