Final post and set of photos from visiting Auschwitz a week ago. Parts 1 and 2 were from the Birkenau side, and here is what I already posted earlier from Auschwitz I.
This part of photos are from Auschwitz I too, and it's where the actual museum part of Auschwitz is. We were taken on a guided tour around the ground and inside many of the buildings. On most places you could take photographs, there were only a few rooms where it was forbidden to document what we saw. One of the reasons being that it's illegal (or really poor taste/disrespectful) to photograph human remains. No, we didn't see body parts per se, but something that for me, was the most disturbing thing I saw; human hair.
Piles and piles of, mostly females, hair. Not a little clump that is stuck on the shower drain, but hair from thousands of people. Nazis didn't want to waste anything, so even hair was cut off from all the prisoners before their death, to be later shipped to Germany and made into fabric. The hair was the most tangible proof of the killings that is to this day, present in Auschwitz I. Now that I checked, there is actually pictures of it on the official website, if you want to go and look.
Hair itself, even on a living human, is essentially dead as soon as it grows out of the scalp, but when you think what it represents displayed here, it's disgusting. It really was quite disturbing to see, and to think of how many people had to die for that amount of hair to be left into a pile. And then to think that what was left there at the end of the war, is only a fraction of how much there was shipped out during the years. Insane.
There were also piles of shoes, sunglasses, luggage, and other personal items left, but the hair was what had the most impact on me, and I wanted to share that bit with you.
Photography with the Fujifilm X100F.
I want to end this Auschwitz picture tour to this photograph of @vikonomics wearing a hoodie with #WeAreOne.
even without the bone-chilling human hair remains, it is still a powerful post, Eve!
Thank you, I tried to document our visit to the best of my ability and to really try and make people feel something when they look at these pictures.
Powerful post. Thank you for sharing. I literally get goosebumps from watching the photos.
Thank you, I'm glad to hear my pictures translated the mood to you on the other side of the screen.
You are very welcome @eveuncovered. Keep up the good work! Following you.
Have a great day.
That 'stop' image is bone-chilling. Well, they all are, to be honest, especially the last one. That visit must've been a very strange experience, indeed. :/
interesting photos, was the black and white for dramatic effect? the shadows and light dark effects really did work pretty well for the photo.
I was curious about something you said in your article.
" The hair was the most tangible proof of the killings that is to this day, present in Auschwitz"
how is hair the most tangible proof of killings, because all air can be removed without causing death.
I really like black and white photography, and I think it works really well for these, makes the whole set more uniform, otherwise there would be different colours of light that I don't like.
Sure it can, but in this case, most, if not all these people whose hair is left on the pile, were either killed before of after removing their hair. The piles of it showed something real for me, not just stories, that was quite powerful.
For me the most disturbing have been the pictures with the kids rushing to their death. The thing that somebody took the pictures was disturbing as the one who did knew what faith they will have.
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You take great pictures.
Powerful photographs. So many feelings after vising there that perhaps I'm still sorting out inside.
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Strong images.
Thank you.
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Such a moving experience it was @eveuncovered. I think there cannot be a more ironic place in the world to call out #WeAreOne. but sometimes Ironies are all that we need, It extends our horizon and tipples our world upside down.