down the barrier of needing to know something and replacing it with wanting to know.
The emotions you feel as you walk through the camp seem amplified in your body but are dauntingly small compared to the feelings of those who used to be forced to walk through that camp.
The iron sign that hangs above the entrance saying “Arbeit Macht Frei,” or “Work Sets You Free” was a boldface lie but to prisoners in Auschwitz it was a sign of hope and something that they could put their faith in, even if and when it killed them.
To put into words how I was personally changed and affected by my visit to Auschwitz is not an easy task. I went on a high school trip, without my family, and to an unfamiliar place where I was transported into something that was unlike anything my history books could tell. My mind could never have made up the layout and feelings that I have seen and experienced while walking through Auschwitz.
It's a feeling that puts a new meaning to having a heavy heart. The reality of the stories, lessons, and tales that I heard while learning about the Holocaust became unsettlingly real once I left the camp and debriefed from my tour.
Experiencing Auschwitz first-hand was a tough and emotionally exhausting day, but I tell anyone who I get the privilege to talk with about my trip, that it is an experience that I highly and without hesitation, recommend to any and all that can make the journey themselves. ”
Meghan Larkin
Pilgrim High School, Class of 2015
Current Junior at Emanuel College