It was year 2013 I was in Germany for an official visit. We had a long weekend and the plan was to visit Czech Republic and Poland. We had planned a road trip to city of Prague in Czech Republic.Prague is arguably the most beautiful city in Europe. Prague was not destroyed in World War II as it was handed over to the Nazis without a fight.It was done to avoid possibility of breakout of another World War in Europe. After roaming around the beautiful city of Prague we were to visit Krakow a city in Poland. I was wondering why Krakow was in the plan. Then one of my friend told me the biggest concentration camp was located in Auschwitz which is in Krakow. History being one of my favorite subjects this trip got me interested.
Interesting thing about travel was the train from Prague to Krakow was very similar to one's in India.After World War II all these places were part of the Soviet Union.I am assuming the technology for Indian train boogies have a link to USSR.In a cabin there are six seat.We were five people and the sixth guy was a young man from Canada. I started a conversion with him and asked him where was he going? He told me that he was travelling to Auschwitz concentration camp.Most of his ancestors where killed at the Auschwitz concentration camp.Nazi's tried to take away his father to the camp.But his grand mother lied to the Nazis that his father was only 13 years old. He was spared as only people above age of 14 were put in the concentration camps. At the camp all the other people from his family were asked to dig pits.After that they were buried alive in those pits.They were made to dig their own graves.When I heard this I was shaken to the core.His father after World War II migrated to Canada in search of a safer place to live.American Philosopher Jim Rohn used to say "One should study both Gandhi and Hitler. One will teach you how high a human being can reach and other will teach you how low a human being can go."
The journey from Krakow to Auschwitz was very silent and sad. I could feel the presence of negative vibe and sadness. After all 1.1 crore people were killed at Auschwitz. Initially Jews were made the target of hatred, racism and fanatic nationalism. No one bothered to object the killings as Jews were religious minorities in Europe. But later on the hatred and violence ended up killing 7-8.5 crore people in World War II, most of them were non Jews. When we reached the concentration camp the first thing on display was a quote "If you don't know your history then you will end up reliving your history".During World War II people were brought in trains to the camp. The weak among them were immediately segregated and killed. The healthy were made to labor in the camps, tortured and all human rights were violated.I saw detailed engineering drawing of plans of the gas chambers.Many people were killed by poisonous gas in the gas chambers. First time I felt ashamed of being an engineer. Intricate engineering plans were made to kill innocent people. My take away from the visit was hate, intolerance and racism can lead humanity only to a concentration camp.It is very important for sane people to raise their voices when they see signs of hatred, intolerance and racism to keep humanity alive.
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