You can take in the expanse without moving your eyes much if you stand in the right spot. I got caught in the idea that you should not be able to grasp in a one glance a space where this many people were killed, and where their ashes now lay in 33 mass graves.
There seems to be no space in Poland untouched by the genocide. In Kazimierz Dolny, there are echos and traces.
In Kazimierz Dolny, every tourist stand sells a version of the “Lucky Jew” folderal. I now know the word for these trinkets because I came back to our swank hotel and googled “What’s the deal with the antisemitic tourist items in Poland”?
So what of Auschwitz-Birkenau as place? How does it manifest as witness, for me?
When I got home, I realized I saw Auschwitz Birkenau through its trees…
My posts will get heavy from here on out. I imagine I will have a lot to share, and in advance of that, caveat emptor etc. This post serves as a disclaimer, of sorts.