Posted on 08/28/2012 7:11:00 PM PDT by DogByte6RER
Israeli archaeologist digs into Sobibor death camp in search of Nazi killing machines
Yoram Haimi's biggest breakthrough yet: mapping of what the Germans called the Himmelfahrsstrasse, or the 'Road to Heaven,' a path upon which the inmates were marched naked into the gas chambers.
When Israeli archaeologist Yoram Haimi decided to investigate his family's unknown Holocaust history, he turned to the skill he knew best: He began to dig.
After learning that two of his uncles were murdered in the infamous Sobibor death camp, he embarked on a landmark excavation project that is shining new light on the workings of one of the most notorious Nazi killing machines, including pinpointing the location of the gas chambers where hundreds of thousands were killed.
Sobibor, in eastern Poland, marks perhaps the most vivid example of the "Final Solution," the Nazi plot to wipe out European Jewry. Unlike other camps that had at least a facade of being prison or labor camps, Sobibor and the neighboring camps Belzec and Treblinka were designed specifically for exterminating Jews. Victims were transported there in cattle cars and gassed to death almost immediately.
But researching Sobibor has been difficult. After an October 1943 uprising at the camp, the Nazis shut it down and leveled it to the ground, replanting over it to cover their tracks.
Today, tall trees cover most of the former camp grounds. Because there were so few survivors - only 64 were known - there has never been an authentic layout of the camp, where the Nazis are believed to have murdered some 250,000 Jews over an 18-month period.
(Excerpt) Read more at haaretz.com ...
Himmler's henchman and death camp architect Odilo Globocnik at Sobibor.
Sad job.
God, I wish for justice here on earth - but I will wait for eternal judgement.
Some day, we will run America, and we will be called "democrats"...
Bump
I’ll say. The one book I read about the extermination camps still upsets me.
As a second generation Christian with a strong Jewish heritage, I couldn’t do this. I have read everything I could get my hands on about this episode of world history and ... I couldn’t do this.
Escape From Sobibor
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7_O6qhn5cQ
Looks like a fair number of my relatives died in this camp. I just found it out.
About the only thing that sticks in my mind was the escape scene, with some of the escapees hitting mines outside the camp.
FWIW, IMDB has it starring Alan Arkin, Rutger Hauer, & Joanna Pacula.
On thing has always shocked me was how many people went along with it. From camp guards, to railroad engineers, to educated officers, there was at the very least a criminal and evil detachment employed by thousands of Germans. I never understood it..
One thing has always shocked me was how many people went along with it. From camp guards, to railroad engineers, to educated officers, there was at the very least a criminal and evil detachment employed by thousands of Germans. I never understood it..
I posted the YouTube link in #9.
Dare I say “thanks for posting”?
Constant reminders are needed, especially in the generation of the Fig Tree.
God knows our enemies, those pictured and MORE, yet we mortals seem to need reminders.
Four of the most evil words spoken. “Survival of the fittest”.
I don’t understand, either. Somebody published a photo album of the Auschwitz death camp staff & guards and their wives, at a picnic or something. Smiling, content, enjoying the fresh air.
One would have expected grim looks with jaws set, “look, dammit, we’re just doing our rotten jobs in this cursed war, G-d help us.”
Nothing like that at all in those pics.
When my brother went to elementary school on Long Island in the 50s he had a teacher tell the class ‘those camps’ never existed. It was all a lie.
Thank goodness for this diligence and others to keep telling the story, so it cannot be lied about, ever.
A couple of books I'd recommend if you're interested in understanding it are 1) The Nazi Doctors, by Robert J. Lifton, and 2) The Road to Serfdom, by F. A. Hayek.
Neither book alone will do it, but the two combined ought to put you well on your way to understanding the psychology of how things can reach the point they did in Nazi Germany.
I highly recommend that you find a way to view the film,
“The Boy in the Striped Pajamas.”
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.