I went to bed the other night restless, tossing & turning about how to share what is heavy in my mind...I've thought about sharing these words & these pictures for days now...I've debated whether or not it was even something to share on Happy Soul Project...I mean, what I'm about to show you isn't something you have a Facebook Album for...It is not cute, nor funny & it definitely won't make you happy...


But I came to the conclusion that regardless of all that, it is important...So important...It is a moment in history & not too many people will get the insightful opportunity like I did...So please be warned that the pictures are graphic, the story is tragic & it all may leave your heart a bit heavy...

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While in Prague on our honeymoon, Craig and I decided to take history, however horrific, into our own hands...And while it obviously wasn't a typical, romantic-honeymoonish-type thing to do, it is something that will always stay with us...



We met a little Jewish lady whose parents died in Terezin at a Jewish Concentration Camp...She shared with us their story & thousands of others with such deep tragedy, compassion & heart...It was a tour I will never be able to get out of my mind...



We went with her to one of the largest concentration camps in the Czech Republic...



We walked the grounds that were converted into a Jewish ghetto during occupation in World War II...






We saw the gas chambers where thousands upon thousands appallingly died...And a crematory where everything was eerily burned away...





We saw pictures that were sacredly preserved, that scared little children drew depicting their hardships...


We even saw an empty swimming pool, that was used as a fight till death arena of sorts...




We walked under the same archway Jewish men, woman & children did while they were worked to near death. The entrance to Auschwitz has the same words & seeing this really shook me up...The little Jewish lady told us the German phrase Arbeit macht frie meant "Work will set you free"...




And we saw a memorial that seemed to never stop, honouring all those who lost their life in this unbelievable time in history...






Being there you could almost feel, breath, touch the history in the walls, the graves & the hidden prayer rooms...



The whole experience was heartbreaking...Writing this post, reliving what I was feeling, seeing these pictures again is hard...Can you even begin to imagine for a moment, what these people went through?  Put the death piece aside for a minute and just think of the excruciating pain as a mumma, of getting your child/baby ripped out of your arms and not knowing if/when you will ever see them again...That alone tears me up...



But it was when we saw the medical room where doctors "experimented" on people that I really lost it...The unfortunate people happened to be pregnant woman, twins, those who were disabled or had physical abnormalities and those who had DOWN SYNDROME....At the time I obviously found it horrifying but now the thought of my Pip being subject to something so inhumane, simply because of who she is, rocks me to the core...Makes me question humanity because I simply can not understand how one human can do this to another... 





The little Jewish lady who lost her parents, told us the Holocaust in a way, is becoming a "forgotten" past because a lot of concentration camps in Europe have been swept away- Gone- Forgotten- Like this whole crazy, horrific, thing never happened...But it did and as disturbing as it is to look at these pictures, to walk where this tragedy unfolded, it is important...It shouldn't be a forgotten thing..


While I realize not a lot of people will get the opportunity or have the desire to go to a concentration camp, I was so moved by the spirit left behind I needed to share this with you all...I needed to do my part in "not forgetting"...


And as devastating as it was to see the disturbing things it was beautiful to see the strength and faith these people had...



You are not forgotten...