Arbeit Macht Frei

I believe that one of the greatest lessons we can learn is that of our humble species' history.  Starting from childhood, we are taught about our great nation's history and the piece it plays in the complicated puzzle of our world.  Whereas once the world was seemingly endless and disconnected, today our nations are so entwined with each other that we have become one large melting pot of diverse cultures and interconnected histories forming a single entity. And while the unity of the present world is beautiful, and the possibilities of the future world are exponentially limitless, we must never turn our back on the progressive chain of events that has led to the direction of our world today. We must study our past to understand who we are today. And thus, I feel that it is a necessity of life to unabashedly study and learn our history, lest we become doomed to repeat it, as the old adage goes. And what better way to be taught history than to be immersed in it and experience it firsthand?

During the summer of 2008, I had just recently graduated from pharmacy school and was in the transition period between the ending of my formal schooling and the beginning of my professional career. With such drastic changes occurring in my life, it was the perfect opportunity to embark on a life-changing trip.  I laboriously debated over the myriad destinations from which to choose, and finally settled upon Eastern Europe, eager to pass through the dissolved iron curtain and see what had been hidden from the rest of the world for several generations.

The trip started out in Berlin, the capital of former East Germany.  From the onset of the trip, I noticed a feature that would continue to be a constant reminder throughout every city I visited -- the scars of war.  While some cities have attempted to disguise these painful reminders and erase the hurt, the scars will forever remain and the hurt can never be forgotten. From pockmarked facades to shells of buildings that remain destroyed even today, there were snapshots of history that could be viewed at every turn. Seeing the Berlin Wall, Checkpoint Charlie, the Brandenburg Gate, and numerous holocaust memorials in person was like walking through the worst pages of history and gently experiencing the atrocities firsthand.  Never has a history book been able to express its contents and capture the essence of a generation as walking through the actual locations and treading where their shoes have previously walked in fear.

The pinnacle of these history lessons occurred on a dreadfully cold and rainy day -- the first and only such blustery day of the trip with an otherwise unblemished record for perfect weather.  We had crossed the Slovakian border and arrived in Poland on the way to Krakow. But first, we had a date with one of the worst crimes of humanity -- Auschwitz. Everybody felt like they had thoroughly studied for this history lesson after having seen so many of the ravages of WWII already, but we were caught completely unaware, and found to be ill-prepared for this lesson.  Upon arriving at the entrance to the museum full of naivety, we gathered to watch a film that succinctly explained what had transpired on this site many years ago, and what we were about to now witness.  After reliving the history and viewing so many horrors of war that could now never be forgotten by us, the film concluded, leaving us in darkness and silence. Our hearts were broken, and our eyes wept for what we had seen. And we hadn't even stepped through the infamous iron gate to venture into the concentration camp yet.

Arbeit Macht Frei. Work Shall Set You Free. Perhaps the greatest lie ever told, unless they were referring to the chains of miserable life that had been imposed upon the prisoners. While shivering from the cold, we were guided through the camp-turned-museum and made our way from building to building, never knowing what was in store for us.  One building was full of luggage, from all the misguided souls who thought they were merely being relocated and would start life over in a new destination.  Another building was full of toiletries -- mildewing toothbrushes and hairbrushes that quickly outlived their owners.  Yet another building was stacked to the roof with shoes, ranging from all sizes and colors, previously belonging to men, women, boys, girls, and even infants. And finally, the most gut-wrenching building was saved for last.  This building was filled with just one object -- hair.  All of the camp occupants had their hair unceremoniously shaved from their heads upon arrival.  Lovingly maintained locks and perfectly coiffed hair, shorn from these human sheep only to be discarded in a refuse heap. The sheer quantity of hair was unfathomable, and restarted the flow of tears from everyone's eyes.

How could humans have performed such seemingly impossible travesties? How did evil become so prevalent during this timeframe of recent history? Will we ever understand?  So many unanswered questions raced through our minds, leaving us feeling numb and broken. Everything was a daze, yet so distinctly etched on our minds forever with indelible clarity.  I will never forget next stepping into the bitter interior of the gas chambers where so many ghosts of the past still exist.  I will never forget the impact this visceral experience had on me, and how resolved I was to never let the atrocities of the past be repeated. I promised that I would be a better person, and never let hate gain a foothold within my being. So many of us were changed for the better that day, all because of one thing whose value can not be overstated -- a history lesson.

The gate to Auschwitz I

The borders of hell

The entrance to Auschwitz II-Birkenau