Auschwitz

dublinblue12 said:
Went about 15 years ago, harrowing experience but also a really well done museum.

Sad thing is it's still happening today in some form
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Visited Auschwitz about nine years ago. Had second thoughts about making the trip from Krakow but eventually felt it was something I ought to do. And I’m glad I did, despite it’s being, as you say, a very chilling and disturbing experience. Passing through the gate which bears the legend ‘ Arbeit Macht Frei’ (Work sets you free’), sent shivers down my spine - a cliche, I know - but true. Similarly, the sinister and malign sight of the railway track leading in through the main gates. Never before had words “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it” (George Santayana) seemed more appropriate.
 
Onholiday(somemightsay) said:
I also liked Krakow when I was there......
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Went to St. Peter and Paul’s church last night watching the orchestra. Absolutely amazing, best £12,I’ve ever spent. The place itself it stunning and until last nights arrival of the stag do was a pleasant experience.

Nothing wrong with a stag do but I feel there more suited for Benidorm or magaluf if they just want to get wankered.
 
inchy14 said:
Yes mate. Pictures were everywhere tbh. All the barracks in Auschwitz had them in the corridors, looking at how short a time they survived was pretty upsetting. Couple of months here and there.
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They say 80 percent died within 4 hours of being there . The worrying about thing is the more you walked round the more you got used to it and became normal . Frightening thought that was
 
I think almost as many people were killed at Treblinka, which the Nazis completely destroyed.

The only photographic evidence of the purpose of Auschwitz is this album, which the SS created. It shows Hungarian Jews, who were the last to be deported, in mid 1944. You see the photos like the one of kids walking behind their mothers on the way to the gas chamber and it's just beyond words.

https://www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/exhibitions/album_auschwitz/index.asp
 
inchy14 said:
Yes mate. Pictures were everywhere tbh. All the barracks in Auschwitz had them in the corridors, looking at how short a time they survived was pretty upsetting. Couple of months here and there.
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I’m away for a short break in Krakow in January. My first thought is I should do the Auschwitz visit, but at the back of my mind is the thought will visiting Auschwitz teach me anything I don’t already know. Guess what I’m asking is why in your opinion do you think it’s worthwhile putting my wife and myself through such a harrowing experience on a short break away?
 
crazyg said:
We went to a village named Oradour-sur-Glane in France, near Limoges, which is the site of a massacre by a company of Waffen SS soldiers in 1944.
642 men, women and children were murdered in reprisal for 3 or 4 Germans killed in a nearby village a few days before. The victims were mostly herded into the church, where they were machine gunned down and then set alight. the village was then destroyed. After the war, the village was turned into a Village Martyr by De Gaulle, and stands as a memorial to the dead as it was left, A new village, of the same name, was built next to the site.
A very eerie experience for us both, especially as we discovered that the day we went was the anniversary of the massacre, and we had just missed the memorial service. It didn't help that there were storm clouds in the area. with constant thunder all around.

2 years and 6 days later, my wife died about 50 miles away!

I would love to go and visit Auschwitz/Birkenau, but having seen the results of those atrocities on such a (relatively) small scale and been so affected by it, I'd be a gibbering wreck when I got there.
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My Grandparents live about an hour from Oradour-sur-Glane, a couple of years ago when we visited i'm sure there was a trial ongoing as they had found an SS Officer living in France who was complicit in what went on in the Village, I remember reading the articles in the local papers and he showed no remorse, basically just said it was his job, heartbreaking stuff. I bought a book from the Museum and as an extension to your post, they now think that they destroyed the Village and it's people as they thought they either had money/weapons hidden but they had been given wrong information and attacked the wrong Village entirely. When the SS carried out the attacks they tricked the Men by saying they wouldn't harm their Family's if they sacrificed themselves, utterly horrible. The Church full of a machine gun holes was a horrific site for me personally.
 
blueparrot said:
I’m away for a short break in Krakow in January. My first thought is I should do the Auschwitz visit, but at the back of my mind is the thought will visiting Auschwitz teach me anything I don’t already know. Guess what I’m asking is why in your opinion do you think it’s worthwhile putting my wife and myself through such a harrowing experience on a short break away?
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You absolutely should. For me and I suspect most visitors it’s not really about the learning but more about just being in the place it happened and it giving you a greater sense of scale and helps you to truly understand the numbers. I was in Kraków for just 3 days but spent essentially an entire day there and I’m very glad I did. Didn’t put a dampener on the rest of the break either if you’re concerned about that.
 
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