My Journey to Auschwitz (part 2) (8 pics)

[Behind the Aegis]

One of many guard towers. They sometimes shot prisoners for sport.


The "Killing Wall". This was where captives, after being stripped naked, were lined up and shot. This was mainly Poles and Catholics who met their end this way.


The primary crematorium.




The "overflow" crematorium


The barracks

[Solly Mack]

1. I love you.

Because... it's true.

[Behind the Aegis]

7. I feel the same.

I told Mira she should go, because like you, she has such an eye for photography. I think someone as creative, insightful, and heartfelt could go there and take pictures which would be amazing, perhaps even revolutionary. I told CaliforniaPeggy that my "eye" for photography was still being developed, but that site, it was my heart, not my eye which was framing the shots. But someone like you, with your talent, I feel you could take photographs which wouldn't speak a 1000 words, but rather an entire book!

[Solly Mack]

10. I went when I lived in Germany and though I took some photos

I didn't take them for any other reason than documentation.

I took the photos because I fear people forgetting and I plan to pass the photos and books on to my niece.

What I saw will be in my mind until the day I die. I don't need photos, not really.

I learned about the Shoah at age 5. I heard the whispers before and one day my mom had to explain it to me. Our neighborhood grocer and his wife survived Auschwitz. I'd see one or the other weekly, sometimes more, while my mom shopped. One day I saw his tattoo and I was frightened. Not of him - of the tattoo - but my actions could be seen as fear of L. I started crying and my mom was embarrassed & disappointed by my behavior - until she learned why I was afraid. We sat on the curb outside the store and talked. I told her what was happening with me and she told me about the Holocaust. More than you would think an adult would tell a five year old - but then she always treated me as older than I was (until I was a teen, that is).

My mom made sure my education of the Holocaust continued - with books, movies, and talks. She introduced me to other survivors.

I went back into the store and told L what I was feeling. That the marks on his arm scared me and not him. That the marks were wrong and evil. That was I was sorry. For all of it. For making him feel that he scared a little girl and for what happened to him and his wife. To all those who died and suffered.

From that day on - never to forget. I can't. I won't. Not if I can help it.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

12. Wow Solly ...just wow !!!! Nt

[Frustratedlady]

2. I can't even begin to imagine.

I would think that the greatest torture was wondering when your time would be. As hopeless as the situation was, getting it over and done with was probably a blessing. That is difficult to say. Not knowing if their children had escaped or been saved would tear your heart out. It's just hard to believe anyone...any GROUP of people...could agree to be a part of this horrific act.

In our modern day, it is hard to believe that there are those who think the holocaust was a lie and never happened. What a sick life they must live.

[hlthe2b]

3. I don't think I could do it (visit)

The Holocaust Museums in DC was wrenching. I'm not sure I have it in me to visit Auschwitz, Dachau, or any of the concentration camps. Then again, I know the history. I'd surely like for every young person who has not delved into the comprehensive history of WWII and the Holocaust to visit either one of the museums or concentration camps to learn.

[Behind the Aegis]

8. It is hard for anyone with a heart.

The "trick" is to go in as a "historian", but be prepared to have the wind knocked out of you at times. Walking under the infamous gate at Auschwitz, staring out of the guard tower at Birkenau at cattle cars on the rails, standing in the "showers" at Dachau...well, for a gay Jew it was very sobering, but I imagine it would be disconcerting for anyone familiar with what occurred at those places. Oh, and the mountain of women's hair and the mountain of children's shoes...

[sheshe2]

4. Haunting.

[Pachamama]

5. ...

[Mira]

6. They just rip me apart. I laud your strength.

The gays had it even worse than the Jews in those camps. Many took the pink triangle and replaced it with the star of David for better treatment.
Have you been to the Holocaust Memorial in Miami? It is tastefully and overwhelmingly and importantly done. I can barely go through it (though I've done it three times) without great physical trauma. Your second to the last photo is especially memorable.
Do I need to apologize for being very moved by all you have posted. I hope not. I ties in with my own history in a huge way.

[Behind the Aegis]

9. It was painful enough for me as a Jew, but yes, as a gay man...it was even worse.

I think I felt even worse because through all three camps, gay men as victims were mentioned ONCE. That pained me. The memorial at Dachau, didn't even have a pink triangle to commemorate gay victims, because at the time, it might "offend" other victims.

I haven't been to the one in Miami. I have been to the one in St. Louis.

There is no need for an apology!! I am humbled you felt my photos were moving.

[The_jackalope]

11. My mother-in-law survived a year in Auschwitz-Birkenau

She is a Hungarian Jew. She has told me some of her stories. I can't think about them for too long.
Since my wife died a few months ago, she is the last of her family. Everyone else is ... just gone.

Thank you for posting these, even if I can't see them too well at the moment.
Never Again.

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

13. Horrific.