My Trip to Auschwitz (Long with lots of pictures)

[lee_44106]

There are places that everyone should visit in his/her lifetime.

This is one of them.

Thanks for posting the pictures.

 

[acidboy]

real 5 star thread, thanks for the wonderful pictures.

I really hope future generations can learn from all the cruelty that happened in the last century- Auschwitz, Nanking, Cambodia, Serbia......

 

[Mr Herbert]

thanks for this post. one of the most horrific chapters in what was a terrible century.

 

[rnoldh]

Thanks for an incredible post.

I will get there before I die.

As a boy, my family lived on the LES in NYC. Often my Dad and I would see people with tattoos of numbers on their arms. Whenever he could, my Dad would take these people to Ratner's on Delancy St. They seemed incredibly grateful to eat a good meal. I didn't understand it well as a 5 year old. I do now.

Here in Houston there is a fantastic community of survivors ( getting smaller each year ) who have established an incredible Holocaust Museum ( which is perhaps the best in the US outside of Washington. ) Story is here!

And here is the homepage of the Holocaust Museum Houston. I go there often.

There aren't many survivors left nationwide and even fewer in Houston of course. There is a Jewish retirement home on Braeswood here in Houston. Here it is. There aren't many survivors there but there are a few. I think of them as national treasures. Many times I'll go there for the high holidays and I always seek them out. Sadly each year there are fewer and fewer.

I've told a lot of stories on SF and they are true. Meeting famous people is cool. Making a lot of money is great. Losing it is not so great but part of life. Young girls are a lot of fun as is gambling and many recreational things.

But spending an afternoon with a survivor of the death camps ( I even taught one to use Email once ) is utterly and absolutely priceless!!!!!

 

[Dakota rube]

Originally Posted by rnoldh

I've told a lot of stories on SF and they are true. Meeting famous people is cool. Making a lot of money is great. Losing it is not so great but part of life. Young girls are a lot of fun as is gambling and many recreational things.

But spending an afternoon with a survivor of the death camps ( I even taught one to use Email once ) is utterly and absolutely priceless!!!!!

You know, rnoldh? You are certifiably bat-**** crazy (in a good way) but that last sentence there is worth the price of admission, man.

 

[Scrumhalf]

Wow... I am glad to see that so many people have found this thread interesting. It makes the work writing the posts and uploading the pictures worth it.

 

[Scrumhalf]

Originally Posted by Ben Gurion

Thanks for your time but publishing this pictures is from very bad taste. Shalom Chaver
Excuse me? I post about an intensely personal journey in (what I thought was) a very thoughtful, contemplative way, hoping that others may find it informative or may relate to it in other more personal ways, and I am accused of bad taste?

Based on your name and your avatar, perhaps you have had a personal connection with the events of the last century that we are talking about here. If so, I would surely expect you of all people to agree that the more people of later generations (like myself) get first hand exposure to these sites and museums the better because like it or not, we are the custodians of the memories of these events as the generation that encountered it first hand is fast departing from this world and we are the ones with the responsibility to pass the lessons to the next generation.

 

[BDC2823]

Originally Posted by Scrumhalf

If so, I would surely expect you of all people to agree that the more people of later generations (like myself) get first hand exposure to these sites and museums the better because like it or not, we are the custodians of the memories of these events as the generation that encountered it first hand is fast departing from this world and we are the ones with the responsibility to pass the lessons to the next generation.

Agreed. Personally, from history classes I've taken, not enough time and devotion is given to the Holocaust or other similar events. Perhaps it's due to trying to cram hundreds of years of history into a few hours worth of class time or what not, but I never got a good experience besides glossing over the numbers, dates, etc. When you look at the staggering number of people killed, it becomes more of a statistic than invoking the real meaning of what occurred. As part of our 8th grade trip, we went to Gettysburg, New York, DC and saw all the sites including the Holocaust Museum. Being young and naive shuttled through one museum and monument after another, I don't remember too much of it except for a feeling of disbelief. Disbelief that there could be this much hatred towards others and that these events actually happened. Without people passing along this history and the meaning behind them, it will eventually be forgotten and the lessons gone with it much like other past historic events. This would be a tragedy to those past and for future generations. I know before these pics, I had no clue what Auschwitz looked like. But to see these pics with an understanding of what happened on that soil is an emotional experience much needed. One that should never be forgotten and one in which we all should have more exposure to. If you don't learn from the past then you are doomed to repeat it and this event was something that we all should never forget and which provides a wealth of learning and lessons.

 

[West24]

ive been to the holocaust museum in israel and one day must go to germany. much of my family died in the war and my grandmother and great aunt were both in aushwitz.

 

[quick90]

I was at Auschwitz 3 days before you on oct 14...it was freezing cold and snowing, but it was a great experience...the rooms filled with the shoes, combs, etc really put things into perspective

 

[acidboy]

Originally Posted by Ben Gurion

Thanks for your time but publishing this pictures is from very bad taste.

Shalom Chaver

gtfo

 

[acidboy]

Originally Posted by Scrumhalf

Wow... I am glad to see that so many people have found this thread interesting. It makes the work writing the posts and uploading the pictures worth it.

post more if you got more

 

[Tck13]

Thanks for the thread, the pics, and the commentary.

 

[acidboy]

Originally Posted by Ben Gurion

Here is a proof of the education of this anti-semitic

Amiezer
me, an anti-semite?

Originally Posted by Ben Gurion

I am sorry a lot friend. This thread should be deleted in respect for them and that place closed to avoid the themeparking of it.
themepark? you think people go there to get there giggles on? you think that Auschwitz is a damn tourist trap? that we who want to learn and see for ourselves the great tragedy here are going there for so we can be entertained?

 

[crazyquik]

Good thread. Grandfather visited a few of those places during his walking tour of Europe. As a tip-of-the-spear liberator at one prison. His stories are, more or less, just like the Band of Brothers episode (including raiding the local bakery of all its bread to feed the captives). I believe it was Dora Mittelbau http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dora-Mittelbau The larger and more infamous Dachau after it was liberated.