Day 9 Return to Majdanek

This post might be a little graphic... but I took my kids so I figured it was pretty much ok to post. I did take a few pics with the kids in them and I hated how that sounded... "stand there and smile for the picture!" Almost like I was mocking... So I stopped that and now you have pictures of Majdanek just as I saw them. I have read the history and the holocaust books... but nothing compares to seeing it first hand. The pics won't do it justice... the smell of the barraks was aweful... I could taste it for hours. There was even a shrine room that was too disturbing for our liking... and so we skipped that one.
Majdanek was a death camp.

It is HUGE! Yesterday I posted with a picture of the memorial at the front. It was big! I stood on the road about 1/4 of the way and took a picture looking toward that big memorial and to the end where the dome is. It took us over 3 hours to walk around it.



The outer parimeter is single lined barbed wire fencing. However, the barraks were double barbed fencing to ensure that the prisoners wouldn't escape at night. Lights out @ 9 up for work at 5... Guards on watch 24 hours.

Artifacts taken from the prisoners were mostly books, especially religious books, jewelry, mirrors, brushes and anything they really had. The children's dolls and toys were also taken. One of the dolls had its eyes removed because they were valuable.



Some of those who were murdered at Majdanek.

Paperwork on every adult was documented. None of the kids were ever documented. They mostly exterminated them right away since they couldn't work much.


Road going to the women's barraks. The women and men were seperated by double barbed wire fencing

Mens barraks with signage.
The beds were huge! They were built like 3 story bunkbeds... as long as my back yard in Arizona. They lined the outer walls and one running down the middle of the row. They were designed for 250 people but at some times housed as many as 500... People sleeping on top of, next to and crowded by each other... and even some on the floors.
The children's barraks weren't as big. Again, the kids weren't there long.


The signage at Majdanek was all over. They did a good job giving information and sometimes even telling stories of some of the prisoners.


These huge concrete tubs were filled with disinfectant solution. The prisoners were required to bath here before they showered. Their clothing was then taken from them. Their new clothes were worn for 2-3 weeks, no showers and then they were able to change.

showers came after the tubs but they were all in the same room. The prisoner's heads were shaved here and the hair was sold for making felt. The shower room was about as big as my family room in Mesa.

Just beyond the showers was the gas chamber. A big concrete room with a metal door and a viewing room for the soldiers to watch the prisoners from. The "ss officers" would feed gas in until the job was done.


These autopsy tables were in the crematorium and the gas houses. Before the prisoners were put in the ovens they were serched for valuable items including gold fillings, etc. They were removed and put in a "loot" room and sometimes sold.




The crematorium was mostly how the people's bodies were disposed of in this camp. It allowed for more space in the camp.


This dome is a gigantic Urn full of ash and bone fragment easily viewed by people touring Majdanek. It is placed on the execution spot of 17,000 Jews... all murded the same day.


This casket like urn is in the crematorium


These are like the urns that the Nazi's would send back to families... offering their loved ones ashes for a hefty price. As if they hadn't already taken everything from them... It was horrifying to think of.



I know that is long... it was intense. There were no less than 15 bus loads of Jewish youth and leaders from Israel visiting with us. The camp was so massive that most of the time we were still alone. We toured most buildings all by ourselves. Perhaps that gives some tangible insight on really how big Majdanek is.

I didn't realize how many consentation and death camps there were. Literally... dozens! They were mostly here in Poland, however, many in Germany and Russia. Majdanek is on the main road to Russia. It is very visible from the road and has (and had) housing butting up next to it. It makes me want to research why the heck this went on while in such visible view.

Thoughts during my visit:
1) Would I have died trying to get out? I think I would have... but surely many of these people were trying.
2) How could anyone ever say this didn't happen?
3) What can I tell my children tonight?

I am more thankful for a complete understanding of life after death. I am grateful for a merciful Heavenly Father. I am grateful that I don't have to sort through that mess upon judgement day.

On a more upbeat note... Something I learned frome Poland today:
vanilla here is not real or extract... rather it is flavoring. It made our buttermilk syrup not taste totally yummy.

I'm calling in a favor for friends back home...
Elder Basha was here for dinner tonight (we have an "open door" policy for the missionaries and they hardly ever have dinner invites so we eat with them quite often! If you want to be a well fed missionary you better hope for a call to Poland, Lublin!) and we chatted about him pulling some strings with grandpa Basha to get all our friends in AZ some jogobella yogurt. This stuff is amazing... I will cry when I leave Poland because I can't take it home. You would cry too. It's worth the tears. Bless jogobella yogurt...