~

These are the only photos I got in the gas chamber and the joining crematory at Auschwitz. 

As you go through the door (photographed at the top) there is a plaque which reminds you how many people walked through that very door to their deaths. As soon as I read that I almost turned around and left. I knew from that moment it'd be way too much. I took a breath, and went in, and almost straight away wished I hadn't. Everyone in there is completely silent. There's nothing at all to say. Even our tour guide didn't speak. There's nothing to say about it. It's all right there in front of you, words are completely unneccessary. 

What pierced the silence though, was the sound of singing coming from outside the gas chamber. People from Israel had travelled to Auschwitz to worship and mourn, and the sound of their singing filtered through into the chamber, and in all honesty.. it was the single loudest thing I have ever heard in my whole life. I will never, ever forget that sound and the way it made me feel. I still get chills thinking about it. 

While it's something that I never want to do again, it's also something that I recommend to everyone. I think it's important that everyone sees it and really understands how awful it is first hand.