My Trip to Auschwitz (Long with lots of pictures)

[Scrumhalf]

Auschwitz II - The Memorial

Next to the crematoria is the International Monument to the victims of the Holocaust that was built in 1967.







The woods behind the memorial has a long path that ends in a memorial to the Soviets POWs that were killed at Auschwitz. I started walking down the path for a few minutes. However, there was nobody with me. The path went through a heavily wooded area. The silence was deafening. The only sound was that of my boots on the squishy ground wet with rain. I am not ashamed to admit that it spooked me, a 43 year old man. I could almost feel the ghosts of the place. I couldn't go on. I turned and headed back.

[Scrumhalf]

Auschwitz II - In Memoriam

I am not Jewish or even European. I have no connection with the Holocaust other than the fact that I am another human being at a place where millions of my species were killed by monsters also of my species. However, I can't think of a more profoundly moving place that I have ever visited. It still occupies my dreams over a month later.

It is not an easy place to visit and the emotions will definitely overwhelm you. But I can't recommend a visit highly enough if you are in that part of the world.

To the millions who were victims of tyranny - may your souls rest in peace.

[Bouncer]

amazing and yet very sad. the scale of it all is hard to comprehend.

great pics, though i wish i could have seen some pics from inside where the piles of hair and belongings still sit, it would get across the point that much more that this should never happen.

thanks for the pics and the narrative. i will look at this thread once more before i go and visit myself.

i think this is a good song to match with this thread. its rap but you should give it a listen. white jewish member of Wu Tang. i think you will recognize many of the images in the song. YouTube - Never Again Wu-Tang killa Bees

[blm]

Surreal! Great pictures, thanks for posting them.

[dna9488]

Thanks Scrumhalf. Beautiful pictures. So much power and meaning behind those.

What were the emotions of the people like when you were there?

[Bouncer]

The silence was deafening. The only sound was that of my boots on the squishy ground wet with rain. I am not ashamed to admit that it spooked me, a 43 year old man. I could almost feel the ghosts of the place. I couldn't go on. I turned and headed back.

i can imagine. i had this discussion with shibby before. i don't believe in ghost but i can imagine the "power" and "feel" of those woods would be overwhelming for me as well.

[Scrumhalf]

great pics, though i wish i could have seen some pics from inside where the piles of hair and belongings still sit, it would get across the point that much more that this should never happen.

I scrupulously avoided taking pictures where it specifically said not to out of respect, although I sometimes regret doing so - I should perhaps have just taken pictures indoors anyway like a lot of others were doing.

Here are some pictures of indoor exhibits that I found on the web. They are not my pictures but they reflect what I saw and talked about in my post.

Hair Exhibit:



Shoes:



Dolls:



Poison Gas Canisters:

[Scrumhalf]

Thanks Scrumhalf. Beautiful pictures. So much power and meaning behind those.

What were the emotions of the people like when you were there?

Everyone was really quiet and contemplative. The place just hits you hard - it was almost too much to bear. The only voices were those of the guides that were leading tour groups.

Thankfully, there were no jackasses - the only stupid thing I saw some guys do was to take a picture of themselves standing next to the gallows where Rudolf Hoess was hanged.

One nice thing was to see lots and lots of kids as part of what looked like school field trips. I suppose with the kind of history that the local people and neighboring countries have with regards to this sorry chapter in human history, it is only appropriate that the next generation be educated on this.

[Scrumhalf]

i think this is a good song to match with this thread. its rap but you should give it a listen. white jewish member of Wu Tang. i think you will recognize many of the images in the song. YouTube - Never Again Wu-Tang killa Bees

Great video and lyrics. Thanks for pointing me to it. I do recognize many of the images shown in the video.

[Timma]

Amazing pics! That would be one place to definitely visit before I die.

[Turbo3000]

Wow...

Great pictures, thanks for sharing.

[mofo]

i'm sure it was an eerie feeling. great pictures. :)

[Kayak Jones]

It is a matter of history that when the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces, General Dwight Eisenhower, found the victims of the death camps he ordered all possible photographs to be taken, and for the German people from surrounding villages to be ushered through the camps and even made to bury the dead.

He did this because he said in words to this effect:

'Get it all on record now - get the films - get the witnesses -because somewhere down the road of history some bastard will get up and say that this never happened'

[Konitz]

It's amazing that area so beautiful was the site of something so horrific.

[Bouncer]

Bumping this again, watched a 5 part series on the camp a few weeks ago. Amazing how these people (nazi's) truly believed what they were doing was right and just. It is very to scary to think that we are the same species. I wonder, had I been born in Nazi germany and been in the military, would I have thought the same as them? Scary.