Belzec

Belzec is horrifying in its stark beauty. A landscape where nearly half a million people were murdered should not be peaceful, lovely. The juxtaposition of beauty and death is perhaps what makes the memorial there as striking and powerful as it is. Acres of black rock cover the hillside as it slopes toward forest, marred only by the long path cut through the center of the hill that leads to a place of remembrance. The staircases that surround it are lined with the names of towns from which the transports originated and the victims lived their brief lives. 

On the wall leading to the memorial are metal letters with this statement-

This is the site of the murder
Of about 500,000 victims
Of the Belzec death camp
Established for the purpose of killing
The Jews of Europe, whose lives were brutally taken
Between February and December 1942
By Nazi Germany

Earth do not cover my blood
Let there be no resting
Place for my outcry!

Job 16:18

The metal has rusted and orange streaks falls from the words as if they are crying. Perhaps they are. One more testament to the acts of horror humans are capable of waging on one another.