Auschwitz

[JamesWales]

Can I ask you (and others here) if they have visited Auschwitz and Birkenau and:

1. Did it alter their perspective on what happened back then?

2. Did it leave them feeling that people who could visit these places should do this at least once in their lives?

3. Did the experience change their opinion on what evil could look like?

Interesting questions.

1/ I've never been to Auschwitz. But I have been to Dachau, which was the first camp the Nazis used and remained a concentration camp throughout the war. I guess it did alter my perspective as standing where history has happened is always a powerful and emotive thing for me. I've been to the Normandy beaches and seen where Anne Boleyn was beheaded etc. I really do feel the power in such places. That said, WW2 has been a life long interest so I don't think I had to visit a camp to feel that. I will visit Auschwitz one day. I also want to visit Treblinka which as I referenced yesterday is where I think humanity was at its most evil. I'm not sure why I want to visit but I feel like I want to pay respects in some way and as it was such a secret place I feel like visiting empowers the victims somehow?

2/ Yes, although I must say I don't think people should "do Auschwitz" like people also "do the saltmines" or "Do the old town" when they go to Krakow. I think people should read about it first to fully respect it.

3/. I've always appreciated the Nazis were amongst the most evil regimes in history and that this was most on display in the camps.

[Steve the Tea]

Yad Vashem World Holocaust Remembrance Website ...

https://www.yadvashem.org/

This is an excellent Holocaust resource.

StT.
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[caerkid]

1. No. I'd already read 'If This Is A Man' by Primo Levi (an incredible read), seen all the documentaries and films like Schindler's List, The Pianist etc. so already had a pretty informed perspective.

2. I think so, yes. Simply because of the immediacy of the environment. It's not a book you can put down or a film you can turn off, being there forces you to seriously think about where you are and what you're seeing.

3. One of the biggest things that struck me there was seeing the bureaucracy of it. There are numerous documents (invoices, memos, inventories etc.) on display that really force home how clinical and 'professional' the whole thing was, as if they were running a business. To them, these human beings were literally numbers, targets to be met, processes to be streamlined and made more efficient. How on earth do you reach that point of normalcy?

An interesting side note to visiting is seeing how other people react to it. Most people have some sense of respect and decorum, some are visibly upset. Some just see it as a tourist attraction. But I saw one guy repeatedly taking photos in the crematorium (despite there being several prominent signs telling people not to) and, bizarrely, even saw one group having a cheery family photo in front of one of the rail carts, smiles and all.

I highly recommend a documentary on Netflix called "Hitler and the Nazis: Evil on Trial". It doesn't exactly break new ground, but it looks more closely at how ordinary people went along with the Nazis in the 1920s and 30s from a modern-day perspective (one of Goebbels' initial slogans was, interestingly, 'Make Germany Great Again'). It also uses AI to recreate William Shirer's original reporting from within Nazi Germany, as well as original audio recordings from the Nuremberg trials. Very interesting and timely documentary.

Would echo the recommendation of If This Is a Man/The Truce, Primo Levi was an incredible author but those books are on another level.

Just to expand on the smiling people comment (and I sometimes question my memory on this but I'm glad I wrote it down at the time ) when I was at Auschwitz about 20 years ago I witnessed a family where the mother gave a signal to her teenage son at the exact moment she took a photo in front of the crematorium , and he raised his arm in the air. I wasn't the only one to notice and they were swiftly escorted out. Terrifying to think that people do that.

[jeepster]

Edited out the quote


Sick sick sick

[blue matt]

Sick sick sick

agreed and deleted

[Dave St]

Personally, they should just flatten it! i don't know why people would want to walk around a place millions of people were slaughtered at. Next there will be trips to epstien island

[HiVis]

Personally, they should just flatten it! i don't know why people would want to walk around a place millions of people were slaughtered at. Next there will be trips to epstien island

Because you'll never fully appreciate the horror that was the holocaust, but visiting the death camps will at least give you an insight into just how awful man can be, when left unchecked.

[HiVis]

agreed and deleted

Ironic, behaving like a nazi in this thread, being the arbiter of what is and isn't acceptable.

[Taunton Blue Genie]

Ironic, behaving like a nazi in this thread, being the arbiter of what is and isn't acceptable.

A moderator on a message board is an arbiter by definition and likening his action to that of a Nazi is ridiculous.

[Steve the Tea]

Personally, they should just flatten it! i don't know why people would want to walk around a place millions of people were slaughtered at. Next there will be trips to epstien island

Those who forget history are destined to repeat it.

StT.
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[HiVis]

A moderator on a message board is an arbiter by definition and likening his action to that of a Nazi is ridiculous.

Really? a moderators' job is to keep the peace, not to decide whether a post passes their personal standards test. The beauty of humour is that its not for everyone as we are all different, but that doesn't mean it should be removed.

[Taunton Blue Genie]

Really? a moderators' job is to keep the peace, not to decide whether a post passes their personal standards test. The beauty of humour is that its not for everyone as we are all different, but that doesn't mean it should be removed.

In a thread about Auschwitz you really need to retract the Nazi comment and grow up.

[HiVis]

In a thread about Auschwitz you really need to retract the Nazi comment and grow up.

Why can't we talk about Nazis when discussing Auschwitz? Do we simply ignore they were the perpetrators?

And the old chestnut about growing up, I expected something a bit more erudite from you. I'll mask my disappointment.

[Taunton Blue Genie]

Why can't we talk about Nazis when discussing Auschwitz? Do we simply ignore they were the perpetrators?

And the old chestnut about growing up, I expected something a bit more erudite from you. I'll mask my disappointment.

I'm not in the least concerned about your disappointment. Your comment was pathetic.

[HiVis]

I'm not in the least concerned about your disappointment. Your comment was pathetic.

Horses for courses old fruit. Maybe you could try being a little less sensitive