Auschwitz

Mrs p and I went about this time of year 10 years ago.

It was a bitterly cold (in all senses of the word cold), miserable and depressing place with nothing to commend it at all.

That, I believe, is the whole point. Certainly it makes you think and come away with the absolute certainty that nothing like that must ever be allowed to happen again.

The truly depressing thing is that with the likes of Rwanda and Bosnia etc. the world has shown itself incapable of learning from the past in any meaningful way.

I often think that part of the induction course there would be for new prime ministers or presidents, when I rule the world, would be to have to spend a weekend in Aushwitz or Belsen, in isolation, in winter, to contemplate on the consequences of their potential future actions.

Warm clothes & tissues.

I once drove overnight, right though Germany, to Prague. I had never been there before.

Just seeing all the (now) everyday place-names on the road signs was quite emotional. Mostly bombing targets from the war, though one was a night-fighter base, which nearly had me turn the lights off.

We drove past Frankfurt airport at about 2am and, for some weird reason, there was a searchlight sweeping the sky. At that point, I suggested that we turned south for Switzerland, if the engine started playing up - my (somewhat younger) co-driver didn't really understand.

I grew up on RAF stations where there were still people who had gone to all these places, uninvited, and with maps little better than I had.


Driving through the WW1 lines in Northern France was similar.

As you're going on a school trip some of this might not apply, but I'll pass on what we found and hope it helps. I must admit before I start that i hate organised trips and guided tours, so I prioritised quiet reflection over finding out knowledge, my rationale being that I could read up the facts later.

There are 2 camps:

Auschwitz I is very well preserved, it started life as work camp so was well built and planned. It's here that you will see all the hair and spectacles . The camp is quite small so easy to walk around yourself, but it get jammed with big groups on tours and the israeli groups we encountered were pretty overwhelming, almost aggressive. Understandably they feel they have right to priority in the buildings.

Auschwitz II (Birkenau) is about 2 miles away and is the one the trains arrived in. The sheer size of the place is incredible, and very depressing. it was built by prisoners using poor materials and many huts have fallen down. The water table in this area is very high so when it freezes in affects the foundations (such as they are) causing the collapses. My advice at this site is just to wander round and imagine the terror these poor people felt. Being cold it will be easier to truly imagine the squalor and deprivation inflicted by the Nazi's. We went in the heat of summer with lovely tall meadow grasses around and it was hard to imagine to be fair. Make sure you don't miss the creamatorium and bath house. It's a good long walk from the main gate but this is the bit that most affected me. I'd held it together until we saw the pictorial display examining individual families and contrasted images of the members of each family before the war, and those left after it, with stories explaining what happened to them during the war. Just too sad

I took my then 14 year old daughter and she still discusses what she saw and it has affected her for the better. Few pics I took. I won't say enjoy, but it is a very rewarding trip.

I don't know how to make the pics smaller!!!!

Auschwitz I





Birkenau

I went to Dachau a few years ago, all I can offer is wrap up warm, make sure you read/listen to any guides /guidelines. Maybe take a flower or poppy or something? There is usually somewhere to leave such things and I felt bad that I had nothing with me to leave there in memoriam. Tissues.

We called in Belson while driving close by and I would say possibly not as well preserved, as when liberated the groups burnt the place to the ground is still equally worth a visit. the memory of it 10years later is still as powerful ..

Gadget said:

I went to Dachau a few years ago, all I can offer is wrap up warm, make sure you read/listen to any guides /guidelines. Maybe take a flower or poppy or something? There is usually somewhere to leave such things and I felt bad that I had nothing with me to leave there in memoriam. Tissues.

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I've also been to Dachau, infact I've been to a few. Auschwitz, Dachau, Terezin (Theresienstadt), Majdanek (KL Lublin) and Sachsenhausen. I love history and have found that each camp has a different character and received Jews from differing parts of Europe. For example Terezin received Jews from Prague, so by combining a visit to Terezin (near Prague) with a visit to the Jewish museum in Prague we were able to get a more complete picture of what these poor people went through. While in Berlin we went to the Jewish museum to gain an understanding of the lives of the German jews, then to Gleis 17, the departure platform and then to Sachsenhausen just outside Berlin. It's like a big jigsaw puzzle and each camp and country have a different piece to add. We haven't done all these places in one holiday, but for anyone who would like to learn more this is a good website:

https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/read/articles/sobering-sites-of-nazi-europe