Auschwitz - Birkenau

Auschwitz. I don't really know how to sum this one up. It was intense and horrible. We learn about it in history, but is a whole other thing to stand where they stood, on the rail platform, in the barracks, the work fields, even the gas chambers. It is a whole other thing to see the evidence and all the little details. 

I didn't take a lot of pictures. This one was taken from the memorial steps, and shows the end of the train tracks and in the very far distance you can see the a large brick building which is the entrance to the camp. Somewhere inbetween is the loading platform, where after getting off the train the people were split into two lines...and you probably know the rest. 

It was a huge reminder of the broken world we live in. Horrible things are still happening and will continue to happen as long as we are in this world. I seem to go through phases of getting caught up in it and then ignoring it for awhile. But I think we are supposed to live in the tension, between joy and suffering, experiencing both. 

Upon returning to Prague I got an email newsletter from my dear friends Josh and Robin who are serving the poor in Romania. This part sort of sums up my thoughts:

"I believe we are called...to weep in places of suffering, to grieve in places of death, to pray and cry out to God for His peace, and to be present with ourselves and with those who are suffering. I believe we are to sincerely know we have a God who has known great suffering and who knows suffering still."

(Please read the rest of their letter here if you are interested, it is good stuff)

So I wept and grieved and prayed at Auschwitz. I realize that my emotional response is not significant in the big picture- but it reminded me of the big picture and the hope that we have in Christ. "For in this world you will have trouble, but take heart! I have overcome the world"