The opportunity to visit Auschwitz came as a result of an extra day available at the end of a medical conference. The low key approach taken by the guide, the emotionless descriptions of the site all just adding to the feelings of horror as we went round.
As we were taken round, the descriptions of the way the camp was run, the local civilians involved with it and the grey painted corridors we walked along had a profound impact on me. That greyness closed in upon me and had a more powerful and lasting impact than the gas chamber. The short quote by Promo Levi reproduced here stating this better than I ever could:
‘Monsters exist, but they are too few in number to be truly dangerous. More dangerous are the common men, the functionaries ready to believe and to act without asking questions.’
