Inside the gas chamber, bluish green stains mark the walls and floors, evidence of the Zyklon B used to murder. I knelt down, lit a candle and recited the mourner's Kaddish. Birkenau is two miles from Auschwitz. Here the train tracks lead straight into the camp. As the packed boxcars were offloaded, Nazi Dr. Josef Mengele would select the Jews he wanted to use for medical experiments.
Barracks stretch far off in the distance.
Concrete open latrines line the center of each barracks still standing. Our guide told us that captives were given just a few minutes to relieve themselves, and had no privacy. The gas chambers are located at the rear of the Birkenau camp. During the Holocaust, Jews somehow were able to sneak dynamite into the camp, we were told. One day, some of the women who were slated to be gassed put the sticks of dynamite into their body cavities.