Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp

We arrived a day early in Krakow for our SFC prayer weekend, which allowed Cortney and I to see the city a little bit as well as visit the Aushwitz-Birkenau concentration camp located a one and a half hour drive outside Krakow. It was a surreal experience to visit the site where approximately 1.5 million people were murdered throughout the course of WWII. The entire camp is divided into three different sites, but we saw only two of them: Auschwitz I and Birkenau. Auschwitz I was the main camp and it could hold up to 20,000 prisoners. As you enter the camp you walk through the famous gate that says “Arbeit Macht Frei,” which translates as “Works Makes You Free.” This, of course, was not true. The intent was that no one would go free.

Our group had a tour of the camp from a Polish woman whose uncle was murdered in the camp at the well-known “Death Wall” where many prisoners were shot. We were guided through the brick barracks of the camp and saw some of the living conditions the prisoners had to endure. In the basement in one of the buildings was the solitary confinement section with numerous cells and others designed for other forms of torture and death. There was a room called the “suffocation room” where up to 39 people were packed into it, the door was shut, and with little to no oxygen the prisoners would slowly suffocate throughout the night in their already weakened condition. The next day, half the people would be dead while the other half were allowed to go back to work. Near that room were also “standing cells.” These were 1 square meter cells with walls from floor to ceiling with only a small opening at the floor for the prisoners to crawl through. The prisoners were made to stand in there all night after a hard day’s work. Most did not survive after a few days of this. And they were not alone in their own cell—there were 4 or 5 people in each cell.

The reality that these atrocities actually happened, and on such a huge scale is definitely very difficult to accept. Our guide tried to help us understand the enormity of the lives lost. The holocaust was like having the attack on 9/11 happening every other day for 6 years. The Jews were stripped of their possessions, families, and their own lives. Many of the barracks now contain many possessions that the Nazis took from the prisoners as they entered the camp. There are rooms filled with shoes, clothes, combs, prosthetic limbs and crutches, shoe polish, eye glasses, etc.

Surprisingly I only cried once during the entire visit; it was mostly a numbing experience. We entered a room which had a huge section of the room blocked off by a glass wall only to reveal a ton of human hair. The women’s hair was cut off as they entered the camp, and it was used to make a certain type of cloth material. In those moments I pictured Cortney’s hair being shaved off, thrown into a pile, and then facing her time as a prisoner. Not a good thought.

The gas chamber at Auschwitz was considered one of the smaller ones compared to those built later on at Birkenau. The chamber is still standing today and in it thousands of people were murdered. We walked directly through it. We saw the holes in the ceiling where the poison was dropped into the room, killing every person in the room in a matter of moments. The main room where people were gassed led directly to the incinerator where some strong prisoners were forced to transfer the dead bodies to the furnaces. With the construction of the gas chambers at Birkenau, this gas chamber would later on not be used as the others were much more efficient at killing.

From Auschwitz we took a short bus ride to Birkenau. I was struck by the enormity of the camp, far beyond what I imagined. You could barely see the entire camp from the tower at the entrance to the camp, which is shown in Schindler’s List. The two sides of this camp were split by a railroad leading directly to the gas chambers, which lie in ruins today. The barracks at this camp were made of wood were destroyed by Poles after the war for the wood. Now what remains of the barracks are only the brick chimneys scattered throughout the entire camp. Many Jews were taken directly from the train to the gas chamber. We walked the 1000 meters from the entrance to the gas chambers. By the ruins of the gas chambers now stands a monument to the murdered victims of this genocide.

Walking on the soil where so many other people had just before their own deaths awakens you to the reality of evil in this world. I was still asking the question in my mind, why? Why were they killed? And even in the face of this extreme evil, there were many moments of hope and love. We heard many stories of prisoners living with courage, love, and self-sacrifice for others' sake. I'm so thankful there is a God who loves every person and is not blind to the suffering and social injustices in this life. Even though it seems evil has had a victory, I have a living hope that through faith the victory has already been won and those victims will have justice through God's grace. The memory of what happened will not be forgotten and we have the opportunity to choose to live a life full of faith, hope, and love with God's help.

Krakow, Poland

We are currently in Poland for the annual SFC staff prayer weekend. We are nearing the end of our weekend spent praying for European students and reconnecting with our friends/colleagues stationed all over Europe doing full-time student ministry. It's been a great time of encouragement and dreaming for the future. We were also able to visit Auschwitz concentration camp earlier in the week, but will write more later about that very impacting experience. Please continue to pray for us, other leaders, and the students involved in University ministry.

European Student Conference
Nuremberg, Germany

We were able to celebrate New Year’s Eve in Nuremberg, Germany where we gathered with 200 European university students and Students for Christ staff. It was a great 4 day conference full of worship, teaching, discussion, laughter, and some sightseeing. Cortney and I were joined from Trondheim by Kelly, Jess, and Fredrik (the first Norwegian at an SFC event!) and a great time was had by all.

Each evening Christopher Gornold-Smith from England spoke very thought-provoking messages and engaged both our hearts and minds about the character of God and His church. One night he spoke about the Transcendence (basically how huge and grand God is) and the Immanence of God (basically how “small” God is that He loves us and became a human too—nothing is too small for Him to care about). God is so huge beyond our comprehension along with His creation (i.e. the vastness of outer space), it can be overwhelming to ponder and definitely impossible to completely grasp. Yet in his infinite greatness, God is closer to us than we can think possible. God knows us even better than we know ourselves and His desire is for relationship.

In the morning sessions we broke into smaller groups and were given the opportunity to discuss and even act out several different stories captured in the book of Acts. We first looked at Acts 1-2 with the story of Pentecost and talked about its implications for the first church and how it continues to us individually/communally today. Second, we looked at Paul’s (or Saul) conversion experience on the road to Damascus in chapter 9. Last, we entered into chapter 16 with the story of Lydia who made purple clothes, her and her family’s steps to faith in Christ. The story then proceeds to Paul and Silas in prison where an earthquake sets them free from their chains and leads to the jailor coming to faith in Christ along with his family. Each small group was given a part of the story to act out through the chronological timeline for all of us to witness. It was a great exercise for us not just quickly to read the passage, but to really think about the implications and place ourselves in the story and see its relevance for us today.

It was amazing to be with students from all over Europe for one common purpose with services translated into German and French.

Overlooking the city from the castle turned hostel that we stayed in.

Cortney going back to her German roots--eating sausage with sauerkraut

Fredrik and Brett

The last night we had a "Bunter Abend" or talent show for anyone to display their unique gifts. I was able to contribute with what I'm certain will be seen and "experienced" around the world. Notice how the crowd is so in to it. It's called Hand Dancing...Enjoy... ;)

For more pictures click on the link "OUR PHOTO ALBUMS" to the right!