Racism and tragedy of Europe in early XXth century

KL Auschwitz – Birkenau: liberation of Nazi Death Camp.

27^th January 1945 the Konzentrationslager Auschwitz-Birkenau-Monowitz was liberated by Red Army... well, the story is more complicated than that. It would be beautiful to believe that Red Army soldiers were all angels and Nazis were the evil devils but it isn't how it was. This story is dark, darker than people think and there are no angels there. There is no happy ending, just more horror.

Lets us start properly: at the beginning.

Eight days after Ribbentrop – Mołotow pact Hitler attacked Poland, it was September 1^st – a day when children were supposed to start school but instead the war started, or perhaps it just started anew (if we will assume that the WWI never really ended and WWII was its consequence). Poland fought, but abandoned by allies had to succumb. The September Campaign lasted longer than anyone anticipated but when on September 17^th Soviet Union attacked Poland and created another front, it was clear that it wouldn't last long. On October 6^th it was all over, Poland was split between Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia (the good relations didn't last long, soon enough Hitler and Stalin ended up as enemies).

It didn't take long before Nazis established their rule and began their plan of extermination of Jews, Gypsies and some groups of Slavic nations (at that time Soviets were doing something very similar with Polish POWs – Katyn).

Auschwitz camp at first was just some military barracks that was turned into place to keep Polish political prisoners in May 1940. Then it didn't take long to turn it into death machine. A year later, in September 1941 the extermination started and it went on and on until 1945.

It is estimated that at least 1.1 million of people died in KL Auschwitz-Birkenau, killed in gas chambers, from cold, starvation, sickness and due to medical experiments, but also shot by Nazis (1.3 million of people were kept prisoners).

Among these 1.1 death were:

960 000 Jews,

up to 75 000 Poles,

21 000 Romani,

15 000 Soviet POWs or various nationalities,

up to 15 000 people of other nationalities (not Soviets).

These are confirmed data, but there are opinions that the victim count is even four times higher. We will never know for sure.

The camp would be freed sooner but in 1944 Red Army stopped because of Warsaw Uprising (they didn't want to aid the Insurgents who were their political opponents) the march had to be continued further south by I Ukrainian Front of Red Army (named after where it was formed) and I know from family stories that they were not such saints as they're pictured to be.

The Red Army marched but they didn't knew what laid ahead of them, Soviet Intelligence knew of death camps but they kept the informations to themselves.

Just as the Red Army was closing in, Nazis realised that they were facing enemy, but because Red Army stopped at the Warsaw Uprising they had time to evacuate. They took the prisoners with them due to Himmler's order to not leave anyone who could tell what happened there. Nazis took most of the prisoners but left the weakest ones behind. Those who they took went through what is called death march, only 20 000 of 58 000 people survived.

Meanwhile in Auschwitz Red Army entered the camp and were shocked out of their feeling of superiority by 7 500 prisoners on the verge of death and 600 corpses of those who were less lucky. The camp was turned into hospital for its former prisoners who had to be treated carefully due to their severe malnutrition – they had to be re-adjusted to taking food because their digestive systems weren't able to manage food any more. Some prisoners were shipped back to their homes because they were well enough to travel.

Polish and Soviet investigation revealed piles of human ashes, exhumations took decade, 673 of 789 staff of the camp was found guilty in Auschwitz trials in Kraków.

But it didn't mean that Europe was free, the Central and Eastern Europe fell from one regime under another. Nazi Germans were considered the bad guys, but the supposed “liberators” were just as bad. I know from family stories that they were in many situations worse than Nazi invaders. There were plenty of decent soldiers in Red Army, but most of them felt like they were allowed anything and everything just because they fought the Nazis. In places that fell under Soviet “protection” during and after the war tales of plunder, rape and devastation are nothing uncommon. In Poland many older people smirk and tell that during the war if you asked Soviet soldier about the time, he would lift his sleeve and reveal multiple wrist watches he stole during his march (common occurrence). Tales of rape and devastation are not repeated so often due to social trauma it caused, even though it is not a secret – it happened not only in Germany when Red Army resided there.

Western Europe was lucky enough to rise after the war, thrive for decades. Central and Eastern Europe just fell under another dictatorship brought by supposed “liberators” while their true heroes were forgotten – Western Europe and USA remember the French or Italian Resistance, but they rarely bother to recall other resistance movements, Polish Underground State among them – organisation so large it had its own army and fought its own battles (and have their military in other countries and armies). Another example is that there was small resistance movement in Nazi Germany (called Widerstand) but it was weak and divided, yet existed.

My point is that in 2015 – 70 years after end of WWII – we must remember that the victory is not owned by just one nation or country (they know who they are, I don't need to name them or their minister who is brazen enough to teach other nations their own history) but it is shared effort of many nations and organisations.

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Journal CSS made by caybeach
Brushes by gvalkyrie