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auschwiz
Dec 8, 2013 22:01:43 GMT
via mobile
Post by Billy the kid on Dec 8, 2013 22:01:43 GMT
Has anyone else visited the place? I am arranging a visit in july of next year and I would be interested in hearing anyone elses thoughtsIif they have aleady been? Thanks.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 8, 2013 22:07:20 GMT
Has anyone else visited the place? I am arranging a visit in july of next year and I would be interested in hearing anyone elses thoughtsIif they have aleady been? Thanks. Yes ......it has a profound affect on you .....the pile of shoes belonging to the victims that is still there is one of the most moving things I have seen |
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auschwiz
Dec 8, 2013 22:14:42 GMT
via mobile
Post by Billy the kid on Dec 8, 2013 22:14:42 GMT
Sent you a PM
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Post by Deleted on Dec 8, 2013 22:34:38 GMT
I haven't been to Auschwiz, but have seen similar places.
Prepare yourself to not give the slightest shit who plays up front for Stoke in the next game.
I'm not being flippant. More people should see these places, and maybe get their worlds into some perspective.
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Post by salopstick on Dec 8, 2013 22:40:59 GMT
I have not been, nor ever intend going however the holocaust exhibition at the imperial war museum in London was harrowing enough for me
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Post by Deleted on Dec 8, 2013 22:46:23 GMT
As moving as it was it's something I recommend everyone does. The most striking think for me is the framed photos of all the prisoners as you walk through all the different exibitions. Young and old, some clearly broken, others defiant to the end. You can almost see their story etched on their faces it's extremely emotional.
I found the Birkenau site very harrowing. Only a few of the huts have survived as the Nazis tried to destroy it when they fled, but you walk around and see the tiny bunks that slept 6 or 7 people at a time and see the words/poems etched into the woodwork, brings it all home.
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Post by adi on Dec 8, 2013 22:47:47 GMT
Has anyone else visited the place? I am arranging a visit in july of next year and I would be interested in hearing anyone elses thoughtsIif they have aleady been? Thanks. Been to Dachau, really worth seeing. Unbelievable how much effort went into destroying the lives of innocent human beings. |
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Post by craig67 on Dec 9, 2013 1:18:53 GMT
I would like to go to Auschwitz.I can imagine that it puts life into some kind of perspective.
But also go to some of the WW1 memorials.
The Menin Gate in Ypres with 54,000 names on of soldiers who don't have a grave.And Tyne Cott cemetery where there are 12,000 graves and 30,000+ names of men whose name couldn't be fitted on the Menin Gate.
God knows what war solves.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 9, 2013 1:23:43 GMT
I haven't been to Auschwiz, but have seen similar places. Prepare yourself to not give the slightest shit who plays up front for Stoke in the next game. I'm not being flippant. More people should see these places, and maybe get their worlds into some perspective. You are perfectly correct ...it's a sobering experience indeed .... |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 9, 2013 1:25:57 GMT
I would like to go to Auschwitz.I can imagine that it puts life into some kind of perspective. But also go to some of the WW1 memorials. The Menin Gate in Ypres with 54,000 names on of soldiers who don't have a grave.And Tyne Cott cemetery where there are 12,000 graves and 30,000+ names of men whose name couldn't be fitted on the Menin Gate. God knows what war solves. I have been there also mate ...it's equally sobering believe you me ....and when you see the war cemeteries ..it's. Something else ....prepare yourself to be humbled .. |
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Post by craig67 on Dec 9, 2013 1:37:25 GMT
I have been to lots of the war cemeteries Bish-as well as the Menin Gate and Tyne Cot.When I looked around the war graves and saw lads from The North Staffordshire Regt(My grandad was in that before moving to the first Machinegun Corp)who were only 19/20 when they died and you think what did we achieve?
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Post by Deleted on Dec 9, 2013 1:44:26 GMT
I have been to lots of the war cemeteries Bish-as well as the Menin Gate and Tyne Cot.When I looked around the war graves and saw lads from The North Staffordshire Regt(My grandad was in that before moving to the first Machinegun Corp)who were only 19/20 when they died and you think what did we achieve? Agreed ....it does make you feel very humble though ....those rows of headstones have a very sobering effect on you |
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Post by craig67 on Dec 9, 2013 2:01:15 GMT
Some of the most humbling cemeteries are the small hidden away one's.My brother and I were in Ors in France looking for the grave of Wilfred Owen-and we found the CWWGC site-hidden away in a field.(Couldn't be seen from the road)And we both said 'There are worse places to be buried' as it was surrounded by fields and only the odd passing train to disturb your peace.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 9, 2013 3:49:35 GMT
Very emotive subject for me as my Great Uncle died at Auschwiz........ He was a machine gunner and fell out of his tower pissed one night... Very sad indeed...
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Post by Deleted on Dec 9, 2013 6:59:17 GMT
I would like to go to Auschwitz.I can imagine that it puts life into some kind of perspective. But also go to some of the WW1 memorials. The Menin Gate in Ypres with 54,000 names on of soldiers who don't have a grave.And Tyne Cott cemetery where there are 12,000 graves and 30,000+ names of men whose name couldn't be fitted on the Menin Gate. God knows what war solves. I would like you to go too  |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 9, 2013 8:39:34 GMT
I recommend you go when it's a bit quieter if you can.
When I went there was loads of mainly Asian tourists that we're giggling and having the time of their lives. They took pictures in the most inappropriate places.
It is harrowing though. The pile of hair was the worst bit for me.
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Post by Southstander on Dec 9, 2013 10:09:31 GMT
Yes, I have been to both Auschwitz and Dachau... and also experienced the battlefields and cemeteries around Ypres.
In terms of Auschwitz, you go with all of these preconceptions of how the trip will change you, but I just felt completely numb.
At Birkenau, a group of Israeli girl guides were stood at the main gate, holding hands in a circle and singing hymns.
It's hard to really absorb the horrors of the place, on such a huge scale. I barely said a word the whole way back.
Coaches leave from Krakow every day.
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bert
Youth Player
Posts: 372
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Post by bert on Dec 9, 2013 10:51:39 GMT
The only thing I can add is try and make sure it's the last thing on your itinerary list.
I personally visited the camps on the way back to the airport. I certainly wouldn't recommend you start your break with a visit to them.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using proboards
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Post by britsabroad on Dec 9, 2013 11:46:49 GMT
Its on my bucket list, as is the killing fields of Cambodia.
Flanders remains the single most moving experience I've ever had, and I imagine Auschwitz and Cheoung Ek are 10 times worse.
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Post by kingstokie on Dec 9, 2013 20:27:46 GMT
I recommend you go when it's a bit quieter if you can. When I went there was loads of mainly Asian tourists that we're giggling and having the time of their lives. They took pictures in the most inappropriate places. It is harrowing though. The pile of hair was the worst bit for me. Agreed mate, the hair is horrible. |
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Post by kingstokie on Dec 9, 2013 20:35:43 GMT
I went a few years ago, and would urge anyone who has the chance to go. Truly incredible experience, and not one to be missed. I'll never forget it
Krakow is a lovely city as well. Some great architecture, and not to mention the ghetto locations. (The staircase in Schindlers list is actually there in Krakow.)
Like others have said, truly harrowing experience. But one I'll always be thankful for the chance to go myself
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Post by Deleted on Dec 10, 2013 1:11:10 GMT
You all paint such a lovely picture " Harrowing" "Upsetting" "Ghoulish"....Mmmmmm...Think I'll go to Euro Disney instead...
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Post by tuum on Dec 10, 2013 1:57:13 GMT
I went last year in August. It was incredibly busy. So busy, that you were always under pressure to keep moving & never had the chance to truly reflect on what you were seeing. If I was to do it again I would get there early and do it myself without the tour guide. I don't think you need the guide anyway but after 9.30am (I think) it is compulsory. Organisation at the Auschwitz site could be improved but once we got going everything went well.
I didn't find it as harrowing & as moving as many on here seemed to do. The video footage I saw at the Nazi Rally Grounds/Documentation Centre in Nuremberg was much more disturbing. Maybe it was just the sheer numbers of visitors that numbed my emotions somewhat.
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Post by elystokie on Dec 10, 2013 3:33:53 GMT
Its on my bucket list, as is the killing fields of Cambodia. Flanders remains the single most moving experience I've ever had, and I imagine Auschwitz and Cheoung Ek are 10 times worse. Went to the Killing Fields earlier this year, an incredibly moving experience as was the S21 Security Prison we went to straight after. If you do go it's also well worth going to Ho Chi Minh and seeing the war museum and tunnels there, overnight sleeper bus leaves Phnom Penh every night, costs about a tenner. It always astounds me how human beings can be capable of treating other human beings in the way that they do in places like this. |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 10, 2013 4:31:37 GMT
I honestly don't think I could go there. I understand that it's totally essential for these sites to be preserved, but I don't think I could deal with it, especially after reading some of your heartfelt posts in this thread. I think some people are compelled to visit, it's a very personal choice.
What happened in those camps, is quite beyond me, whatever the circumstances. Yet we seem to have learned so precious little from it in our day and age. This is why true democracy has to be fought for at every given opportunity. Not a Bible bashing democracy or a Q'oran style democracy, not a dictatorship or a totalitarian state. I'm talking about a classical political democracy with free speech and a fair constitution, with a referendum on matters such as going to war. As far as this planet goes everything else has proven to end up in a right bloody mess.
If we scrap religion and put the money spent on armies and weapons into finally nailing nuclear fission, we'd all be sipping Pina Colada's and laughing on a beach somewhere sunny.
Why are we so poor at using the obvious lessons from history in our own time of real enlightenment? That's the irony and the saddest indictment on the poor people that were gassed to death in the most in humane way possible. Those Nazi bastards told those men, women and children that they were "going for a shower".
I can't even watch Schindlers List. I've never seen it. It's way too close to the bone for me.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 10, 2013 8:29:30 GMT
I have not been, nor ever intend going however the holocaust exhibition at the imperial war museum in London was harrowing enough for me When we used to go camping in France, I remember we stopped off at a service station with a large wooden clad cube type structure at the back of the facility. It was a war memorial. It looked over the combat areas. That was enough for me, i'm afraid. I can handle most things that get chucked at me in life, but i'm not going to put my emotions inside the mouth of a lion unless I absolutely have to. I freak out at the jilted brides gloves at the church in the Manifold Valley. Brrrr. I'd be on a three week bender if I saw piles of hair and shoes. I'm plenty pissed off about it as it is. But that's just me, and i'm certainly not criticising anyone who feels compelled to go either. It's a totally personal choice, i'm not robust enough as a person to cope with it. I really don't mind admitting that either. PS Great thread by the way. Thought provoking. We do have some super people on this forum. |
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Post by murphthesurf on Dec 10, 2013 9:55:07 GMT
I have not been, nor ever intend going however the holocaust exhibition at the imperial war museum in London was harrowing enough for me When we used to go camping in France, I remember we stopped off at a service station with a large wooden clad cube type structure at the back of the facility. It was a war memorial. It looked over the combat areas. That was enough for me, i'm afraid. I can handle most things that get chucked at me in life, but i'm not going to put my emotions inside the mouth of a lion unless I absolutely have to. I freak out at the jilted brides gloves at the church in the Manifold Valley. Brrrr. I'd be on a three week bender if I saw piles of hair and shoes. I'm plenty pissed off about it as it is. But that's just me, and i'm certainly not criticising anyone who feels compelled to go either. It's a totally personal choice, i'm not robust enough as a person to cope with it. I really don't mind admitting that either. PS Great thread by the way. Thought provoking. We do have some super people on this forum. Two wonderful posts from you, **************. |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 10, 2013 10:02:57 GMT
When we used to go camping in France, I remember we stopped off at a service station with a large wooden clad cube type structure at the back of the facility. It was a war memorial. It looked over the combat areas. That was enough for me, i'm afraid. I can handle most things that get chucked at me in life, but i'm not going to put my emotions inside the mouth of a lion unless I absolutely have to. I freak out at the jilted brides gloves at the church in the Manifold Valley. Brrrr. I'd be on a three week bender if I saw piles of hair and shoes. I'm plenty pissed off about it as it is. But that's just me, and i'm certainly not criticising anyone who feels compelled to go either. It's a totally personal choice, i'm not robust enough as a person to cope with it. I really don't mind admitting that either. PS Great thread by the way. Thought provoking. We do have some super people on this forum. Two wonderful posts from you, **************. Any spelling mistakes? I know you're a fuss pot. |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 10, 2013 10:30:49 GMT
Two wonderful posts from you, **************. Any spelling mistakes? I know you're a fuss pot. Some of your grammar ia a bit iffy ************** ! .....  |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 10, 2013 10:33:05 GMT
Any spelling mistakes? I know you're a fuss pot. Some of your grammar ia a bit iffy ************** ! ..... OK. Could you explain where I'm going wrong please Bish. My aim is true though mate. I'm not taking the piss, no one ever explained it to me. I thought I'd figured it out. Comprehensive Education etc. |
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