Remembering Birkenau: Severin

In terms of the historic record, the importance of thee complex of buildings that constitute the Auschwitz and its sister site Birkenau concentration camps, is indisputable. As humanity marches onward more than fifty years into our present history, these sites serve as profoundly unique evidence of a moment in time – one that is the most difficult to understand.

As I stood on the grounds of Birkenau, camera in hand, I looked around in all four directions, trying to open my heart and take in the silence, and to quietly pray. The presence of my family, and especially of my two sons, fills me with love and appreciation. As we quietly experienced the profundity of the moment, I looked down at our feet. I imagine others standing in them, touching this same ground. We could have been them. They could have been us. Like them, we will leave only a trace of our existence, but we all have tread on the same ground. The earth will remember.

4 color gum transfer on Rives BFK with encaustic and graphite on hosho paper sewn on with linen thread