The Castle at Park Plaza was originally an armory completed in 1897. Over the years, it has been a storehouse for armaments, a university library, a steakhouse, an event space, and most recently, the site of an exhibition of artifacts and the history of the Auschwitz concentration camp. Auschwitz was located in Nazi-occupied Poland, and was the most notorious of the Nazi camps. Of the 1.3 million people sent to Auschwitz, 1.1 million were murdered.
Although the Jews of Europe were the primary victims of the Holocaust, the Nazis also targeted gypsies, the disabled , black people, non-Jewish Polish citizens, and gay people. I would like to think that an event like the Holocaust could not happen again, that the world is beyond that level of hatred, but then I take pause and acknowledge my naivety. With anti-semitic acts and expressions increasing, and with a presidential candidate who continues to spew and fuel racial stereotypes, we are clearly not beyond the ignorance and intolerance that sows the seeds for this type of hatred.
The exhibition is filled with statements from survivors of Auschwitz.. My words do not do justice to the survivors, and I share these articulations as spoken by those who endured man's worst impulses.
Comments