“This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen” is the story that really strikes me. The author uses first person point of view to record what he witnesses at the Auschwitz concentration camp as a non-Jew prisoner. Although the author applies some fictional exaggeration in depicting the harsh environment of the concentration camp, I am still able to feel the thrills and pain prisoners had to endure.
Personally speaking, I feel quite distant from WWII era. Although I am familiar with the historical background and development of the war, I have never invested much of emotion into it until I read this work. It was intense. The explicit, raw descriptions of inhuman conditions those prisoners find themselves in give me chills. I cannot fathom what it was like to be there. The cruelty and lifelessness are beyond what I can imagine in my mind. It makes me realize that I have been taking many things in my life for granted. Comparing to those Jewish who starved and died of inhaling gas, I am far more fortunate. Yet, I still find myself complain about my life often. Borowski has enlightened me to appreciate what I already have.
Another thought I have contemplated on regarding the text is how ridiculous we, human beings, are. It is fair to say most people will agree that the concentration camps during WWII are immoral and the war should not happen again. But what have we learned? Nothing. Wars between human did not stop. We got used to the hard-earned peace for a while and soon took everything for granted again. Why are we forget about the pain caused by the past traumas so easily? What will it take us to eventually learn the lesson? We may never find out.
Ryan, Thanks for sharing your reaction to Borowski’s story. You raise such an important and difficult question when you ask what we have learned since WWII and the Holocaust. How do we make sense of humanity’s continuing capacity for destruction, violence, and disregard for the value of human life? I wish I had answers for you….