Somewhere everyone should go- Auschwitz

I was there two years ago, and it was a life changing experience for me. My family is from Poland and my uncles father was killed in one of the Auschwitz camps. Seeing the little Auschwitz I camp was nothing compared to Auschwitz II Birkenau. That really opened my eyes, nonetheless really great pictures, I have some but they are on normal photo paper and normal film

 

Yes extremely sad and just unbelievable how bad it would have been for parents watching and knowing what was going to happen to their innocent children and then themselves .

And yet the denial continues today ... think Cambodia, Zimbarbwe and Iraq (during Sadam's time).

While there are many reasons why I am not comfortable about the Iraq war and reasons for it, I do sleep easier knowing that a madman is no longer running that country ... hopefully the future for Iraq will be better than the recent past.

United Nations ... get off your @rse and do your job!
Pete

 

Well said.

 

I second that.

 

I would'nt want to make jokes or statements of your kind either. I know I would be banned.

 

YES YOU ARE CORRECT. DON'T FORGET THE ISRAELI AIR FORCE MUSEUM.

THAT IS THE NATIONAL GOLD MEDAL SCORING TEAM !!!!


ALL SMILES THERE !!!!!!!

 

Tim, thank you for the pictures. The mind needs to be deeply provoked once in a while.

And yeah, Bruce is absolutely right. If you didn't fit the aryan ideals, you were sent away. Crippled or handicapped? Off you go.

Also, I am always reminded about the upside down pink triangle symbol used as symbol of gays, whenever I hear about the holocost. IIRC, the Nazis used the pink triangle to ID gays (I hope this is not a urban legend, I think it is true.) "co-opting a symbol used by the oppressor" is usually silly college liberal talk, but in this case it seems to make a truly significant and powerful statement.

So next time you make a careless joke about gays, something to think about as well.

 

Interesting pictures.

And I think, one or several of Hitler's henchmen were of Jewish descent...but he turned a blind eye to them...

 

That subject...

http://www.kansaspress.ku.edu/righit.html

 

There were people from 120 countries in those camps. It's very important to see these things in person. In Daucau they put prisoners into ice water to see how long they could last. The screams woke up the Commandants Children so they moved the tanks futher away. You can see the scrape marks made by the tank as they pulled it to it's new location.

 

The list goes on and on...

* Rwanda,
* former Yugoslavia
* Darfour

Genocide certainly isn't limited to the 20th century -- it can rear its head in any time, in any place. If you look and listen carefully, there are little bubbles of simmering discontent, even in the United States.

The brutality of humankind is unfathomable, and yet the cure is so simple: education. Teach a person some history, literature, politics, and mathematics, and without question the world becomes a better place.

 

No one has yet mentioned what could be the statistically greatest act of genocide of all time....Stalin's murder of approximately 30+ million during the deliberately imposed famine of the 1930's. No one truly knows the real numbers.

My grandfather was lucky to escape......he ended up in Canada with my (at the time) one year old father.....he left his factory behind.....and everything he had worked for all his life......as well as a few of my family.

This is why I am so vehemently opposed to all things on the political left that pertain to, or have traits of, communism or socialism within them.

 

Tim, the really sad part is that anti-Semitism is on the rise in Europe. (Indeed, it probably never really went away.) It is disquised as support for the Palestinians versus the Israelis, but unfortunately it is still there. Apparently the neo-nazi party just won some seats in the German Parliament.

As an agonistic, I am against any form of religion in politics. The damage and killing done by hard-core religious nuts has got to stop regardless of whether they are shooting abortion doctors, flying planes into buildings, or bombing refugee camps.

However, until we recognize the right of Jews to peacefully worship and exist throughout the world, it's gonna be a long night.

Dale

 

Wow, tough stuff!

Sorry for using your post to make a statement, but I am frequently amazed about the degree of misinformation some Americans have about Europe

(Well, I am even more amazed about the degree of misinformation some Europeans have wrt America )

First of all it wasn´t the German Parliament but only the local parliament of Saxony. Second neo-nazi parties are forbidden in Germany. What you are referring to was a party from the far right which in fact has attracted some neo-nazis. Very sad. With their positions it is the German party which is best comparable to the Republicans in the US ...

I can´t tell, whether anti-semitism is on the rise in Europe. Where did you get this information? I don´t believe this is true for Western Europe. There are only some of the usual isolated morons who feel that painting swastikas at walls is kind of a therapy for their sick minds. However, I admit that I´ve heard some disturbing comments from East Europeans (Polish and Russian people) about Jews but I have never in my life heard a negative comment from West Europeans.

To confuse critique towards the current Israeli administration with anti-semitism is deeply wrong ...

 

Thanks for the pictures Tim. You also mentioned playing soccer. That reminded me of a writer: Tadeusz Borowski, author of This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen. Not your typical holocaust book at all. It tells short stories of his life in the camp. IIRC, he eventually commited suicide. There were just so many memories and dependencies that came of the camps themselves. In regards to soccer, he recalled playing soccer, seeing one train being unloaded as he feteched the ball out of bounds. Then, after playing for a few minutes, those belongings were out by the train tracks and there was smoke rising from the furnances of what they called "warm showers". It is one of those banned books, because of the views inside. Some are quite unbelievable. But if you happen upon the book, pick it up.

Thanks again for the pictures.

 

Actually, Mao beat him to it, with figures around 50-60 million dead heard here and there. Fokkin crazy people. Crazy, when you think about it. 50 million people. Damn.
Let's not forget Indonesia either, not as many people killed, but when you get killed for your ethnicity ... it sucks.

BTW, The rise of anti-semitism in Europe is perhaps more mediatic than actual facts. It is true that most people in Europe are have more sympathy towards the Palestinian cause, and get confused between jews and the Israeli government ... which is quite a shame, but this is not my point. At least in France, there have been 2 events during the summer that I heard about all the way to Canada ... and turned out to be crap. Some jew chick was "attacked" in the Subway, had Nazi signs drawn over her and stuff. World scandal, even the prime minister got in saying it was unacceptable blah blah blah ... turned out a couple days she was just a freak and had done everything herself (and her husband). A synagogue was then burned (the front door, actually) ... same "blah blah unacceptable bla blah" ... turned out to be a former employee (jew himself) who just was pissed to be fired.
There is an increased interest from the media in anti-semitism ... but I'm not positive it's a real general feeling. But one thing is for sure, people in Europe dislike Sharon and his way of doing...

 

True. The NPD Party controls 9% of the vote in a region that was in East Germany.

DL

 

Evil? I dunno. Megalomaniac and paranoiac for sure!!! Lil history fun fact, he never slept in the same room and never told anyone in which he'd sleep ... that's how freaked out he was about being murdered. Most leaders are actually complete psychopaths.

 

"Christopher Columbus "systematically murdered nine million indigenous people over the course of 40 years." Hope you had a good Columbus Day"

According to this article:

http://www.journalstar.com/articles/2004/10/12/local/doc416b61b4be60f936438266.txt

Hmm, not to undermine Auschwitz but, according to my calculations that 6 times as many people............

 

I am sure all the issues the Europeans have with the Israeli government, will be resolved when Mr. Sharon leaves office in a democratic fashion. LMFAO. Ariel Sharon just wants "more" than worthless paper documents and meetings. His three immediate liberal predecessors were only interested in a false peace. I suppose the "ISRAELI GOVERNMENT" will have to wait for a democratic partner to negotiate with ?


It is too bad the Europeans do not seem to express reservations with Mr. Arafat. ha ha. Perhaps Israel should wait for W. European approval of their government ? Perhaps America should wait for W. European countries to join the coalition in Iraq ?

Ciao