I don't think anyone could forget what has gone on all those years ago. I am sure some would love to but ikt has to live on so that people can see what a terrible time was had there. Not sure if i could stomach a visit to the place though. Maybe i will go one day. Who knows.
Auschwitz visit
- Thread starter Greebo
- Start date
Every now and then when atrocities like this are brought up I find myself reading about the various events between the Axis and Allies, China and Japan etc for hours on end. It's really sad and quite harrowing what us humans are capable of doing to each other.
We've been on this planet for hundreds of thousands of years and we're still kicking the crap out of each other over territory, resources, religion and even a spilt pint on a Saturday night.
Human race, most are morons
.
We've been on this planet for hundreds of thousands of years and we're still kicking the crap out of each other over territory, resources, religion and even a spilt pint on a Saturday night.
Human race, most are morons
.
Yes watched the night before armistice, watching the last episode on the 11th concidentally.
It's harrowing, even worse because these soldiers had no idea such places existed when they stumbled on it.
I can't remember the exact details which isn't very helpful I know, I read a story about a son taking his dad on a trip to Auschwitz... they're doing the tour and the conversation turns to something unrelated which strikes a funny bone and they both burst out laughing in the middle of Auschwitz.
Birkenau wasn't as bad as I expected, mainly because there isn't much left. But as soon as I walked under the gates of the first site, then it hit home. 'The Wall' and the experimenation block were particularly harrowing.
If you are to go I would highly recommend it when the snow it around, it looks amazing in a horrible kind of way and really is worth it compared to the dry/muddy normal look. On the day we went there was also the most amazing sunset I have seen, stunning, but weird for such a place.
Then we got the bus back into Krakow and had some beers!!!!
A note, watch out for taxi drivers in Krakow, they will try and screw you. It was funny watching the English from our group go up and ask them for costs to Auschwitz with me listening in (fluent polish speaker
), then letting rip at them and seeing their faces 
If you are to go I would highly recommend it when the snow it around, it looks amazing in a horrible kind of way and really is worth it compared to the dry/muddy normal look. On the day we went there was also the most amazing sunset I have seen, stunning, but weird for such a place.
Then we got the bus back into Krakow and had some beers!!!!
A note, watch out for taxi drivers in Krakow, they will try and screw you. It was funny watching the English from our group go up and ask them for costs to Auschwitz with me listening in (fluent polish speaker
), then letting rip at them and seeing their faces 
Soldato
- Joined
- 4 Feb 2003
- Posts
- 6,140
- Location
- Birmingham
I lived in Bergen, which is about 1km down the road from Belsen, for 3 years. The site is no where near as well preserved as Auschwitz but seeing mound after mound with just a number estimating the number of dead the 11th Armoured Div had to bury when they liberated the place in '45 (They were having to move the bodies bulldozers since there were that many laying around the camp ) is just so sad.
The eeriest thing though is the railway sidings used to unload prisoners are still in use to aid the transportation of military vehicles to and from the Hohne Ranges and Hohne Station (The current base for 7th Armd Bgd.) and when I used to lie in bed at night you could hear voices and banging crashing carried on the air from them to a backdrop of the thump-thump of night time artillery exercises. It just always and made me stop and think
) is just so sad.The eeriest thing though is the railway sidings used to unload prisoners are still in use to aid the transportation of military vehicles to and from the Hohne Ranges and Hohne Station (The current base for 7th Armd Bgd.) and when I used to lie in bed at night you could hear voices and banging crashing carried on the air from them to a backdrop of the thump-thump of night time artillery exercises. It just always and made me stop and think
It was the opposite for me. While I found the original camp, and the exhibits, harrowing the sheer size of Birkenau was simply overwhelming. The stories and photos of the families on the walls inside the shower block are the most moving things I have ever seen.
This was similar for me, the exhibits were awful at the original camp, but the camp itself felt like an army barracks which iirc it was before the war.
It was only when I went to Birkenau and I saw the whole massive camp purpose built to exterminate an entire race, that it really hit home.