The world has come to know Auschwitz as a symbol of terror, genocide, and the Holocaust. It was established by Germans in 1940, in the suburbs and outskirts of the city of  Oswiecim, a Polish city that was annexed to the Third Reich by the Nazis during World War 2.  Its name was changed to Auschwitz, which also became the name of the camp, called Konzentrationslager Auschwitz.

The camp expanded over the following years until it comprised three main parts: Auschwitz 1, Auschwitz 2- Birkenau and Auschwitz- Monowitz as well as more than 40 sub camps. The direct reason for the establishment of the camp was the fact that mass arrests of Poles were increasing beyond the capacity of existing "local" prisons.  The Poles were joined by the Soviet prisoners of war and Gypsies and other nationalities.   Beginning in 1942, the camp became the scene of the largest mass murder in human history, committed against the Jews of Europe.  The majority of the Jews deported to Auschwitz (men, women and children) were sent directly after arrival to their deaths in the Birkenau gas chambers, immediately after their arrival.  It is estimated that close to 1,5 million people were sent to these specific gas chambers and perished there (1,100 000 Jews, 150 000 Poles, 23000 Gypsies and about 10 000 others).

During a recent preaching tour (September 2011) to Poland I ministered in various churches as well as the church of Aswiecim.  I had the privilege to visit two of the three camps. It was an incredible experience to walk through the camps and visit the gas chambers, barracks, prisons and see the pain from the past.  I saw several things that made me think about the fact that sometimes we say one thing but in actual fact we mean something totally different.

New beginning

People were brought to Aswiecim from all over Germany, Poland, Austria and many other countries with a promise of a new beginning and in a new country.  So, they packed their best clothes, jewellery and came with all their valuables. On their arrival there was no new beginning, just work camps with hard work, prison camps with hard work, little food, no freedom, gas chambers and death.

Arbeit macht frei ( Work will make you free)

The inscription on the entrance gate to Auschwitz 1 says that work will make you free.  When the people arrived they were imprisoned in some of the barracks with up to 1,000 people sleeping on paper mattresses in one barrack, eating a meal with a meager diet of 1,500 calories per day with hard work and severe punishment.  They were not free but some of them actually worked themselves to death and were free, but only after death..

A Shower and some soup

When the people (prisoners) arrived at Auschwitz 2- Birkenau they were told that after a long journey in the trains they would all get a shower and then some warm soup.  They were then made to stand in two lines and a doctor would choose who would immediately be chosen and sent for a shower and soup, while the others were taken to the barracks.  Arriving at the venue for a shower and soup they were stripped down, taken into a room, and killed with gas and then burnt.

It made me think about:

The children of Israel that came to the prophet Jeremiah (Jer 42) asking whether they should be staying in Israel or move to Egypt.  They came to ask the advice of the prophet saying that he needed to enquire from the Lord and that they would do whatever He told them to do.  Jeremiah prayed and the Lord answered after ten days.  He told them not to go down to Egypt but the leadership did not listen and decided that they would go down.  It seems that that they had decided already before Jeremiah enquired from the Lord that they would not follow His advice.  They were saying one thing but were in actual fact meaning something else.  They only wanted God to approve their decision.  Their minds were with Him but not their hearts.

The Lord Jesus never said something to us that He did not do.  The Bible is full of promises from Him and His blessings that He would bestow upon us and He has shown Himself faithful even to the die on the Cross.    In fact He is the Way, Truth and the Life (John 14) and always mean the same thing that He is saying.

We need to be careful in our daily walk that our ‘yes’ means ‘yes’ and our ‘no’ means ‘no’,  and that we do not deceive ourselves.   We must take care that when we say something that we always mean the same thing and not something else.