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Holocaust Memorial Day
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BUT
I was reading, recently, about the Sachsenhausen camp (about 30km north of Berlin). Opened in 1936 and over the course of the war some 200,000 people went through this place.
Jews, obviously, but Sinti, Roma, gay people, Jehovah's Witnesses, anti-social elements, alcoholics, addicts, whoever was undesirable.
In Autumn 1941, for instant, an estimated 13-18,000 Soviet POWs were executed here but a single shot tot he back of the head in a special facility designed to standardise the process.
The camp had commercial links and in particular a converted race track that was a shoe testing ground. A kilometer track, consisting of different surfaces (concrete, pebbles, water, mud, sand, whatever) that was designed to give a cross-section of the roads German soldiers would use during the war.
The idea was to test various types of boot & soles to see which was the best.
In practice it was a special punishment unit where the chosen had to walk 40km a day, round and round and round. Every 10 km, they would stop and the shoes were inspected. This was done year round, irrespective of the weather to avoid financial loss and the German economics ministry paid for the maintenance of the track.
If anyone collapsed the guards unleashed their Alsatians and those unwilling or unable to continue would be shot.
It is estimated that 20 people a day died on this track: "extermination through labour."
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"It's depressing to think that this sort of thing is still going on, although at least not on the scale the Nazis managed." Persecutions, pogroms, massacres have occurred with alarming frequency throughout human history. What the Nazis did was industrialise it. | |||
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"It really should never be forgotten as it is a thing always waiting in the wings to happen again. " Yes, and we should also remember that terrible things are happening today in the name of whatever perverted ideology and there are still victims and people who need help. Rwanda, anyone? 1994 - 'technically' a genocide but 500,000 to 1 million dead whilst Western politicians did fuck all. So no, don't forget. | |||
"It's depressing to think that this sort of thing is still going on, although at least not on the scale the Nazis managed. Persecutions, pogroms, massacres have occurred with alarming frequency throughout human history. What the Nazis did was industrialise it. "  | |||
"It's depressing to think that this sort of thing is still going on, although at least not on the scale the Nazis managed. Persecutions, pogroms, massacres have occurred with alarming frequency throughout human history. What the Nazis did was industrialise it. " and many profited on it...on each side. | |||
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"It's depressing to think that this sort of thing is still going on, although at least not on the scale the Nazis managed. Persecutions, pogroms, massacres have occurred with alarming frequency throughout human history. What the Nazis did was industrialise it. and many profited on it...on each side." See my first post about Sachsenhausen | |||
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"An era not to be forgotten.." We learn the Holocaust school, par for the course, but in the immediate post-war period it was not common knowledge or was dismissed as a rumour. Much of what occurred during the Holocaust seems too horrible to imagine. Indeed, for many years following the end of WWII survivors were extremely hesitant to speak of their personal experiences. They focused instead on rebuilding their lives. Following Adolf Eichmann's trial in the 1960s, Holocaust survivors finally began to speak and write about their traumatic ordeals. Before then people did not always believe. | |||
"An era not to be forgotten.. We learn the Holocaust school, par for the course, but in the immediate post-war period it was not common knowledge or was dismissed as a rumour. Much of what occurred during the Holocaust seems too horrible to imagine. Indeed, for many years following the end of WWII survivors were extremely hesitant to speak of their personal experiences. They focused instead on rebuilding their lives. Following Adolf Eichmann's trial in the 1960s, Holocaust survivors finally began to speak and write about their traumatic ordeals. Before then people did not always believe. " And even now, there are deniers. | |||
"The holocaust is a subject I've read many books and articles about/watched many documentaries etc! The most horrific part of it, for me, is the mass collusion that went on in order for the holocaust to be so 'successful' for so long! Thousands of men and women who, before the onset, were seemingly normal, decent men and women took part in the murder, rape, torture, starvation etc etc of millions of human beings! Only if we fully understand how and why can we ever be sure that such an atrocity will ever be allowed to happen again! I don't think we, particularly in education, confront the darker side of humanity enough in order that we can recognise and prevent future atrocities! One of the greatest shames/tragedies of my own time was Rwanda - inhumanities, rapes, murders etc took place on an epic scale - and the 'civilised' world simply reported it in the news! I felt sick and ashamed that, as a nation/continent, we did nothing! " We're very good at sitting by and allowing things to happen, dependent on whether it serves our national interest or not. We sat and allowed Bosnia to happen, Sudan, Sri-Lanka, CAR etc we are doing our best to ignore what is happening in Syria, where a parallel can be drawn to the Holocaust given the industrialised and organised approach being take to the extermination of a civilian population. By this I dont refer to the bombings, i refer to the many detention centres in which thousands are tortured and executed. It doesn't reach the same levels of Nazi Germany, but, the industrialisation of it is similar. | |||
"An era not to be forgotten.. We learn the Holocaust school, par for the course, but in the immediate post-war period it was not common knowledge or was dismissed as a rumour. Much of what occurred during the Holocaust seems too horrible to imagine. Indeed, for many years following the end of WWII survivors were extremely hesitant to speak of their personal experiences. They focused instead on rebuilding their lives. Following Adolf Eichmann's trial in the 1960s, Holocaust survivors finally began to speak and write about their traumatic ordeals. Before then people did not always believe. " And the dangerous ones out there are the ones who still deny it happened. | |||
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"And even now, there are deniers." I'm sure one will be along before long. | |||
"We sat and allowed Bosnia to happen, Sudan, Sri-Lanka, CAR etc we are doing our best to ignore what is happening in Syria, where a parallel can be drawn to the Holocaust given the industrialised and organised approach being take to the extermination of a civilian population. By this I dont refer to the bombings, i refer to the many detention centres in which thousands are tortured and executed. It doesn't reach the same levels of Nazi Germany, but, the industrialisation of it is similar." Yeah. Tony Blair remembered Rwanda, which is why he intervened in Sierra Leone and forced (finally) Clinton's hand in Bosnia. Problem is Blair got carried away with Bush n' Co. following 9/11 and military intervention 'for the good' has had a dirty name since. Just look at the cluster fuck that is Libya. | |||
"We sat and allowed Bosnia to happen, Sudan, Sri-Lanka, CAR etc we are doing our best to ignore what is happening in Syria, where a parallel can be drawn to the Holocaust given the industrialised and organised approach being take to the extermination of a civilian population. By this I dont refer to the bombings, i refer to the many detention centres in which thousands are tortured and executed. It doesn't reach the same levels of Nazi Germany, but, the industrialisation of it is similar. Yeah. Tony Blair remembered Rwanda, which is why he intervened in Sierra Leone and forced (finally) Clinton's hand in Bosnia. Problem is Blair got carried away with Bush n' Co. following 9/11 and military intervention 'for the good' has had a dirty name since. Just look at the cluster fuck that is Libya." Libya is slightly different, in that although military intervention was used, that was it, no thought for the aftermath at all. As a consequence a vacuum was left with many factions competing for power. Then, factor in the two Governments (tripoli and Tobruk), then the 3rd Government that was imposed by the UN despite having no mandate to do so from the actual people of Libya. History repeating itself springs to mind. | |||
"Libya is slightly different, in that although military intervention was used, that was it, no thought for the aftermath at all. As a consequence a vacuum was left with many factions competing for power. Then, factor in the two Governments (tripoli and Tobruk), then the 3rd Government that was imposed by the UN despite having no mandate to do so from the actual people of Libya. History repeating itself springs to mind." Yeah, I know it's apples and oranges but it's an example of why the 'international community' doesn't like getting involved | |||
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"Libya is slightly different, in that although military intervention was used, that was it, no thought for the aftermath at all. As a consequence a vacuum was left with many factions competing for power. Then, factor in the two Governments (tripoli and Tobruk), then the 3rd Government that was imposed by the UN despite having no mandate to do so from the actual people of Libya. History repeating itself springs to mind. Yeah, I know it's apples and oranges but it's an example of why the 'international community' doesn't like getting involved" Absolutely, agree with you entirely. Not helped by the nonsense of the UN Security Council and the right of veto for the 7 permanent members. Given Russia's involvement in Syria, no resolution will pass. The same can be said for any other nation where there is a significant interest from one of the 7. Everything comes down to politics and competing national interest. | |||
"The holocaust is a subject I've read many books and articles about/watched many documentaries etc! The most horrific part of it, for me, is the mass collusion that went on in order for the holocaust to be so 'successful' for so long! Thousands of men and women who, before the onset, were seemingly normal, decent men and women took part in the murder, rape, torture, starvation etc etc of millions of human beings! Only if we fully understand how and why can we ever be sure that such an atrocity will ever be allowed to happen again! I don't think we, particularly in education, confront the darker side of humanity enough in order that we can recognise and prevent future atrocities! One of the greatest shames/tragedies of my own time was Rwanda - inhumanities, rapes, murders etc took place on an epic scale - and the 'civilised' world simply reported it in the news! I felt sick and ashamed that, as a nation/continent, we did nothing! " Yes. Doing nothing when you know about wrong doing, injustice, evil on any level is, in my book, as bad as the act itself. Sadly I am as guilty as us all for not doing enough. | |||
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"The holocaust is a subject I've read many books and articles about/watched many documentaries etc! The most horrific part of it, for me, is the mass collusion that went on in order for the holocaust to be so 'successful' for so long! Thousands of men and women who, before the onset, were seemingly normal, decent men and women took part in the murder, rape, torture, starvation etc etc of millions of human beings! Only if we fully understand how and why can we ever be sure that such an atrocity will ever be allowed to happen again! I don't think we, particularly in education, confront the darker side of humanity enough in order that we can recognise and prevent future atrocities! One of the greatest shames/tragedies of my own time was Rwanda - inhumanities, rapes, murders etc took place on an epic scale - and the 'civilised' world simply reported it in the news! I felt sick and ashamed that, as a nation/continent, we did nothing! Yes. Doing nothing when you know about wrong doing, injustice, evil on any level is, in my book, as bad as the act itself. Sadly I am as guilty as us all for not doing enough." Some of us do a lot, some of us do a little, its all relative, and all dependent on what it is that you can actually do. The bigger criticism for me, is those that can actually bring about change but fail to do so. Saudi Arabia and Bahrain for example are allowed to act however they want, and the international community remains silent | |||
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"I wonder how many people don't even realise the significance of the day or even know it existed. Truly, one of mankinds darkest hours in history. Something that should always be remembered, taught, studied, and hopefully learnt from. What's sad, is nowadays, more people remember the date for steak and blowjob day than a date as historic as this." Agreed. | |||
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"Extract from the diary of Lieutenant Colonel Mervin Willett Gonin DSO, who was among the first British soldiers to liberate Bergen-Belsen in 1945, wrote as follows: . I can give no adequate description of the Horror Camp in which my men and myself were to spend the next month of our lives. It was just a barren wilderness, as bare as a chicken run. Corpses lay everywhere, some in huge piles, sometimes they lay singly or in pairs where they had fallen. It took a little time to get used to seeing men women and children collapse as you walked by them and to restrain oneself from going to their assistance. One had to get used early to the idea that the individual just did not count. One knew that five hundred a day were dying and that five hundred a day were going on dying for weeks before anything we could do would have the slightest effect. It was, however, not easy to watch a child choking to death from diptheria when you knew a tracheotomy and nursing would save it, one saw women drowning in their own vomit because they were too weak to turn over, and men eating worms as they clutched a half loaf of bread purely because they had to eat worms to live and now could scarcely tell the difference. Piles of corpses, naked and obscene, with a woman too weak to stand propping herself against them as she cooked the food we had given her over an open fire; men and women crouching down just anywhere in the open relieving themselves of the dysentary which was scouring their bowels, a woman standing stark naked washing herself with some issue soap in water from a tank in which the remains of a child floated. It was shortly after the British Red Cross arrived, though it may have no connection, that a very large quantity of lipstick arrived. This was not at all what we men wanted, we were screaming for hundreds and thousands of other things and I don't know who asked for lipstick. I wish so much that I could discover who did it, it was the action of genius, sheer unadulterated brilliance. I believe nothing did more for these internees than the lipstick. Women lay in bed with no sheets and no nightie but with scarlet red lips, you saw them wandering about with nothing but a blanket over their shoulders, but with scarlet red lips. I saw a woman dead on the post mortem table and clutched in her hand was a piece of lipstick. At last someone had done something to make them individuals again, they were someone, no longer merely the number tattooed on the arm. At last they could take an interest in their appearance. That lipstick started to give them back their humanity. " Harrowing to read. This should not be forgotten. | |||
"I'll be visiting the Killing Fields in a couple of weeks as part of a trip to Cambodia. I'm not looking forward to it, but feel this sort of thing should be remembered. " Yes, this too | |||
"It really should never be forgotten as it is a thing always waiting in the wings to happen again. " We must never forget | |||
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"Martin Miemoller's words are sadly still relevant today.. ditto, 'the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing'.." Not trying to point-score but I think yur mixing up a couple of things here. That quote was by Edmund Burke The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” . (Pastor) Martin Niemoller was interned between 1937-45 in various camps for actively opposing the Nazis. He wrote this: First they came for the Communists And I did not speak out Because I was not a Communist Then they came for the Socialists And I did not speak out Because I was not a Socialist Then they came for the trade unionists And I did not speak out Because I was not a trade unionist Then they came for the Jews And I did not speak out Because I was not a Jew Then they came for me And there was no one left | |||
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"Martin Miemoller's words are sadly still relevant today.. ditto, 'the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing'.. Not trying to point-score but I think yur mixing up a couple of things here. That quote was by Edmund Burke The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” . (Pastor) Martin Niemoller was interned between 1937-45 in various camps for actively opposing the Nazis. He wrote this: First they came for the Communists And I did not speak out Because I was not a Communist Then they came for the Socialists And I did not speak out Because I was not a Socialist Then they came for the trade unionists And I did not speak out Because I was not a trade unionist Then they came for the Jews And I did not speak out Because I was not a Jew Then they came for me And there was no one left " yes i know they are by different people, perhaps i should have been more precise.. my point was/is that they are sadly relevant today.. | |||
"Martin Miemoller's words are sadly still relevant today.. ditto, 'the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing'.. Not trying to point-score but I think yur mixing up a couple of things here. That quote was by Edmund Burke The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” . (Pastor) Martin Niemoller was interned between 1937-45 in various camps for actively opposing the Nazis. He wrote this: First they came for the Communists And I did not speak out Because I was not a Communist Then they came for the Socialists And I did not speak out Because I was not a Socialist Then they came for the trade unionists And I did not speak out Because I was not a trade unionist Then they came for the Jews And I did not speak out Because I was not a Jew Then they came for me And there was no one left yes i know they are by different people, perhaps i should have been more precise.. my point was/is that they are sadly relevant today.." | |||
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"I was in Krakow this time last year. I visited Auschwitz on the 26th, they were preparing for the memorial presentation. It was a harrowing visit. Every secondary school age child in Germany visits Auschwitz so that they don't forget the atrocities committed. In the UK, in many schools it isn't even taught about in history. " It's part of the Curriculum and by law must be taught. However, there are qualifications to that.. Only in England, only in non-academy state schools... | |||
"I was in Krakow this time last year. I visited Auschwitz on the 26th, they were preparing for the memorial presentation. It was a harrowing visit. Every secondary school age child in Germany visits Auschwitz so that they don't forget the atrocities committed. In the UK, in many schools it isn't even taught about in history. It's part of the Curriculum and by law must be taught. However, there are qualifications to that.. Only in England, only in non-academy state schools..." That's probably why none of the schools around here teach it. They are all academies. | |||
" I don't think we, particularly in education, confront the darker side of humanity enough in order that we can recognise and prevent future atrocities! One of the greatest shames/tragedies of my own time was Rwanda - inhumanities, rapes, murders etc took place on an epic scale - and the 'civilised' world simply reported it in the news! I felt sick and ashamed that, as a nation/continent, we did nothing! " . Rwanda was a bit less industrialised the Hutus and the Tutsi's were basically killing each other with machetes, they only had time to slice through your Achilles to stop you running away as hacking that sort of number of people up with a machete is a time consuming business.... Your right though, they don't tell you the gruesome bits for a reason! | |||
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" Not helped by the nonsense of the UN Security Council and the right of veto for the 7 permanent members. Given Russia's involvement in Syria, no resolution will pass. The same can be said for any other nation where there is a significant interest from one of the 7. Everything comes down to politics and competing national interest." . There's only five actually and there the original nuclear weapons holders. The npt was signed by everyone except India Pakistan and Israel and north Korea withdrew. The point of the veto is meant to allow the nuclear weapon holders a mechanism to stop them getting into confrontation. Your of course right they just use it to basically further their own ends though | |||
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"It should never be forgotten. Coincidentally, I read Boy In The Striped Pyjamas a few weeks ago, and the last sentences talked about how it happened a long time ago, and - in an ironic way - that of course something like that could never happen again. But it looks more and more likely sometimes. It's a controversial novel but I think it's one that should be read and discussed in secondary schools." It is...... | |||
"It should never be forgotten. Coincidentally, I read Boy In The Striped Pyjamas a few weeks ago, and the last sentences talked about how it happened a long time ago, and - in an ironic way - that of course something like that could never happen again. But it looks more and more likely sometimes. It's a controversial novel but I think it's one that should be read and discussed in secondary schools. It is......" Good. Saying that, it wasn't published until after I left school so I wouldn't know. | |||
"And even now, there are deniers. I'm sure one will be along before long." Holocaust Denial is gaining ground again, rapidly. And links into the the rising tide of nationalism and hate which is sweeping the world . I have been unfortunate to be witness to several modern day versions; not on the " industrialised scale" of NAZI Germany, but morally, no different . I listened to a hoocaustcsurvivor on the radio today who was discussing this. | |||
"Martin Miemoller's words are sadly still relevant today.. ditto, 'the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing'.. Not trying to point-score but I think yur mixing up a couple of things here. That quote was by Edmund Burke The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” . (Pastor) Martin Niemoller was interned between 1937-45 in various camps for actively opposing the Nazis. He wrote this: First they came for the Communists And I did not speak out Because I was not a Communist Then they came for the Socialists And I did not speak out Because I was not a Socialist Then they came for the trade unionists And I did not speak out Because I was not a trade unionist Then they came for the Jews And I did not speak out Because I was not a Jew Then they came for me And there was no one left yes i know they are by different people, perhaps i should have been more precise.. my point was/is that they are sadly relevant today.. " | |||
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"What sickens me are those who believe it is appropriate to take selfies at holocaust sites. Some people's moral compass swings the wrong way. Such places deserve the dignity that the victims were denied." http://metro.co.uk/2017/01/19/powerful-images-that-show-why-holocaust-selfies-are-so-disrespectful-6391091/ This really struck a chord when I saw it a couple of days ago. | |||
"I was gonna add some amusing little bon mot like "Happy Holocaust!"
BUT
I was reading, recently, about the Sachsenhausen camp (about 30km north of Berlin). Opened in 1936 and over the course of the war some 200,000 people went through this place.
Jews, obviously, but Sinti, Roma, gay people, Jehovah's Witnesses, anti-social elements, alcoholics, addicts, whoever was undesirable.
In Autumn 1941, for instant, an estimated 13-18,000 Soviet POWs were executed here but a single shot tot he back of the head in a special facility designed to standardise the process.
The camp had commercial links and in particular a converted race track that was a shoe testing ground. A kilometer track, consisting of different surfaces (concrete, pebbles, water, mud, sand, whatever) that was designed to give a cross-section of the roads German soldiers would use during the war.
The idea was to test various types of boot & soles to see which was the best.
In practice it was a special punishment unit where the chosen had to walk 40km a day, round and round and round. Every 10 km, they would stop and the shoes were inspected. This was done year round, irrespective of the weather to avoid financial loss and the German economics ministry paid for the maintenance of the track.
If anyone collapsed the guards unleashed their Alsatians and those unwilling or unable to continue would be shot.
It is estimated that 20 people a day died on this track: "extermination through labour."
State of the art "I visited Sachsenhausen a few years back. A very eerie place. Still get chills thinking about it . | |||
" I don't think we, particularly in education, confront the darker side of humanity enough in order that we can recognise and prevent future atrocities! One of the greatest shames/tragedies of my own time was Rwanda - inhumanities, rapes, murders etc took place on an epic scale - and the 'civilised' world simply reported it in the news! I felt sick and ashamed that, as a nation/continent, we did nothing! . Rwanda was a bit less industrialised the Hutus and the Tutsi's were basically killing each other with machetes, they only had time to slice through your Achilles to stop you running away as hacking that sort of number of people up with a machete is a time consuming business.... Your right though, they don't tell you the gruesome bits for a reason!" 1 person was killed every 7 minute in Rwanda. If I remember reading it correctly they killed at a higher rate than the Nazis (comparing numbers over period of time) | |||
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"nobody sees my my posts and never picks on things like the 'Venus' project. I want all the tech,I want to work(thats a broad definition to many), I just want to be. to me its all about removing the 'needs'(which are rapidly running out), why not make a preemptive strike... or are our future grandchildren going to look back and wonder...why we were so stupid? we really should be at our 'type' civilization , able to grasp concepts that the world changes without us...just on a geological basis. races etc..become meaningless, dependant on our biology which is governed by...where we live.Its a fact." Said passionatly | |||
"nobody sees my my posts and never picks on things like the 'Venus' project. I want all the tech,I want to work(thats a broad definition to many), I just want to be. to me its all about removing the 'needs'(which are rapidly running out), why not make a preemptive strike... or are our future grandchildren going to look back and wonder...why we were so stupid? we really should be at our 'type' civilization , able to grasp concepts that the world changes without us...just on a geological basis. races etc..become meaningless, dependant on our biology which is governed by...where we live.Its a fact. Said passionatly "its not that passionate, I'm a corprprate whore lol.. but science,biology MUST mix...unless we are happy to relinquish our perceived conrol over the world... Oh whats that...its a huge Hurricane or tidal wave..it will wipe out 0.5 of our existence do you want to be that 0.5? as far as I can see it scientists throughought the world collaberate on such things, they are determined on how effecctive funding is...our serach for a greater aspect of being in the universe has always been about control or getting wquicker to another place.If we freed up half the shit we do that makes no sense in the LONG run, we become a better species.Remove the need for want and we replace it with something lese.our monetary ststem is great...we value rare metals,minerals...as money, but they are very scientific metals/minerals..they actually probably have more value than being a collectors piece(maybe NWO know about this all though)(and the earth is...indeed...flat) | |||
"What sickens me are those who believe it is appropriate to take selfies at holocaust sites. Some people's moral compass swings the wrong way. Such places deserve the dignity that the victims were denied." An artist took these selfies And put them on a website called YOLOcaust. The website has been taken down now because he contacted the selfie takers and “Almost all of them understood the message, apologized and decided to remove their selfies from their personal Facebook and Instagram profiles,” | |||
"What sickens me are those who believe it is appropriate to take selfies at holocaust sites. Some people's moral compass swings the wrong way. Such places deserve the dignity that the victims were denied. An artist took these selfies And put them on a website called YOLOcaust. The website has been taken down now because he contacted the selfie takers and “Almost all of them understood the message, apologized and decided to remove their selfies from their personal Facebook and Instagram profiles,” " That's because they don't understand what happened. They haven't been taught about man's inhumanity to man | |||
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"what person here, would see someone die without trying to help? its a simple question." Not an easy one to answer when you're staring down the barrel of a gun. What would you do? My grandmother hid a Jewish lad in her barn. If he'd been caught she would have been murdered along with him. | |||
"what person here, would see someone die without trying to help? its a simple question. Not an easy one to answer when you're staring down the barrel of a gun. What would you do? My grandmother hid a Jewish lad in her barn. If he'd been caught she would have been murdered along with him." at the end of the day, she shose a really HUMAN emotion...devoid of political belief..just seeing another human in pain should be enough( I love science etc....but when the subject is almost equal to who you are, thats a problem). A scientific knowledge might make me want see why these scientists of the third reich were doing a lot of research that today might seem necessary. I hate cold science, i find the 'freater' good aspect can be swayed bo--- that me am pished..keyboards dripped twice..OK DROPPED! | |||
"I was at Sachsenhausen last year. I went on a New Sandemans guided tour with one of the official guides. He was extremely authorative and told many stories which brought the realities of the place to life. The tour took 6 hours at the camp, the guide talked constantly and explained so much. He talked about the psychology behind many things such as the communal bathrooms and why the uniforms had pockets. He shared many of the horrors of the barbaric acts that were committed. He explained in depth about the design and layout of the camp. The whole day was sobering, emotive and emotional. The next day I went to the Berlin Wall Memorial which was another sobering experience. I've also spent a fair amount of time around the Ypres Salient and the Somme. Places where Hitler served and fought during WW1. The combination of places I've been and the stories I've heard cover WW1, WW2 and The Cold War. After each war, everybody said and agreed the same. We should never let it happen again. Sadly, I can find only one question to ask, will we ever learn?" That was the same tour I had done a few years ago - see earlier post | |||
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"The pongels of Eastern Europe in 19th century... " "Pogroms". | |||
"I was gonna add some amusing little bon mot like "Happy Holocaust!"
BUT
I was reading, recently, about the Sachsenhausen camp (about 30km north of Berlin). Opened in 1936 and over the course of the war some 200,000 people went through this place.
Jews, obviously, but Sinti, Roma, gay people, Jehovah's Witnesses, anti-social elements, alcoholics, addicts, whoever was undesirable.
In Autumn 1941, for instant, an estimated 13-18,000 Soviet POWs were executed here but a single shot tot he back of the head in a special facility designed to standardise the process.
The camp had commercial links and in particular a converted race track that was a shoe testing ground. A kilometer track, consisting of different surfaces (concrete, pebbles, water, mud, sand, whatever) that was designed to give a cross-section of the roads German soldiers would use during the war.
The idea was to test various types of boot & soles to see which was the best.
In practice it was a special punishment unit where the chosen had to walk 40km a day, round and round and round. Every 10 km, they would stop and the shoes were inspected. This was done year round, irrespective of the weather to avoid financial loss and the German economics ministry paid for the maintenance of the track.
If anyone collapsed the guards unleashed their Alsatians and those unwilling or unable to continue would be shot.
It is estimated that 20 people a day died on this track: "extermination through labour."
State of the art "It was exactly this that troubled me most when I visited Sachsenhausen It's nothing, absolutely nothing, until you think. | |||
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