Auschwitz

I visited Auschwitz and Berkinau a few years ago. I found the experience unbelievable inasmuch as I found it so difficult to comprehend the awful things that happened there and how on earth could humans do those awful things to fellow humans. It is a museum and I think as many people as possible should go there so that they can reflect on those atrocities and then hopefully nothing like that will ever happen again. They have on 'display' thousands of shoes, suitcases, utensils etc. but what horrified me most was the bolt of fabric made from human hair. We came away feeling very sombre and reflective. I would add that this trip was followed by a visit to the salt mines which were truly amazing and incredible.

I went in September and yes it was sad and the sheer enormity of what went on was hard to comprehend but I did want to show respect by going. It is not suitable for wheelchairs or mobility scooters as paths and roads between blocks are rough and uneven. The blocks have stair entrances and the corridors are very narrow, there is a constantly moving queue and only enough room to squeeze past. The blocks also have narrow stairs to other floors, no lifts as it is in the original state.

Can I add that my father was among the Allied troops which liberated Belsen. I only found this out after his death as he had confided to a friend "What I saw there I will never speak of because I cannot".

I used to take a group of Sixth form History and/or German students to Berlin, usually in February, as part of theirA-level courses. As part of the week we always visited Sachsenhausen concentration camp at Oranienburg just outside Berlin. Sometimes we had an English-speaking guide, but the first year, just after the Wall had come down , we had an East German guide with scant English and I had to do a more or less simultaneous translation of the commentary. It was a bitterly cold February, (so cold the brakes on our coach froze up when we stopped at traffic lights ) and our students with their Russian fur hats (bought at the Brandenburg Gate) and thick coats and boots were frozen to the marrow on the bleak assembly ground or Appellplatz, when they saw the thin striped uniforms the prisoners wore in all weathers they began to understand the living conditions if you can call them that. Some of our "coolest" kids were visibly shaken by the whole experience. Having seen both Sachsenhausen where tens of thousands died, although not specifically a death camp, and also Bergen -Belsen I would not choose to go to Auschwitz now, but the personal experience of seeing "for real" those dreadful places was a moving experience and added a sort of understanding of an incomprehensible atrocity.

I think it was important for my grand daughter to go - some of you may remember she was one of a group of Sixth Formers, selected by the Holocaust Foundation, and briefed by them, to spend a day at Auschwitz, and to come back and tell their peers. They were all so moved by it all.

I was born just after the war, but the stories and the films of the liberation of the camps are indelibly printed on my mind. It should never, ever, be forgotten - in spite of the atrocities still occurring in the world, which I fully acknowledge.

I had thought about it but I do not see the point I fully understand how horrific it it was. I am no Holocaust denier.

One thing that did upset me was in about 1974 when I went with OH to Nuremburg stadium where the biggest of the Nazi rallys took place.

We had of course seen many of the newsreel films of these gatherings but that place just sent a huge chill through me. It still "felt evil."
The other thing was seeing so many buildings which were pockmarked by bullets.

I couldn't do it. All that dreadful suffering. Must be a horrible place. Why would anyone want to go? I hate even seeing the word in Active Conversations.

In Berlin I visited the Holocaust Memorial which was very moving but the most stunning of all was the new part of the Jewish Museum - it's hard to describe but you sort of 'experience' their history through Libeskind's amazing architectural design of the three underground axis - when I arrived at the Holocaust Tower I could hardly believe the depth of feeling engendered upon entering it. I have never 'lived' an experience through architecture as profoundly as that. It's all very mobility friendly as well. As part of the same holiday I went to Anne Frank's House. Agsin very moving but what brought tears to my eyes was the height chart markings of the children on a wall

Whoops - big thumb syndrome - it should of course read "would like to express."

No criticism - just that some people feel they would like not express their respect for those who suffered there by going to visit; and others feel that is not the right way for them. Definitely no criticism - just different views. I hope that no-one read my post in that way.

I am sorry numberplease that you will not be able to make this visit as you wished.

What a lot of criticism here for those of us who chose to pay homage to the ancestors of our family or friends.
If you don't want to go, that's absolutely fine, no criticism but please don't have a go at those of us who have chosen/are considering visiting. MaragaretX - I do watch the current news incidentally.

Annesixty, I wasn`t replying to your post.

Like others , I wouldn't want to visit now, maybe when I was younger. I've read enough about it from survivors and others to have an idea what it was like.
The only reason to go would be to take one of these crazy "deniers" by the scruff of the neck and shove him/her in there.
We still get them on a WW2 forum that I belong to.

There was no critisism at all implied, number, I just felt such sadness and horror would stay with me forever. I have enough sadness of my own.

I know all about what happened at Auschwitz and other places like it. My reason for wanting to visit is pretty much what Riverwalk has said, i.e. an acknlowledgement of what happened, and a paying of my respects to all who were incarcerated there. Not to dart about like a tourist, flashing my camera everywhere, I do have a modicum of commonsense and decency. Anyway, it`s beginning to look as if we won`t be going now, it appears that we would find it very difficult to get around.

I wouldn't make a specific trip to such a location but if, like my ex-husband was in relation to Buchenweld, found myself in the vicinity, would visit to pay respects and acknowledge what went on, rather like the war graves in Normandy.

Unless you have personal reasons for making such a heartbreaking visit I can't think why anyone, especially someone who needs disabled facilities, would want to go to Auschwitz.

The older I get the more I try to avoid 'bleak'.

Not have

Oh how I agree with those posts. I have can't cope with such things at this time in my life. Cowardly or a closed mind, that is how I feel.

Why on earth do you want to go?
Go somewhere else for your holiday and don't forget that Auschwitz was terrible but that sort of cruelty has not gone away. We are not the generation that need to learn about it. If you want to see 'man's inhumanity to man' then turn on the NEWS.

Oh heavens! - I really really would not wish to go there. Enough to know about.

I went last year number please. I didn't see anyone using mobility scooters but given the age and frailty of some of the survivors who visit, I expect arrangements could be made.

Auschwitz 1 has a number of buildings where it's necessary to climb steps but the 2nd camp is on flat land and the remaining huts can be accessed easily.

Coolgran's advice to google the site and look at Trip Advisor is useful. It was, of course, very moving.

I've been but cannot recall any information in this regard. Would suggest googling the site itself. There is probably a contact option to glean information such as this. It's possibly available on the website. Also try Trip Advisor.

Thank you, will do.

I think that there was an article about this in the travel section of the Daily Telegraph not too long ago, might be worth a Google?

Also *Ariadne's DGD went to a concentration camp, not sure which one, but might be worth sending Ariadne a PM.