And as we headed in, something spontaneous happened that spoke volumes to the magnitude of what we were about to see. In this next shot, myself, Tania Johnny Daniels, and a historian we were with walked arm in arm into the compound. Many years ago Johnny’s family had walked through this same gate all those decades ago… and never came out.
First of all – look at the sign above us. What an evil lie – it reads: ‘Work shall set you free’ - that’s straight from the pits of hell. We didn’t stage walking in arm and arm – that happened because we were terrified at the thought of how many Jews passed through this gate and didn’t make it out.
You might have noticed I’m looking up in this one. We all did. There were giant smokestacks – and we all had the same thought. Was that where they incinerated… people? Turned out it wasn’t – it was just the kitchen. But it gave you just a hint of the terror Jews must have felt as they walked under the gate and saw those stacks.