Why don't ?

[noonereal]

Originally Posted by BlueStreak

I totally agree, Pete.

Dave

I'll say one thing in defense of school's teaching, my kid was taught way way more about the Holocaust for example than I ever was. May not be the entire story but certainly not as vanilla as when I was a kid.

[Grumpy]

A great watch on what happened after the camps were liberated is the documentary, The long way home, took home the 97 Academy award and is a fantastic piece of film.

If you want to know what happened in the camps, find a surviver. There are not many left but their story is worth listening too !

[finnbow]

I lived less than a half hour away from Dachau for five years. I took loads of visitors there over the years and I always left with the same impression as the first visit. I could barely talk for a half hour.

[JJIII]

Originally Posted by finnbow

I lived less than a half hour away from Dachau for five years. I took loads of visitors there over the years and I always left with the same impression as the first visit. I could barely talk for a half hour.

Care to share any of your thoughts? I, for one, would be interested in hearing about your experiences.

[finnbow]

Originally Posted by JJIII

Care to share any of your thoughts? I, for one, would be interested in hearing about your experiences.

Lots of thoughts. For starters, the town of Dachau is a fairly upscale Munich suburb. The concentration camp is sort of walled off from the town itself, but comfortable suburban life goes on not far outside of the walls - a bit strange indeed.

First, even though Dachau is well known (it was the first concentration camp), it was not an extermination camp, per se, like Auschwitz. The large scale death camps were, for the most part, not within Germany's borders. This is not to say that it wasn't an atrocious and deadly place. Its prisoners were more political than Jewish (gross generalization). For the most part, prisoners at Dachau were held there and worked/starved to death (or died from disease) and not executed outright. It was, however, still an insidious place and the first of many camps to follow.

What really made an impression upon me was a map in the main visitor's building showing the full number of camps throughout Nazi occupied Europe. There were literally hundreds of varying degrees of nastiness/perversity. The barracks at Dachau were demolished after the war with only the concrete foundations remaining. They rebuilt several of them for tours, along with the visitor building that serves as a museum. The famous barbed wire fences, guard towers and iron gate remain.

After touring the museum with its films, posters, maps, etc. and a walking tour of the site, you leave in stunned silence. As I said, I've been there at least a dozen times and even the last time had the same effect as the first. I took guests who were visiting me in Augsburg (40 miles west of Munich, 30 miles west of Dachau) to Dachau before touring and drinking our way through Munich. I thought it was important to show the dark side of German history before introducing them to the frivolity of modern Munich (a great city).

Beyond the stunned silence, it's also a bit surreal when you compare Dachau and its history to the wonderful and beautiful country that modern Germany has become. I love Germany and its people, but have a hard time reconciling what they are today with what they were 70 years ago. BTW, I lived there from 1960-1964 (elementary school) in Mannheim, from 78-81 in Fulda, and 81-86 in Augsburg and my son now lives in Wiesbaden doing what I did there - construction management for DoD.

[BlueStreak]

Originally Posted by Grumpy

A great watch on what happened after the camps were liberated is the documentary, The long way home, took home the 97 Academy award and is a fantastic piece of film.

If you want to know what happened in the camps, find a surviver. There are not many left but their story is worth listening too !

I knew a couple when I was growing up. But, I think I already mentioned that.
They are interesting people and talking to them will greatly affect your outlook on life.

Dave

[BlueStreak]

Originally Posted by Pukka Sahib

We are all capable of good and evil. There is a part of one’s character - one’s soul if you will - that defines the individual. There are some with hearts of darkness whose evil nature knows no bounds; they have no souls. Still, most people are capable of committing even unspeakable acts under the pressures of time and place and circumstance. They are not bad persons, but only weak in spirit. It is only the righteous who can, by themselves, resist the forces of evil. Their souls are like shining armor; they are not of this world.

Uhhhh, okay.................

Dave

[merrylander]

There are people who for who knows what biological reason have no conscience, meaning that they believe the world should provide for their every whim, commonly called sociopaths. I have known a couple and they can be charming as hell, just as long as everything goes their way. When things don't they become convinced that it is everyone else's fault but theirs - and act accordingly. They invariably end up isolated and alone, however some can and do become violent, then run for cover.

[piece-itpete]

Thanks Finn for the insight.

One interview I heard with a survivor, he got very upset when someone said Hitler was insane. He said he knew exactly what he was doing. And apart from the end I agree with him.

The very roots of the death camps, from 'Der Fuehrer', I strongly rec it:

http://www.nizkor.org/hweb/documents...protocols.html

May we all pray that such evil will never succeed again.

Pete

[JJIII]

Thanks Finn.