Auschwitz
*warning, contents may disturb some...but it is part of history and you should read on*
Had a rather strange day. You see I visited Auschwitz and Auschwitz II-Birkenau, where over 1.1 million people were exterminated (90% Jews and most of the Jews were from Poland, the others were criminals, Russians POW's, Gypsies, and other peope the Third Riech thought were not fit to be on this earth).
I have to say the weather was perfect for the day I was to set out for, overcast and drizzly. I woke up at about 730 this morning, had breakfast and got ready to go. While having breakfast, I met two other Americans ready to set out for the same place so we all went together. Took a mini bus to the camp. We got there and saw a 15 minute documentary on the camp. Then we joined an English speaking tour of the camps.
The first place we visited was about who all was in the camps and how they were convinced to come to the camps. There were people coming form as far as some of the Greek isles, and Norway. They were promised a better life, with a nice house and all that. They were allowed to bring one suitcase each (this was a trick of coarse, so that they would bring all their valubles, which would be taken and sold). These people were packed on train cars like cattle, the cars only having one small window about one foot square. The people were in these cars for up to a week, with no sanitation, very little food and water. By the time they arrived at the camps, some of them were already dead.
As soon as they got off of the cars, they were immediately visually examined (which took all of 15 seconds each person) by an SS doctor and made to form two lines. One line was of men and women all over the age of 15 suitible for work. The other line was, mothers with children under 15, the elderly, sick, and handicapped. The latter were told that they would be doing light work and were sent to "bathe". The first hall they came to was a changing room, where they were told to strip and put their clothes on the hooks with numbers on them. This was very important to remember thier numbers so that they could retrieve thier clothes later, or so they were told.
They were shuffled into the showers. After the door was shut, someone poored these pellets of the poison through holes in the roofs. When the pellets come in contact with heat, they turn into gas.
After everyone was dead, the SS men forced prisoners to go through the bodies, cutting the hair to save, and extracting gold teeth from the bodies. Then they were moved to the crematoriums. The gas chambers and crematoriums were made to kill and dispose of 1500 people at a time. Of course all you could really see of these today is a big pile of rubble, because right before the camp was liberated, the Germans tried to destroy all the evidence of their crimes by using dynamite.
The people that were forced to work had a horrible life. I won't go into that, but you could imagine that probably at least 1/2 half of the workers died in the poor conditions.
Some disturbing exihibits included: (and this stuff is just a fraction of the evidence of the crimes)
-a large pile of human hair, which was sold to make into textiles, including German soldiers' uniforms
-large pile of baby clothes
-piles of shoes and eyeglasses
-piles of crutches, and fake arms and legs---these were the people that had no chance, who where immediately sent to the chambers
-Jewish prayer Cloths, which the Germans made into underwear for the prisoners. How degrating, right?
-a large pile of the canisters in which the deadly pellets came in...
The jail at the camp was horrible too. They had a room where they would slowly suffocate people. A starvation room, a tiny room where prisoners were made to stand up all night long and then forced to work 12 hour shifts.
There was also an exihibit about the terrible experiments that were performed on people, especially twins.
Whew, I am ready to stop thinking about this stuff. I was there a good part of 8 hours. On a happier note, tomorrow I think I will go to the biggest saltmine in Europe, which has a church and a post offce carved out of salt!
*warning, contents may disturb some...but it is part of history and you should read on*
Had a rather strange day. You see I visited Auschwitz and Auschwitz II-Birkenau, where over 1.1 million people were exterminated (90% Jews and most of the Jews were from Poland, the others were criminals, Russians POW's, Gypsies, and other peope the Third Riech thought were not fit to be on this earth).
I have to say the weather was perfect for the day I was to set out for, overcast and drizzly. I woke up at about 730 this morning, had breakfast and got ready to go. While having breakfast, I met two other Americans ready to set out for the same place so we all went together. Took a mini bus to the camp. We got there and saw a 15 minute documentary on the camp. Then we joined an English speaking tour of the camps.
The first place we visited was about who all was in the camps and how they were convinced to come to the camps. There were people coming form as far as some of the Greek isles, and Norway. They were promised a better life, with a nice house and all that. They were allowed to bring one suitcase each (this was a trick of coarse, so that they would bring all their valubles, which would be taken and sold). These people were packed on train cars like cattle, the cars only having one small window about one foot square. The people were in these cars for up to a week, with no sanitation, very little food and water. By the time they arrived at the camps, some of them were already dead.
As soon as they got off of the cars, they were immediately visually examined (which took all of 15 seconds each person) by an SS doctor and made to form two lines. One line was of men and women all over the age of 15 suitible for work. The other line was, mothers with children under 15, the elderly, sick, and handicapped. The latter were told that they would be doing light work and were sent to "bathe". The first hall they came to was a changing room, where they were told to strip and put their clothes on the hooks with numbers on them. This was very important to remember thier numbers so that they could retrieve thier clothes later, or so they were told.
They were shuffled into the showers. After the door was shut, someone poored these pellets of the poison through holes in the roofs. When the pellets come in contact with heat, they turn into gas.
After everyone was dead, the SS men forced prisoners to go through the bodies, cutting the hair to save, and extracting gold teeth from the bodies. Then they were moved to the crematoriums. The gas chambers and crematoriums were made to kill and dispose of 1500 people at a time. Of course all you could really see of these today is a big pile of rubble, because right before the camp was liberated, the Germans tried to destroy all the evidence of their crimes by using dynamite.
The people that were forced to work had a horrible life. I won't go into that, but you could imagine that probably at least 1/2 half of the workers died in the poor conditions.
Some disturbing exihibits included: (and this stuff is just a fraction of the evidence of the crimes)
-a large pile of human hair, which was sold to make into textiles, including German soldiers' uniforms
-large pile of baby clothes
-piles of shoes and eyeglasses
-piles of crutches, and fake arms and legs---these were the people that had no chance, who where immediately sent to the chambers
-Jewish prayer Cloths, which the Germans made into underwear for the prisoners. How degrating, right?
-a large pile of the canisters in which the deadly pellets came in...
The jail at the camp was horrible too. They had a room where they would slowly suffocate people. A starvation room, a tiny room where prisoners were made to stand up all night long and then forced to work 12 hour shifts.
There was also an exihibit about the terrible experiments that were performed on people, especially twins.
Whew, I am ready to stop thinking about this stuff. I was there a good part of 8 hours. On a happier note, tomorrow I think I will go to the biggest saltmine in Europe, which has a church and a post offce carved out of salt!
VIEW 9 of 9 COMMENTS
pillasco:
some pics are up..
scotty_bane:
wow...hope you can get nice and chipper by tomarrow. poor people.thats somthing im gonna have to see for myself someday.