Death camp

Journal of a trip through Auschwitz and Birkenau.

When I was 16, I developed an obsession with the Holocaust. I was both horrified by all the cruelty in that piece of human history and, at the same time, fascinated by the heroic stories of people who defied that growing system, often risking and losing their lives. I believe that in times of war and despair, people are tempted by the worst in them — our survival instincts work in mysterious ways — , and that’s something I’m lucky to never have experienced. Nonetheless, I deeply admire that under the same circumstances, some…