It took Hitler 53 days to open the camps.

"The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command."

- George Orwell, 1984

In 5th-6th grade, I read many books on the Holocaust and fascism. I went to a Holocaust survivor talk. I read all of Elie Wiesel. I just wanted to understand what it must have been like to live through the rise of such cruelty.

As an adult, the knowledge is sitting in my stomach like a lead ball.