Auschwitz - 70 years on

Auschwitz. The very name still sends a shiver down the collective spine of the world, 70 years after Soviet soldiers liberated the Nazi concentration camp on January 27, 1945. It is easily the darkest chapter in human history - up to 1.1 million people were “exterminated” at this camp in Poland alone, during WWII. The Soviets thus ended the largest mass murder in a single location in human history. Even Treblinka, the next biggest Nazi camp in Poland, could not match these figures. It was a Holocaust in every sense of the word, although there still are people who deny it ever happened.

Precise numbers are still being debated, but the German SS is believed to have systematically killed at least 960,000 of the 1.1-1.3 million Jews deported to the camp. Other victims included approximately 74,000 Poles, 21,000 Roma, 15,000 Soviet prisoners of war and at least 10,000 from other nationalities. More people died at Auschwitz than at any other Nazi concentration camp and probably than at any death camp in history.

The Soviet troops found grisly evidence of the horror. About 7,000 starving, emaciated prisoners were found alive in the camp. Millions of items of clothing that once belonged to men, women and children were discovered along with 6,350kg of human hair.

Polish authorities have preserved much of the site, including a few railway carriages that transported the prisoners to their deaths. There is a debate on whether the site should be demolished to efface those abominable memories, but on the other hand, future generations should also know about the horrors that were perpetrated here in the name of achieving racial purity. It is thus worth keeping the site as it is.

Anniversary

A moving ceremony was held at this site last week to mark the 70th anniversary of the liberation with the participation of the President of Poland Bronislaw Komorowski, who made a very moving speech. This is likely to be the last major commemoration attended by many survivors, who are well into their 80s - at least those who could remember being there. It was a fitting tribute to the human spirit that millions of people around the world saw live on television.

They talked about their bitter memories of the “Final Solution” which was another term for the mass extermination of Jews and other people. In January 1942, the first chamber using lethal Zyklon B gas was built on the camp. This building was judged inadequate for killing on the scale the Nazis wanted, and four further chambers were built. These were used for systematic genocide right up until November 1944, two months before the camp was liberated.

It was also the site of disturbing medical experimentation on Jewish and Roma prisoners, including castration, sterilisation and testing how they were affected by contagious diseases. The infamous “Angel of Death”, SS captain Dr Josef Mengele, was one of the physicians who “practiced” here. His particular interest was experimenting on twins.

Holocaust

The SS began to evacuate the camp in mid-January 1945. About 60,000 prisoners were forced to march 50 Km westwards where they could board trains to other concentration camps. The US Holocaust Memorial Museum estimates that 15,000 died during the journey, with the Nazis killing anyone who fell behind. The Soviet soldiers who liberated the camp found no trace of SS officers who had fled in advance.

Seventy years after the liberation of the camps, the victims are still seeking prosecution for around 30 Nazi officials who are believed to have worked at these death sites. More than 7,000 Nazi personnel are thought to have served at Auschwitz but just a few hundred have been prosecuted for the crimes committed there. The pursuit of justice has not ceased, however, with German officials still tracking down surviving Nazis.

It was the sheer will to live against all odds that helped many to survive this indescribable ordeal. Isabelle Choko, a survivor told the media “I had only one solution in front of me: It was to live. Live, love, work, have children, have joy in my life ... because it is only those sentiments that allow you to survive”. Marcel Tuchman, 93, spoke of those who died: “Their voices have been silenced by gas chambers and crematoria, so we the survivors have the duty to honor their memory and speak the best we can for them, and tell this unprecedented story of destruction of millions of people”.

Ordeal

They are the true heroes of World War II, almost on par with the soldiers who sacrificed their lives to liberate the world from the Nazis. The accounts of their ordeal, as depicted in the documentary film directed by Steven Spielberg which was shown during the commemoration ceremony, should be preserved for posterity. That will be a powerful message that such events should never occur again.

We should also celebrate the lives of those who strove to save at least some of the prisoners from certain death - people like Oskar Schindler who single handedly saved hundreds of Jews from certain death. Incidentally, his life story was turned into an Oscar winning film (Schindler’s List starring Liam Neeson in the title role) by Spielberg himself, based on the book of the same name by Thomas Keenally.

Auschwitz also reminds us once again of the futility of war and of racism. We in Sri Lanka are no strangers to both of these concepts, which have reversed our progress by decades. The theory that one particular race could be superior to another is both absurd and abhorrent.

We all belong to one race - the human race. Communalism and conflict are massively destructive and we have seen their adverse effects for over 30 years. Now that the war is over, the rulers and people of Sri Lanka should strive to keep communalism and religious fervour at bay. It is time to build up one identity as Sri Lankans. If we fail in this task, future generations will take a very dim view of our times and our conduct.