Auschwitz
- Thread starter koolpc
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Of course it's not disrespectful unless your thought process is.
Soldato
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Went there a good few years back, very very eerie place and the scale, organisation, and precision in which they managed to kill such a huge amount of people would be considered impressive if obviously not for the fact they were killing.
Like I say, that's my position on it. I don't like how its become something of a tourist attraction, though I understand why, and certainly can understand why people feel they have a need to visit.
But as I said, I believe what happened there was so extraordinarily beyond comprehension, that any attempt to come to a conclusion about it, including being at the site itself, will never really suffice.
But as I said, I believe what happened there was so extraordinarily beyond comprehension, that any attempt to come to a conclusion about it, including being at the site itself, will never really suffice.
Strikes me as a pretentious point of view. I went with my father in law who was born in a camp. OK for him to go?
Lost some relatives in there. Probably the entire Jewish contingent of my family actually (apart from my grandfather + great grandfather + great grandmother) but it's hard to track as records were lost, names we changed while they were hiding from the Nazis etc.
I have yet to visit because I don't think I could handle it. The mrs is Polish so I have the ability to visit any time I feel able.
I have yet to visit because I don't think I could handle it. The mrs is Polish so I have the ability to visit any time I feel able.
Soldato
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I was there a couple of weeks ago, it really is beyond belief what happened there. Also went to Schindlers factory and it was good to hear of a genuinely good person after the horrors at Auschwitz/Birkenau.
It was cold, snowing, and blowing a gale when I went. I'm sure it does make a difference.
Id love to visit. These should be mandatory school trips in my opinion. Around 16 yrs+. I visited Tuol Sleng genocide camp and the killing fields in Cambodia. Similar type of place, but not on the scale of the nazi death camps. Very glad I went. It's very humbling and puts life in perspective, if only for a short while. Afterwards, normal life goes on, but you always remember it though. It just pops into your head maybe once or twice a year without warning and provides a good point of reflection. As to how lucky you are.
There was a room in tuol sleng though that people had graffitied on with banal tat like "never again! Carlos espana 2004" "so sad!! Trudy, gap yah 2005!" and all that crap. It really peed me off that people could be so self obsessed as to think that them writing that stuff on the walls in a place where people who suffered and died could be even remotely acceptable.
There was a room in tuol sleng though that people had graffitied on with banal tat like "never again! Carlos espana 2004" "so sad!! Trudy, gap yah 2005!" and all that crap. It really peed me off that people could be so self obsessed as to think that them writing that stuff on the walls in a place where people who suffered and died could be even remotely acceptable.
I guess it's totally personal, but I can't see why anyone would want to make a habit of visiting places who's sole purpose was that of murder.
I find pictures uploaded Facebook etc of people standing in front of the gates at Auschwitz, like its some kind of theme park, just as disrespectful and uncomfortable as any graffiti.
I find pictures uploaded Facebook etc of people standing in front of the gates at Auschwitz, like its some kind of theme park, just as disrespectful and uncomfortable as any graffiti.
Soldato
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dont think I could handle it, however I feel one day I should force myself...
It's an amazing experience to go there (if that's not too inappropriate term to use). I went when I was 16.
It is very chilling, and when I went it was cold at easter time and there were barely any people there. One of the most chilling and disturbing things I have ever seen was the room of shoes, standing inside the gas chamber in Auschwitz 1, and then being inside Dr. Mengele's room.
It was a life changing experience for me, in that it gave me a true feeling of empathy. Anything I had been taught about the holocaust didn't compare to going to the actual place, as the real version of it was worse than anyone could have told me previously.
It is very chilling, and when I went it was cold at easter time and there were barely any people there. One of the most chilling and disturbing things I have ever seen was the room of shoes, standing inside the gas chamber in Auschwitz 1, and then being inside Dr. Mengele's room.
It was a life changing experience for me, in that it gave me a true feeling of empathy. Anything I had been taught about the holocaust didn't compare to going to the actual place, as the real version of it was worse than anyone could have told me previously.