Posted on 06/20/2018 4:31:31 AM PDT by Spacetrucker
My daughter is an avid history buff and has, over the past few years, done quite a bit of reading on the Nazi concentration camps. I would love to take her to some of these sites some day, but for now all I can do is get some first-hand pics of someone else's visit. If anyone has been to any of the concentration camp memorial sites and has pics they could share it would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.....
.....Poland .....freedom fighters!
The Polish people had /has such a tenacity of spirit.
God bless you!
I have been to both Bergen-Belsen and Dachau in the past two years plus the Anne Frank Haus in Amsterdam. All are very different. At Belsen, most of the place had been razed by the British and all that generally remains are these HUGE mass graves. Each one says how many are buried there. I visited in January of last year and there was snow on the ground. It is very eerie. In the parking lot I heard birds chirping, but as soon as I got to the Cemetery area, it was still quiet. I was alone, which made it even creepier. I then toured the adjacent Documentation Centre and had a snack at the cafe (also a bit weird). Dachau actually still has a lot to see including the crematory and buildings. The museum there is excellent and of course the Gate with Arbeit Macht Frei is still there. Weird feeling walking both in and out of that gate. Note though that these were not the extermination centers like those in Poland, with the exception of Auschwitz, Stutthof, and Majdanek, most were completely destroyed. The Anne Frank house is also quite sobering.
Tereszka, a child in a residence for disturbed children. She drew a picture of home on the blackboard. Poland, 1948.
Scratches on the wall of the gas chamber in the main Auschwitz camp
I regret using the word macabre....
....it certainly is commendable to have a daughter who wants to know the truth and be able to counter the Holocaust Deneirs.
Check nizkor.org
There exists British liberation films of some of the camps. These films have no sound to them, just the full, complete video. They aren’t made for entertainment so the camera tends to stay put in one place, unlike today where the camera pauses on one thing for 1-to 5 seconds at most. You will see them load bodies into a truck and fill that truck, and them you will see them empty it, one person at a time.
I don’t know where to find those unaltered videos, or what they are called. But I saw one in college history class. If you ever find them, you can’t prepare yourself enough for the impact they have.
I had the very humbling privilege of having met many of the survivors of some of those camps, and I heard their stories first hand. In the mid 70’s there were a lot of elderly people who were adults in these camps, not just children. Today, the few left are the children. Their stories count, but are different from the stories of the adults.
I witnessed first hand, the reactions of hundreds of survivors the first night Holocaust came out. That’s when some of the people told me their stories. And Holocaust was a very cleaned up, mild version of that reality.
Try Youtube. I followed a link there. They have alot there.
Thanks
Again, I recommend both the Holocaust Museum in DC
.....and the book....The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom
Also NIGHT by Elie Weisel
She is well aware of Elie Wiesel and his work; in your judgement then all Holocaust memorial sites should be closed for to view them would be”strange and more than a bit macabre “...
We have both been there; no pictures do it justice. I can still feel the people screaming in that railcar.
Absolutely not.......I would never suggest that.
I commended your daughter for wanting to know the facts ....and I regretted the word, macabre.
I have no idea how old your daughter is and I was cautious about viewing being age appropriate
I suggested the museum and a few books......
I guess you havent read through my posts yet.
Many here have given you helpful links and encouragement.
I apologize if my post offended you.
Agree. I’m still haunted now and then by the images I saw as a child on TV in during the 1961 trial of Adolf Eichmann.
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