What happened there was horrible, as is a lot of history. But no one ever brings up the futility of belief in god(s) of any kind. Auschwitz should be saved as a monument to the FACT that no god(s) had any effect of any kind in stopping what went on there, and lots of other places, for some 10,000 years of recorded history. This god thing really hasn't worked out for anyone has it ?
14
First, I have to wonder at those who deny the Holocaust through a desire to erase it's significance to the reality of bigotry and racism and the ignorance of same. Second, I have to also wonder at those who lack the ability to see the significance of keeping the death camps for those who wish to give witness to the extreme cruelty of which man is capable. Should the crimes of man go under the bulldozer in the erasing of historical events that remind us of our intolerance, our ignorance, our culpability, our senseless need to take life and the insensitivity with which we create hell on earth? I think not. And for those who suggest this, perhaps the shallowness you exhibit will help man go about his life with the mindless collection of meaningless material objects and continuous evaporation of compassion for the suffering. I don't wish that and so I applaud the efforts of keeping the memories of the Holocaust alive. Not that it will stop the continuous reinvention of man's ability to slaughter and wage senseless wars that kill the innocent by the millions, but it will give us further proof of our blood lust as a species which seems not to be abated by reminding us we probably do not belong at the top of the food chain. As for Jews driving German cars, the Germans have taken full responsibility for this historical atrocity and a boycott against driving a German car lacks respect for something many countries don't do.
10
I was profoundly moved when I visited the Holocaust museum in D.C., but no amount of documentaries or movies could prepare me for the visceral experience of visiting Birkenau in 2007. I still can't put it into words.
I truly admire those who are willing and able to work at preserving this place that should never be forgotten.
I truly admire those who are willing and able to work at preserving this place that should never be forgotten.
8
The article on efforts to maintain the authentic environment at Auschwitz omits discussion of the overall look and feel of the death camp. When I visited, on a beautiful spring day, there was abundant, nicely groomed, green grass and there were many beautiful trees which had leafed out with singing birds in their limbs. Well-constructed walkways, in perfect condition, contained groups of chattering and laughing people, some raucous teens, with no sense of solemnity at all. In reality there had been no trees as all the leaves had been eaten by starving prisoners. The same with grass—the ground was bare; there was no grass as it all had been eaten. The prettification of the Auschwitz grounds fails to set the proper tone and is a denial of the brutal reality, It gives the feel of a Holocaust theme park. It is only within the buildings that the visitor begins to sense the grisly truth, and the jarring contrast from without is at first a shock and then ironic.
21
Some how it needs to be preserved so there will be no doubt or denial in the future of what happened and the extent of the horror and depravity that people can inflict on each other. These conservators are true heroes for having the fortitude to carry this out.
8
I was raised Catholic and grew up on a farm in Wisconsin. I never knew a Jewish person until my oldest brother introduced his dear friend to our family in the 1960s. I was 14 years old at the time. This dear friend eventually became my husband of over 30 years. His relatives left Germany well before the 1930s and thus escaped the unspeakable acts which unfolded gradually. He refuses to watch any movies or documentaries, read any historical literature or visit any locations which involves the Holocaust. He just can’t bring himself to witness, in any fashion, the horrors and reminders of that time. He is so terrorized by the atrocities committed and the unimaginable pain and death inflicted, the mere mention of anything referring to the Holocaust finds him retreating to the other end of the house.
I so strongly feel a moral obligation to visit the concentration camps, not out of curiosity, but out of deep respect and reverence and remembrance to the millions of innocents who were murdered because they were Jewish. An eternal haunting would exist in my soul of the many sights and smells witnessed if I were to visit these camps. A painful price to pay, but nothing comparable or imaginable to what price the millions paid with their lives.
One day, I hope to be successful in explaining to my husband the urgency and necessity I feel towards this pending journey. I pray he will be able to disarm his fear to the point where we can tackle it together.
I so strongly feel a moral obligation to visit the concentration camps, not out of curiosity, but out of deep respect and reverence and remembrance to the millions of innocents who were murdered because they were Jewish. An eternal haunting would exist in my soul of the many sights and smells witnessed if I were to visit these camps. A painful price to pay, but nothing comparable or imaginable to what price the millions paid with their lives.
One day, I hope to be successful in explaining to my husband the urgency and necessity I feel towards this pending journey. I pray he will be able to disarm his fear to the point where we can tackle it together.
11
This was the perfect article for Holocaust Remembrance Day. Thank you for sharing its contents. The photographs alone are a chilling and riveting reminder of one modern history's darkest periods.
8
One of the most striking things, among very many, that I found at Auschwitz was its authenticity under the policy of preserving though not replicating. Alone, I walked into one of the dormitories and I was able to reach into one of the sleeping shelves from which wondering eyes look out at us in the most familiar pictures. I've been to many historic places in the world, but this was the most authentic touching-of-history in my life. On the other hand, in the room of the ovens in Auschwitz One I had the odd feeling that something (beyond the obvious) was not quite right. I later learned that they were not original, but recreations ca. 1947 built from new parts as a commendable attempt at that time to witness what had happened. But Auschwitz is not a place for inauthenticity. I'm grateful for the practices of preservation here. It was perhaps the most genuinely meaningful historic place I've ever visited. Thank you to the good folks that make it so.
6
In my opinion, as a Jew, these people are doing G-ds work. I wish them success in their technical challenges and peace of mind in their emotional lives. There is no way that this or any museum can adequately address the Holocaust or the tremendous losses of World War II. All we can do is study the past, in order not to repeat it. This work is part of that.
9
It happened there, and it could happen here. Preserve the site, and be watchful.
18
The Soviets blamed the Germans for the Katyn Forest massacre even though the Germans had invited in the Red Cross and journalists to capture evidence of what must have obviously been murders done by the Soviet Cheka - ironically lead by a Jewish man, and as is well known in Russia and Poland - was disporportionately led by Jews.
An irony of history - one not much discussed in the US because americans are politically sensitive to the point of censorship even if the ypride themselves on "free speech."
another things is the death toll of this camp was revised down - but apparently the revised figures were *ALL* non-Jews - in Poland. Which is remarkable.
Part of honoring the memory of the very real victims of Nazi [and Soviet] authorities is never being told that it is a crime to keep asking questions.
If history teaches us anything, it is that it is written by the victors.
Many members of my extended family died fighting the Nazis. Their blood gives me the right to never be told I must not question history.
An irony of history - one not much discussed in the US because americans are politically sensitive to the point of censorship even if the ypride themselves on "free speech."
another things is the death toll of this camp was revised down - but apparently the revised figures were *ALL* non-Jews - in Poland. Which is remarkable.
Part of honoring the memory of the very real victims of Nazi [and Soviet] authorities is never being told that it is a crime to keep asking questions.
If history teaches us anything, it is that it is written by the victors.
Many members of my extended family died fighting the Nazis. Their blood gives me the right to never be told I must not question history.
7
I wanted to turn away from this story and accompanying pictures, but couldn't, as I've been unable all my life to look away from the atrocities committed by human beings in the name of ideologies and belief systems. Could I do the work of these preservationists, or would I break under the strain, or turn away? At 79, a child of WWII, I still don't know the answers. But I do know that these and others like them, people dedicated to preserving the memory and lessons of the Auschwitzes of this world, are doing saintly work, without which our "civilization" would be even more inhumane than it is, and I am deeply humbled by that.
9
Regardless how many documentaries, photographs or stories one watches, one is never prepared for the emotional impact of presence of the concentration camp. I've never went to Auschwitz, despite nearly a yearly pilgrimage to Polish mountains and Krakow, probably because of my dad, who visited Treblinka shortly after its liberation, and never wanted to revisit this memory. When I was in Germany I visited Dachau, and still remember the emotional hit and realization of the human cost of war.
2
Three summers ago, my international choir toured Central Europe. Coincidentally, the Summer Olympics were hosted in London, the first of many stops along our choral tour. I remember seeing a mural sketched in chalk of all the nations represented in the games, and how on the far right the German flag was placed beside Israel's. Intentional or not on behalf of the artist, their deliberate and peculiar juxtaposition caught my attention, and stuck with me throughout the entirety of the tour. Haunted me, certainly.
We arrived at Dachau for a tour after singing in an 18th century church in Frankfort. My best friend on the tour was born in Israel, and had lost relatives during the war-relatives who were kept at Dachau. We walked alone together in silence and then we saw it. The gas chamber. She walked in first, I right behind. And just like that, we looked up in harmony. Looked up at the tease of a blue sky that now covered the chamber. Words could not define what it felt to stand where so many stood-her family members included-at their last moments on earth.
Not even the most well-crafted and factual documentary, re-telling by Elie Wiesel, painful photographs, or the sight of the flags back in London could invoke what the existence and accessibility of this camp allowed. Of all the camps allow.
Their preservation is of the utmost importance. How courageous the conservators.
We arrived at Dachau for a tour after singing in an 18th century church in Frankfort. My best friend on the tour was born in Israel, and had lost relatives during the war-relatives who were kept at Dachau. We walked alone together in silence and then we saw it. The gas chamber. She walked in first, I right behind. And just like that, we looked up in harmony. Looked up at the tease of a blue sky that now covered the chamber. Words could not define what it felt to stand where so many stood-her family members included-at their last moments on earth.
Not even the most well-crafted and factual documentary, re-telling by Elie Wiesel, painful photographs, or the sight of the flags back in London could invoke what the existence and accessibility of this camp allowed. Of all the camps allow.
Their preservation is of the utmost importance. How courageous the conservators.
8
Every racial ethnic sectarian nation state or group has a unique perspective on World War II. For China it was The War Against Japanese Aggression which claimed 30 million Chinese dead. While the Russian Federation mourns and remembers The Great Patriotic War that killed 27.5 million Soviet citizens.
America remembers World War II as beginning on December 7, 1941 being fought by the Greatest Generation. Jews mourn their Holocaust. But the Gypsies, LGBT, mentally and physically disabled, Black Africans, Arab Muslims, Asians, Pacific Islanders have no special designation nor definition for what happened to them during WW II.
Memory and mourning about inhumanity are both very complicated in their specificity and universality. The U.S. Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. commemorates events that did not take place in America nor were they perpetrated by Americans against other Americans.
"Who, after all, today speaks of the annihilation of the Armenians?" Adolf Hitler 22 August 1939
America remembers World War II as beginning on December 7, 1941 being fought by the Greatest Generation. Jews mourn their Holocaust. But the Gypsies, LGBT, mentally and physically disabled, Black Africans, Arab Muslims, Asians, Pacific Islanders have no special designation nor definition for what happened to them during WW II.
Memory and mourning about inhumanity are both very complicated in their specificity and universality. The U.S. Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. commemorates events that did not take place in America nor were they perpetrated by Americans against other Americans.
"Who, after all, today speaks of the annihilation of the Armenians?" Adolf Hitler 22 August 1939
3
I don't doubt that what you write is correct. However the German Nazi slaughter of the Jewish people between 1933 and 1945 from my understanding is the only time in history that an elected government had a clearly defined and written policy that in essence was part of their creed, to annihilate every single man, woman, and child of specific faith in recorded history! I mourn the others, especially those Catholic priests who were also slaughtered. But they were murdered not because they were Christians, but men of conscience who were truly exemplifying what Jesus taught! My second and third cousins, girls between the ages of five and twelve, were butchered and destroyed because their only crime in the eyes of those German Nazi devil worshippers was that they happen to be Jewish! Never again!!!
11
My wife and I were in Cambodia a few years ago, and visited the former prison known as "S-21," now called the "Tuol Sleng Museum of Genocide." Similar to when I visited the Holocaust museum in Jerusalem, it was unspeakably sad, depressing, and moving. While the "killing fields" outside of town are perhaps better known, it was the efficient, Nazi-like categorizing and photographing of the (mostly) young victims at the prison that affected me the most. Displays with the photos of hundreds of young men and women, most younger than 20, many under the age of 10, stare out at you across an unbridgeable gulf of sadness and loss. Many of the victims are smiling, either out of ignorance at what is coming, or as a reflex when facing a camera.
It would be comforting to think that the people who committed the acts of the Nazis, or the Khmer Rouge, were some kind of special monsters. But they were just 'normal' people, in a situation that allowed them to give an inner evil free reign. If there's *any* lesson learned from remembering the various genocides, it is that humans will likely always be capable of such brutality, and that the veneer of civilization is still very thin on many of us.
It would be comforting to think that the people who committed the acts of the Nazis, or the Khmer Rouge, were some kind of special monsters. But they were just 'normal' people, in a situation that allowed them to give an inner evil free reign. If there's *any* lesson learned from remembering the various genocides, it is that humans will likely always be capable of such brutality, and that the veneer of civilization is still very thin on many of us.
12
Timely article for me...I recently visited Auschwitz. I had read and seen many films and documentaries about the Shoah but nothing prepared me for what I saw, and nearly 2 weeks later, I still think about it every day. So many people here have spoken so eloquently, but I still felt the need to add my voice.
Our guide had been leading tours there for 8 years and when I asked her how she could continue to do something that must be emotionally wearing, she said (but much more eloquently than I am reporting it) she felt that it was an important thing to do. Living in Germany, I am happy to know that many students make school trips there and to other concentration camps. This must never happen again.
I would also never wish to make light of the, sadly, many other examples of genocide which have taken place, but nothing diminishes the magnitude of what happened under the Nazis. I am thankful that I can't imagine this ever happening in Germany I have come to know in 14 years of residence. May it ever be so.
Our guide had been leading tours there for 8 years and when I asked her how she could continue to do something that must be emotionally wearing, she said (but much more eloquently than I am reporting it) she felt that it was an important thing to do. Living in Germany, I am happy to know that many students make school trips there and to other concentration camps. This must never happen again.
I would also never wish to make light of the, sadly, many other examples of genocide which have taken place, but nothing diminishes the magnitude of what happened under the Nazis. I am thankful that I can't imagine this ever happening in Germany I have come to know in 14 years of residence. May it ever be so.
3
Important article, but it's unfortunate or simply just shortsighted that on Yom Hashoah, the New York Times chose not to mention anywhere on the front page that today is Holocaust memorial day.
8
The first principle of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation is to "preserve authenticity. Almost all commentators here praise them for their commitment to exactly that. Almost all speak of the power of authentic artifacts; of their ability to speak to the past, especially when there is no one left to do so. Imagine if past generations had remade this place with an abstract art memorial so it did not acknowledge its past; so it displaced all of those walls, fences, bricks, the merciless gate: "Arbeit Macht Frei."
You'd have the "National September 11 Memorial at the World Trade Center," the site of another crime against humanity. There, by design the memorial banishes all the authentic artifacts we remember the attacks by, including the iconic Sphere, damaged in the attacks but the only structure to survive intact. Today, while millions visit the site's massive waterfalls and pretty little trees, the Sphere sits forgotten in an obscure corner of Battery Park. This winter covered in patches of snow, visited mostly by squirrels and pigeons.
Though thousands have called for its return the Sept. 11 Memorial Foundation, in direct contrast to the Auschwitz-Birkenau puts no stock in authenticity. By not allowing the return of the Sphere, it denies it.
In fact, the Times, at Ground Zero, has endorsed this principle, that authenticity can and should be exiled. Why? And would anyone suggest we do this at Auschwitz?
You'd have the "National September 11 Memorial at the World Trade Center," the site of another crime against humanity. There, by design the memorial banishes all the authentic artifacts we remember the attacks by, including the iconic Sphere, damaged in the attacks but the only structure to survive intact. Today, while millions visit the site's massive waterfalls and pretty little trees, the Sphere sits forgotten in an obscure corner of Battery Park. This winter covered in patches of snow, visited mostly by squirrels and pigeons.
Though thousands have called for its return the Sept. 11 Memorial Foundation, in direct contrast to the Auschwitz-Birkenau puts no stock in authenticity. By not allowing the return of the Sphere, it denies it.
In fact, the Times, at Ground Zero, has endorsed this principle, that authenticity can and should be exiled. Why? And would anyone suggest we do this at Auschwitz?
2
@Michael Burke: "There, by design the memorial banishes all the authentic artifacts we remember the attacks by, ..."
The 9/11 *museum* collection preserves numerous artifacts: "The collection houses more than 10,313 artifacts, including 2,136 archival documents and 37 large artifacts like first responder vehicles and monumental steel that are already on site."[1] The web site doesn't do the collection justice -- there are very few photos of artifacts. In contrast, the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum web site has numerous photos and much more.[2]
[1] https://www.911memorial.org/collection
[2] http://auschwitz.org/en/
The 9/11 *museum* collection preserves numerous artifacts: "The collection houses more than 10,313 artifacts, including 2,136 archival documents and 37 large artifacts like first responder vehicles and monumental steel that are already on site."[1] The web site doesn't do the collection justice -- there are very few photos of artifacts. In contrast, the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum web site has numerous photos and much more.[2]
[1] https://www.911memorial.org/collection
[2] http://auschwitz.org/en/
2
At what point does the interest in touring Auschwitz become morbid? One can have a very effective memorial, as pointed out in the article, without preserving every detail. The memorial at the site of the Treblinka camp, which was almost entirely destroyed by the Germans after the revolt there, is a very good example of this. I can certainly understand keeping Auschwitz in its current condition while the camp's victims and their immediate descendants might still be alive, but eventually the artifacts should be laid to rest and the place should be obliterated, lest it become an attraction for those who just have a ghoulish interest in man's inhumanity to man.
1
@David Godinez: "One can have a very effective memorial, as pointed out in the article, without preserving every detail."
Did you read the article?
1. The Auschwitz site is also a *museum*: "the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum".
2. The hair will not be preserved in "every detail".
Did you read the article?
1. The Auschwitz site is also a *museum*: "the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum".
2. The hair will not be preserved in "every detail".
1
An interest in man's inhumanity to man is exactly why it should stay, preserved, intact, not only as a memorial, but as a warning.
Having minds with which to think and reason, most of us are no doubt able to recognize the depth of evil into which our free will can lead us. But for some, it is all too easy to sweep that recognition into the darker recesses of our thoughts, where it can get covered up and compromised and eventually forgotten, supplanted with more temporary, self-serving glories.
But there are those for whom no such conscience exists - those who would create systematic, mechanized and utterly depraved means by which not only to achieve, but explore and glorify the extermination of our fellow man.
It is why Auschwitz must continue to exist - as a brutal warning to all humanity that man without conscience should always be our deepest, and most primal fear.
Having minds with which to think and reason, most of us are no doubt able to recognize the depth of evil into which our free will can lead us. But for some, it is all too easy to sweep that recognition into the darker recesses of our thoughts, where it can get covered up and compromised and eventually forgotten, supplanted with more temporary, self-serving glories.
But there are those for whom no such conscience exists - those who would create systematic, mechanized and utterly depraved means by which not only to achieve, but explore and glorify the extermination of our fellow man.
It is why Auschwitz must continue to exist - as a brutal warning to all humanity that man without conscience should always be our deepest, and most primal fear.
11
A memorial is just a memorial. If a few generic sculptures and plaques are put up, they will be meaningless in a hundred years. The Holocaust deniers will point to them and say, "Well, no one really knows what happened. It was undoubtedly blown all out of proportion." It is precisely after the voices of the victims and their descendants have died away that we need the camp to stand as proof and warning for future generations.
8
What remains at Auschwitz-Birkenau and other Nazi death camps should be preserved as is. Modern memorials would be woefully insufficient to portray the evil that was committed against the innocent between 1940 and 1945.
14
My high school French teacher lived through Dachau. We could still see the tattooed number on her arm occasionally, though I think she tried to keep it covered. She was tiny. I would imagine now that her growth was stunted by the conditions at the camp.
I feel we must never forget on behalf of that little woman who taught me more than just French.
I feel we must never forget on behalf of that little woman who taught me more than just French.
24
I was at the camps (Aushwitz and the larger Birkenau) in 1979. There is no other way to appreciate the immensity of the camps and the tragedy that took place there then to walk into the room where all the suitcases are, or where all the eyeglasses are, and see them for yourselves. To walk among the abandoned barracks in Birkenau and feel the size of this enormous camp, with the one time electrified barbed wire closing it all in is simply intimidating at a level that one cannot appreciate without being there. Great work and please continue!!!
12
How in this day and age can there be Holocaust deniers? All one haste do is visit the site, see the articles of clothing, the remnants of peoples lives. You can argue the scope if you want - was it "only" 750000 - if that makes you feel better. But you cannot argue its existence, it was not a movie set it was not a play it was real and that reality is what needs to be preserved. We have become a jaded society where the unreal can become real - just go to Disney world - this is the real staying real..... argue the numbers if you are so inclined but don't argue the reality.
10
@lastcard jb: "How in this day and age can there be Holocaust deniers? All one haste do is visit the site, see the articles of clothing, the remnants of peoples lives."
"But you cannot argue its existence, ..."
Holocaust denial is too complex to discuss here, so see, for example, "Denying the Holocaust: the growing assault on truth and memory" by Deborah E. Lipstadt. The Wikipedia article on "Holocaust denial" has many more references.
"But you cannot argue its existence, ..."
Holocaust denial is too complex to discuss here, so see, for example, "Denying the Holocaust: the growing assault on truth and memory" by Deborah E. Lipstadt. The Wikipedia article on "Holocaust denial" has many more references.
I've discussed this with some deniers, and their position puzzles me. No one can argue in the face of the evidence that very many people, including very many Jews, were not systematically killed at these places. Why is it less horrible if there were "only" 750,000 instead of 6,000,000?
In fact we do not know exactly how many, for obvious reasons. Keeping the memorial intact shows that there were very very many, which is enough and more than enough.
In fact we do not know exactly how many, for obvious reasons. Keeping the memorial intact shows that there were very very many, which is enough and more than enough.
4
My father was a US soldier in Europe during WWII. He personally witnessed the starved and dying Jews and told of his rage at seeing the captured Nazi camp personnel marching by with their beautiful, spotless uniforms and gleaming boots. According to him, albeit not personally due to him, they didn't keep their lovely boots for long. My father has passed, but I heard it directly from him. It happened.
8
My visit to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington DC left me scarred. The museum's step-by-step depiction of methodical genocide -- standing in one of the rail cars that transported those who would die at the camps, for example -- chilled me to the core. Almost unbearable at times.
The displays were overwhelming, the personal accounts, the room full of shoes, the photographs. A visit to Auschwitz is something I'm not certain I could bear.
My admiration to those who have the courage to enter these sites so the reality of these atrocities cannot, ultimately, be denied.
The displays were overwhelming, the personal accounts, the room full of shoes, the photographs. A visit to Auschwitz is something I'm not certain I could bear.
My admiration to those who have the courage to enter these sites so the reality of these atrocities cannot, ultimately, be denied.
25
A simple thank you to these young preservationists. As guardians of memory, may your souls be enhanced.
18
I am appalled that another poster had stated that they are tired of this, and that we should just forget it.... You say you are tired of it? That it's time to forget? When we forget is when these things tend to come back to remind us.... we can never forget the atrocities of this time, of how one man can fuel hatred and prejudice to such levels that entire populations of a religion, a race, a group are murdered because they do not "fit in" with what a crazed group believes is the standard norm. This has happened over and over again, discrimination and murder based on religion, race, genetics... it is all wrong, it needs to be shown to generation after generation what happens when we allow prejudice of any type to rule our decisions and control our lives. We must do all we can to educate future generations of what can happen when we allow this to happen.
16
I wish that maintaining sites like these had an impact on the real world but am doubtful it does. In the early 1960s, there was an episode of "The Twilight Zone" written by Rod Serling which gave the reason for maintaining the concentration camp sites as to prevent similar events from ever happening again. Sadly during the past 50 years we have seen repeated episodes of massive numbers of people being murdered simply for their religion, gender, and sexual orientation.
16
Others here and in many other places and on many other occasions have compared what Germany did between 1933 and 1945, but especially between 1939 and 1945, to other cases of infamy. The Turks genocide of the Armenians, the Hutus murder of the Tutsi only 20 years ago, are crimes of enormous historic horror, magnitude and desecration of the human soul.
But what makes the Holocaust stand out, especially for those of us here and in Western Europe who are organized in nation states, is that it was not the rage of one people against another, though it was that too. No, it is that the Holocaust was the organized plan of a European nation state, arguably the most advanced European nation of its time up to the time that it set off on its malignant path of murder and destruction across an entire continent.
And what makes the Holocaust different is that it took an entire nation, that it required the knowledge, participation or silence of an entire people who now we know knew well very well what was being done in their name by their own.
Lately many historians have come to understand that the destruction of six million Jews was the in fact the principal war aim of the regime. It conquered the East to capture the Jews so that it could kill them all.
That en entire modern, advanced industrial nation was put to the task of murdering millions of people as a means and matter of national policy is what makes the Holocaust uniquely different from all of history's other horrors.
But what makes the Holocaust stand out, especially for those of us here and in Western Europe who are organized in nation states, is that it was not the rage of one people against another, though it was that too. No, it is that the Holocaust was the organized plan of a European nation state, arguably the most advanced European nation of its time up to the time that it set off on its malignant path of murder and destruction across an entire continent.
And what makes the Holocaust different is that it took an entire nation, that it required the knowledge, participation or silence of an entire people who now we know knew well very well what was being done in their name by their own.
Lately many historians have come to understand that the destruction of six million Jews was the in fact the principal war aim of the regime. It conquered the East to capture the Jews so that it could kill them all.
That en entire modern, advanced industrial nation was put to the task of murdering millions of people as a means and matter of national policy is what makes the Holocaust uniquely different from all of history's other horrors.
25
No, the destruction of six million Jews was not the 'principal war aim' of Hitler's regime, although the German carried it out systematically. Read William L. Shirer's 'The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich,' the best known account of Hitler's Germany in World War II. Hitler's principal war aim was 'Deutschland braucht Lebensraum,' meaning 'Germany needs Living Space,' which was to be carried out by his 'Generalplan Ost' ("General Plan for the East') under which Germany would annex and occupy lands to the east of Germany, including all of Poland and much of Russia and the Baltic states, and replace their populations with German settlers. Hitler believed that Germany needed much more land for the growing German population. The existing populations were to be eliminated, first by 'liquidating' (killing) the Jews whom he hated, and then by reducing the number of Slavs (principally Poles) by starvation. The Slavs were to be attritioned by restricting them to manual labor, denying them any education, and starving them.
The Germans started bringing in German settlers in 1939-1945, around Poznan in western Poland and around Zamosc in southeast Poland, driving out Poles and Jews. The Holocaust began as the opening phase of a settlement program.
That is why the 1947 Geneva convention forbids settlements on land acquired by military conquest.
The Germans started bringing in German settlers in 1939-1945, around Poznan in western Poland and around Zamosc in southeast Poland, driving out Poles and Jews. The Holocaust began as the opening phase of a settlement program.
That is why the 1947 Geneva convention forbids settlements on land acquired by military conquest.
18
Nothing could be more chilling and a more apt memorial than preserving the site exactly as it was at the very end. This is critically important work and I applaud the people who dedicate themselves to doing it.
15
I have read many books and watched many documentaries on the Holocaust and especially about Auschwitz. Nothing changed my life more than reading the book "Auschwitz: A Doctor's Eyewitness Account". by Mikos Nysizli, an assistant to Dr Mengele and a physician. I still get shocked when I think about what I read in that book and the horrors that occurred in Auschwitz. I can only imagine what it would be like to visit that place. I am grateful the Jewish community is doing all it can to preserve this place. The world should know what happened. And an even larger lesson to humanity : even a highly cultured and technologically advanced country like Germany in the mid 20th century could commit such an unspeakable atrocity like the Holocaust.
11
@Anonymous USA: "I am grateful the Jewish community is doing all it can to preserve this place."
As the article notes, the Auschwitz site is a Polish state museum:
* "... Piotr Cywinski, who turns 43 on Thursday and is the director of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, which runs the site."
* "Almost all the conservators here are Polish and studied conservation at Polish universities — this is, after all, a Polish state museum, ..."
As the article notes, the Auschwitz site is a Polish state museum:
* "... Piotr Cywinski, who turns 43 on Thursday and is the director of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, which runs the site."
* "Almost all the conservators here are Polish and studied conservation at Polish universities — this is, after all, a Polish state museum, ..."
6
I was having my coffee and skimming the Times before digging into my next project at work. All this came to a screeching halt when I read this article. a New England former catholic, I am not ignorant of the historical facts - have visited three Holocaust museums ( DC; Paris; Jerusalem); read many, many books; seen the documentaries and movies. But no matter how many times you see vestigial remnants, and no matter how much you read - nothing - nothing - nothing will ever stop you dead in your track like these images - the kids shoes; the eyeglasses ... I have struggled to understand the nightmare of Shoah my whole adult life, and I realize again, today, stunned at my desk, that I never will. It is imperative to continue to preserve the hell on earth that was these death camps, and to continue to shake us all away from our morning coffee on a sunny Thursday in April
69
It's one thing to see the images. If you ever visit there, you can smell the body odor of of the people who inhabited the shoes, which makes the experience and its greater meaning all the more indelible.
2
I visited Auschwitz twice on 2 different trips to Krakow. Several people asked me why I even wanted to visit because I an not Jewish.
This indifferent attitude bothered me greatly. I tried to explain how history - no matter how horrific - needed to remembered.
This indifferent attitude bothered me greatly. I tried to explain how history - no matter how horrific - needed to remembered.
23
@KathleenJ: "Several people asked me why I even wanted to visit because I an not Jewish."
Could you go into more detail? Were these people you know or ones you met in Poland? Did they ask you anything else about Auschwitz?
Could you go into more detail? Were these people you know or ones you met in Poland? Did they ask you anything else about Auschwitz?
The people who asked me that question were friends and some folks I met while traveling (all Americans, no native Poles).
Some remarked: too depressing and why do "that" to yourself when you are supposed to be on vacation.
What surprised me was the total lack of understanding or even empathy. I did tell someone that my father was in one of the US Army units that liberated the forced labor camp/concentration camp at Nordhausen.
More blank looks...God help us.
Some remarked: too depressing and why do "that" to yourself when you are supposed to be on vacation.
What surprised me was the total lack of understanding or even empathy. I did tell someone that my father was in one of the US Army units that liberated the forced labor camp/concentration camp at Nordhausen.
More blank looks...God help us.
7
I will observe the yahrzeit today and say Kaddish for those who cannot speak for themselves. Let us never forget this happened, and let us never allow it to happen again.
27
My mother visited Auschwitz in the early 1950's. She said it was just abandoned. No one was running any museum. There were no tours, no guides. No information. It was just left as it was left. She said she walked through rooms full of shoes and past mountains of hair. It was just abandoned buildings. She took no photographs. The only time on her whole trip she didn't have the camera out. She said it didn't occur to her to take out the camera. It would have been disrespectful, she told me.
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33
I visited Auschwitz and Birkenau for the first time nearly two years ago. It was an unsettling experience, but not in the way most people would imagine it to be; having seen so much of the Holocaust in documentaries, photographs and movies, it had become familiar and, as a result, less emotional in its impact that I anticipated it to be. That sense of the "strangely familiar" was so true that I was more shocked by my lack of an emotional response than by the experience itself, and I'm haunted by that lack to this day. Because of this, I applaud the work of the curators, the archivists and the conservationists because it was only when I was able to see the eyeglasses, the hair, the prosthetic limbs, the shoes and the other remnants of those who died there that it stayed real. The more our media saturated world becomes even more saturated with the constant flow of imagery the more we let those waves of imagery wash over and out of our consciousness; each object, placed to one side in many cases just minutes before the owner perished, is like a large rock at the edge of that tide, breaking up the waves and resisting their inevitability.
38
To some of us a thousand years will pass and the government sanctioned horror and blasphemy that the Nazi government inflicted upon the Jewish people with the full support of most Germans and a number of others, will not be forgotten from our memories! Yet come to southern Brooklyn and observe many other modern day Jews, often supposedly Orthodox, and a good number with roots in Syria driving around in their BMW 's and Mercedes Benzes! Absolutely pathetic! Yes, preserve these ghastly inventories, but the truth of the matter is most folks don't care, have moved on, and incredibly even a number of Jews have no problem dropping a lot of their hard earned money on expensive products made by the grandchildren and great grandchildren of the people who conspired to wipe us off the face of the earth, in the most horrifying of ways! Something I, and I would suspect a few others, will never understand!!!
4
More accurately would be to say that the manifestations of widespread antisemitism had the full support of many Europeans and not just the Germans. Furthermore, when the rest of the world had suspicions of the Holocaust that was taking place, it was ignored. What was happening to the Jews of Europe was not a big concern to the rest of the world.
Your focus on connecting a car made in today's Germany with the horrors of the Nazi regime is pathetic- evidence of a real lack of understanding of what went on. Even today, we see the say narrow perspective here in America, with our anti-Islamist thinking. So many presume that if you are a Muslim, you are, therefore, a sympathizer of terrorism, and an enemy of America and Israel.
Germany was not the enemy, if was the evil cancer of Nazism that needed to be defeated, much like the evil that has taken root in Islam. The average Muslim who does not look to violence and terrorism as a tool is not the enemy. Boycotting algebra makes as much sense as boycotting BMW.
Your focus on connecting a car made in today's Germany with the horrors of the Nazi regime is pathetic- evidence of a real lack of understanding of what went on. Even today, we see the say narrow perspective here in America, with our anti-Islamist thinking. So many presume that if you are a Muslim, you are, therefore, a sympathizer of terrorism, and an enemy of America and Israel.
Germany was not the enemy, if was the evil cancer of Nazism that needed to be defeated, much like the evil that has taken root in Islam. The average Muslim who does not look to violence and terrorism as a tool is not the enemy. Boycotting algebra makes as much sense as boycotting BMW.
5
Forgetting and moving on started long ago. One of Dustin Hoffman's first acting jobs was touting Volkswagens in TV commercials. Hoffman is Jewish.
I felt that way when I was younger- when I saw a Mercedes. But many generations have passed and the younger generation in Germany learn about the holocaust in school and they speak up against anti-semtism- even their Chancellor. So at this point, I try to give this new generation the benefit of the doubt. Even my local Rabbi here in NJ said that yes, anti-semitism is rising (and in this country too) but the difference in Europe today is that the leaders of France, Germany and other countries are denouncing it.
1
Oh ! This is 2015 and the very unfortunate horror of the Holocaust happened some five years earlier then 1945, as as result of one one faction of mankind committing genocide on another faction of mankind. But prior to that it was the Crusades, the inquisition where the Christian Religion just did the same to other Christians. Muslims, Jews etc. Notwithstanding some over a hundred plus years ago the Turks did the same to the Armenians. Then this crooked and murderous timber of humanity also allowed The British to do the same to the Boer In South Africa . There is also bona fide evidence many African Tribes, like the Hutu majority in Rwanda engaging in mass genocide of 500,000 to 1000,000 Tutsi and their own moderate Hutu people. There is solid proof of mass slaughter by Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot of some 500,000 to 3000,000 people in Cambodia. In most above areas where such genocide took place have been cleared and rebuild
One has to wonder places why places like Auschwitz-Birkenau etc are still standing and preserved. Of course this past is painful and all the horrors documented. Why not have these places totally raised and cleared. It is just pure simple morbid to keep on retching up the past.
One has to wonder places why places like Auschwitz-Birkenau etc are still standing and preserved. Of course this past is painful and all the horrors documented. Why not have these places totally raised and cleared. It is just pure simple morbid to keep on retching up the past.
2
Not until the darkness has cleared from our psyches and the human species has moved on to a peaceful and loving one. Until then ALL humans need reminders, so that we can move towards this never happening again. We haven't yet earned the privilege to "push these things under the rug and pretend that they didn't happen." Perhaps there should be discussions about how we may do that- non violent communication etc. at this place and others- such as the new 9/11 Memorial. No one is free until everyone is. Peace and love to you and all.
5
Because the past is never dead, it isn't even past. -- Wm Faulkner
10
You could have also mentioned Stalin and Kruschev's extermination of the Kulaks who refused to give up their farms to collectivization, Mao's destruction of the Nationalists, and American's decimation of the natives by the Europeans. Throw in the ancient Romans and the Israelites for good measure.
1
I visited Auschwitz earlier this year with dozens of Israeli survivors of Auschwitz. Many were sole survivors of their families. The vast majority were children or teenagers at the time, torn from their mothers and fathers and siblings at the train station. They described to me in detail how they arrived after being transported like sardines in cattle cars without any food or water for up to 3 days. The men were separated from the women. The Nazi doctors stood at the side and decided with a flick of the hand who to send for slave labor and who to send to the gas chambers. Those sent for hard labor were tatooed with a number that, 70 years later, accompanies them every day of their lives. One of the survivors, a retired university professor, asked me to accompany him on a visit to the Polish Catholic woman who saved his life with the blessing of the parish priest. When these survivors and rescuers are all gone, Auschwitz will be there to tell their story. The Holocaust did happen.
58
It needs to be conserved, if only in the hope that every human being have a chance to see the profound and utter evil that was perpetrated here.
24
"Despite the spirit of freezing the site in time, some exhibits have been redesigned in recent years — the Russian Federation’s tells the story of Russian political prisoners here; those of the Netherlands and France and Belgium talk about the fate of their Jews; the exhibit dedicated to the Sinti and Roma present the often-neglected story of those peoples murdered here. The Polish exhibit is colored by the country’s Communist past."
russian, dutch, french, belgian, jewish, sinti, roma, polish, communist,...those adjectives become meaningless. they were people...like us. if we do not recognize this fact, i think that we miss the point of the memorial.
russian, dutch, french, belgian, jewish, sinti, roma, polish, communist,...those adjectives become meaningless. they were people...like us. if we do not recognize this fact, i think that we miss the point of the memorial.
15
I teach near Dachau and was recently accredited by the memorial to provide information at its site which involved months of studying about the purpose of memorials, presenting the past and how to try to convey meaning. I learned that in Germany there are no such exhibits of such detritus of human life- firstly, there weren't any such shoes or such-like at Dachau. But more than that, the philosophy is that looking at this article's photo may try to convey the enormity of the crime, by doing so the individuality of the victims has been compromised. "One death is a tragedy ... et cet."
1
@Keir: "there weren't any such shoes or such-like at Dachau."
Do you know why?
Do you know why?
4
In 1988 a friend and I spent a month in Europe. We travelled largely by rail. In many German cities people who sought to rent rooms to travelers would come to the stations, offering their accommodations. This occurred to us in Munich, where a single woman in her 40s offered us a room. When we told her we were visiting Dachau, outside Munich, she told us she had never been there. She mentioned having grown up in Berchtesgaden. When I told her we were also going to the Nymphenburg Palace there in Munich, she let it slip that all of the city's wealthy elite lived in that area, and that many of them were Jewish. She began a diatribe about how the Jews had great influence in finance, industry and the media in Munich, and said the same was true in America, stating the Rockefellers were Jewish, and saying I was a fool not to recognize that. I will never forget the almost crazed look in her face as she was telling me this. I understood immediately how the Holocaust happened in Germany. There are those who have not learned, and do not wish to learn, the lessons of the Holocaust. And it is for those people that sites like Auschwitz must be preserved.
83
Yes, I've traveled extensively in Germany and have seen this more than once. You saw this in a woman 3 generations removed. I've seen it in the generation that lived through it. Sadly, historical sites don't change this ingrained perspective. Remember, Eisenhower made civilians inhabiting the nearby cities, towns and villages "tour" the liberated camps as well as performing meticulous documentation, saying that someday there will be people who will deny that this happened.
22
So did you rent a room from her or not?
6
Yes indeed. How much complicity does it take to kill 6 million individuals in the span of a few short years? Everyone knew what was going on. How else could this have been accomplished? And nowadays we groan over 600 people killed...Auschwitz must be preserved.
1
The more we try to preserve the horrors perpetrated by others in an attempt to never forget what happened, the more we become like them. We force ourselves to learn every intricate detail of their heinous methods, then continue preserving these methods by rebuilding them, reinvigorating them and reliving them, over and over again. Sometimes, bulldozers and tons and tons of top soil make more sense than doing what is being done now at Auschwitz-Birkenau. Yes, I am aware that what I am saying is considered blasphemous to many.
3
The rationale that people who preserve Auschwitz are becoming "more like" those who committed the atrocities is as illogical as suggesting that exposure to gay marriage is ruining families.
I applaud the foundation's philosophy "to preserve authenticity." Preserving this history helps us to remember in a very vivid way what happened. It also stimulates discussion on why war and genocide should never happen again. These reminders are badly needed at every point in time.
I applaud the foundation's philosophy "to preserve authenticity." Preserving this history helps us to remember in a very vivid way what happened. It also stimulates discussion on why war and genocide should never happen again. These reminders are badly needed at every point in time.
16
How do you feel war memorials for Confederate war dead?
2
Yes. It is worse. It's an insult to memory, which in its complexity differentiates us from other mammals. You therefore insult humanity.
3
It's interesting to read the comments of people who have never visited Auschwitz and Birkenau, and contrast them to the comments of folks who have. I've been there twice, the first time in 1990 just after the fall of the Soviet Union. To put it very simply, there is no place on Earth like Birkenau, and no experience can compare to spending a few hours there. Auschwitz I, which is in the town of Oswiecim, is bad enough, but in many ways not appreciably worse than Dachau or Buchenwald or Mauthausen. But Birkenau - there are simply no words to describe the feeling of being in Birkenau. Go.
20
I, like so many others, have been there. It's in my memory, which will be gone when I die, as so many did. One cannot go there and deny the Holocaust. Allowing it to disintegrate would deny the experience of that horror to millions of future visitors. Yes, many more horrors can be memorialized, but to see that great bin of eyeglasses...well, I cannot forget it. If you go, I recommend a trip to the mountains in southern Poland afterward, go out in nature, visit some small towns, children enjoying the day.
9
I'm sure other cultures preserve sites of other atrocities. They may not be as publicized. I visited one of late Ugandan Dictator Idi Amin's palaces in Kampala, Uganda in 2011. There was the palace all white and gleaming. Then we walked down a grassy path to a bunker. I don't think it had many visitors. There was little light from the setting sun and so the guide used a flashlight to show remnants of bloody handprints on the walls.
What is bitterly ironic, and most gruesome about the Nazi atrocity, is their manifestation of their identity as the master race through the systematic, industrialized, processing (mass murder) of human beings.
My grandmother ( and other family members) died at Auschwitz. I will make my pilgrimage there soon.
What is bitterly ironic, and most gruesome about the Nazi atrocity, is their manifestation of their identity as the master race through the systematic, industrialized, processing (mass murder) of human beings.
My grandmother ( and other family members) died at Auschwitz. I will make my pilgrimage there soon.
16
Europe and christianity lost their soul at Auschwitz. Germany lost its identity. The Jews lost the recognition of their impressive contribution to European history. Now that they are leaving France, their only remaining large community in Europe, do they still have a future in Europe? As a very modern and rich culture, the Jews have yet to find a land where they can flourish without behind threathened...
I visited Auschwitz in 1991. I was 18 years old. It shook me greatly. European kids, especially the non-jews, should visit it. It is the best way to teach about the history of anti-semitism in the West. People need the stones, the objects, the pictures to believe the extent of the industrialization of tribalism perfected by the nazis. It is so extreme that deniers will be more numerous as time goes by. Showing the site definitely keeps the memory alive, and may keep us more humane...for a longer phase...
23
A couple of months ago, HBO presented a 2-hour program of the films made by Allied troops liberating the camps. Russian soldiers operating cameras at Auschwitz were filmed saying that they had to record the discovery on film as no one would believe what they had found. Conserving the evidence is the surest way to educate future generations of the magnitude of the evils the world faced then.
29
I believe you're referring to the documentary "When Darkness Falls" which Alfred Hitchcock was a participant in making. I saw the film on HBO. It stuck with me for weeks and brought me to tears many times. That human beings can perpetrate that kind of evil on other human beings is beyond comprehension.
2
Why anyone would want to preserve this horrible epithet to a part of history that it would be better to move on from I cannot understand. There are atrocities that have occured throughout history, need we turn each into a memorial. I would prefer seeing a thing of beauty to seeing this monument of human misery. I realise the mantra is " never forget ", however I for one am tired of this, not only am I tired of it but it sickens me to see preservationalists wasting their precious skills in perpetuating this monstrosity. I say" it's time to forget ".
5
This was not a run of the mill event - this was one of the greatest crimes in the history of human civilization, so horrifying that many people still refuse to believe it. That is why it must be preserved - so that we cannot forget or deny it happened.
22
A thing of beauty is not adequate—people need to see what actually existed, as the deniers continue to insist their idiotic claims that it never happened. People need a stark reminder of what can happen and WILL happen again. To those of us who lost family—and to those of us who are sensate beings—it's NEVER time to forget the Holocaust. And while I'm writing "to those of us who lost family," please consider that the world (yes, the WORLD) lost brilliant minds, creative minds, humans whose deaths denied humankind unknown accomplishments in all fields and in the arts.
I, for one, am TIRED of people who are so self-absorbed that they are TIRED of the monstrosity of the Holocaust. You don't just "move on" from the Holocaust. It sickens me that you would feel the need to express your sentiments here.
I, for one, am TIRED of people who are so self-absorbed that they are TIRED of the monstrosity of the Holocaust. You don't just "move on" from the Holocaust. It sickens me that you would feel the need to express your sentiments here.
34
You say? Who are you to say?
My mother survived Auschwitz-Birkenau. Most of her immediate family did not. Now that she's had a stroke, she sees the world through a concentration camp lens.
She was there; she is still alive.
And you get to say it's time to forget?!?!
My mother survived Auschwitz-Birkenau. Most of her immediate family did not. Now that she's had a stroke, she sees the world through a concentration camp lens.
She was there; she is still alive.
And you get to say it's time to forget?!?!
37
I went to Poland in October of 1999, when I was 35, to see Auschwitz-Birkenau. Got to my hotel in Oswiecim late, after traveling for nearly 40 hours. Couldn't sleep. Oddly (eerily), I could hear a train and a distant, barking dog. Had to see the camp then; it was about midnight. I found my way through the streets, sensing I was getting closer. And then it was there, in front of me. Not a soul or a sound. Stayed for a while, edging along the walls, wanting to break into the place. But thought the better of it. Woke up at dawn to see it in the light. It rained a lot. Not many people there that day, that time of year. The barracks at Auschwitz were one thing; Birkenau was something else. Again, so few people there. I crouched at the gas chambers, peering into the rubble, but had to close my eyes to recall a photo or a movie so I could "see" what it looked like. I moved toward the woods, near the ash pond. It was nearly dark when I sat on a fallen limb, among trees, and heard a rhythmic, metallic sound. I looked up and saw an old woman riding a bike on what must have been a path through the woods. It was surreal. I stayed still, not wanting to frighten her. It was dark and raining when I made my way back across the camp. I'm in awe and humbled by those young conservationists who are "preserving" the past, who are living everyday with so much loss. Thank you for your work and your concern and your efforts. Do it for as long as you can. And then do something else.
101
What a beautiful appreciation, exceeded only by the compassion in your parting wish.
Thank you.
Thank you.
18
and how exquisite of you to appreciate RTM so well Hannah
6
I'm grateful for the slideshow image of the gas chamber. When I visited in 2009 I do not recall the barrier to the steps being there and as I stood, alone, I actually contemplated going down those steps. Something held me there at the top step -- it is no stretch to say that I could feel a wall, the spirits of the many thousands that did descend those few steps to oblivion saying "No, you stay where you are. We alone travel here." To have descended would have been sacrilege. To me, it is those chambers still so present, and not the destroyed ovens, that best reveal the pitiless evil that was the Nazi "final solution."
It's important to realize the magnitude of the importance of preserving that place in all its terrible detail. There are two parts, Auschwitz and Birkenau, that, taken together, represent the full evolution of that terrible effort to eliminate the Jews: the first, Auschwitz, was a "repurposing" of a Polish army barracks to concentration camp where the first efforts at gassing took place in the barracks' military police jail in the basement of one of the well-made former soldiers barrack buildings, followed by the use of the post's ammo bunker. Then, most horribly, the construction of a whole new camp nearby, Birkenau, whose sole and only purpose ever was the industrialization of death. If you go (and you should), do not stop at Auschwitz barracks. Go on to Birkenau as well for it represents the nadir that, in my opinion, overshadows Auschwitz in magnitude.
It's important to realize the magnitude of the importance of preserving that place in all its terrible detail. There are two parts, Auschwitz and Birkenau, that, taken together, represent the full evolution of that terrible effort to eliminate the Jews: the first, Auschwitz, was a "repurposing" of a Polish army barracks to concentration camp where the first efforts at gassing took place in the barracks' military police jail in the basement of one of the well-made former soldiers barrack buildings, followed by the use of the post's ammo bunker. Then, most horribly, the construction of a whole new camp nearby, Birkenau, whose sole and only purpose ever was the industrialization of death. If you go (and you should), do not stop at Auschwitz barracks. Go on to Birkenau as well for it represents the nadir that, in my opinion, overshadows Auschwitz in magnitude.
19
Thank you for your sensitivity, Mr Rotto. I especially appreciate what you said about you feeling that it would be "sacrilege" descending those steps that so many terrified human beings descended on their way to an imminent, horrible death.
Auschwitz-Birkenau, and what is stands for, needs to be preserved since it is an reminder of the ultimate tragedy that befell the Jewish people, and the Roma and Sinti peoples.
Although there have been, unfortunately, other genocides before and after the Shoah, the Holocaust is tragically unique, by being the only industrialized, pre-planned destruction of almost an entire people, perpetrated not only by the organizers, the Germans, but with the active help and enthusiasm of many, many Poles, Lithuanians, Lets, Ukrainians, Croats, Rumanians, Hungarians, French, Dutch, etc aiders and abetters. The uniqueness consists therefore, of the scale, the "industrialized" mass murder, and the fact that part of the populations of the entire continent were involved. The Nazis were the main responsible, yes, absolutely, but they could not have done what they did without the cooperation of many citizens of the countries they actually occupied. That is what sets it apart from genocides like Cambodia, Ruanda, etc. Plus, the Holocaust was the culmination, the apex of the thousand year "tradition" of anti-Semitism in Europe.
Auschwitz-Birkenau, and what is stands for, needs to be preserved since it is an reminder of the ultimate tragedy that befell the Jewish people, and the Roma and Sinti peoples.
Although there have been, unfortunately, other genocides before and after the Shoah, the Holocaust is tragically unique, by being the only industrialized, pre-planned destruction of almost an entire people, perpetrated not only by the organizers, the Germans, but with the active help and enthusiasm of many, many Poles, Lithuanians, Lets, Ukrainians, Croats, Rumanians, Hungarians, French, Dutch, etc aiders and abetters. The uniqueness consists therefore, of the scale, the "industrialized" mass murder, and the fact that part of the populations of the entire continent were involved. The Nazis were the main responsible, yes, absolutely, but they could not have done what they did without the cooperation of many citizens of the countries they actually occupied. That is what sets it apart from genocides like Cambodia, Ruanda, etc. Plus, the Holocaust was the culmination, the apex of the thousand year "tradition" of anti-Semitism in Europe.
3
The genocide in Cambodia, during the Pol Pot regime, resulted in the deaths of about 2 million people, or 25% of the population. These were Cambodian deaths, carried out by the country's own leaders, within Cambodia. Do the horrors of the European Holocaust come close, in this comparison? Walk around the Killing Field of Cheong Ek, a short distance from Phnom Penh, and you find yourself treading on half-buried human skulls, bones and articles of clothing, exposed when the rain washes the dirt away. It is a horrible, terrible place set in a lovely rural setting. I have also visited Auschwitz 1 and some other death camps in Poland in an effort to understand why we humans behave this way. Sadly, for me at any rate, I found no answer ... it just made matters worse.
6
You ask, "Do the horrors of the European Holocaust come close, in this comparison?"
Do you have to ask? Perhaps to you, the Pol Pot regime was more horrific. To me, the Holocaust was moreso. Was Hitler not the country's leader (Germany)? Is there another anti-Semite hiding behind this comment?
Do you have to ask? Perhaps to you, the Pol Pot regime was more horrific. To me, the Holocaust was moreso. Was Hitler not the country's leader (Germany)? Is there another anti-Semite hiding behind this comment?
4
S - Pol Pot was also his country's leader, as Tim Hendley stated. The Cambodian people were also betrayed by their government, who systematically and methodically annihilated them. Hitler does not have a monopoly on genocidal leadership, neither before nor after the Holocaust. There is no anti-Semitism in this fact.
3
@Tim Hendley.: "Do the horrors of the European Holocaust come close, in this comparison?"
"... you find yourself treading on half-buried human skulls, bones and articles of clothing, exposed when the rain washes the dirt away."
Thanks for asking. Obviously, the Nazis were civilized mass-murderers, because they cremated their victims.
"... you find yourself treading on half-buried human skulls, bones and articles of clothing, exposed when the rain washes the dirt away."
Thanks for asking. Obviously, the Nazis were civilized mass-murderers, because they cremated their victims.
2
From the article: “We are doing something against the initial idea of the Nazis who built this camp,” said Anna Lopuska, 31, who is overseeing a long-term master plan for the site’s conservation. “They didn’t want it to last. We’re making it last.”
I read this and wasn't sure how to process this claim. Perish the thought, but had the Third Reich remained in power, the camps, having served their ghastly objective, would no doubt have eventually been dismantled. (Then again, under a Nazi regime, there likely would always be camps of some sort.) Nonetheless, given the Reich's diligence in their systematic documentation of the management of the camps - and the life and death that went on within - including films, pictures, inmate data, and the like, clearly the Nazis intended institutional memory of the camps to remain in some form if only for their own secretive internal political/archival purposes. Happily, history has served different masters, but it does beg the hypothetical question: what exactly would memory mean under the Thousand Year Reich? Could it even be called memory? Or is it really a program of its abolition? I would suspect the latter, but given this, it is difficult to explain the purpose behind the Nazis' militant officiousness in documenting their deeds. Has any other historical regime accused of war atrocities been so diligent in recording their crimes?
I read this and wasn't sure how to process this claim. Perish the thought, but had the Third Reich remained in power, the camps, having served their ghastly objective, would no doubt have eventually been dismantled. (Then again, under a Nazi regime, there likely would always be camps of some sort.) Nonetheless, given the Reich's diligence in their systematic documentation of the management of the camps - and the life and death that went on within - including films, pictures, inmate data, and the like, clearly the Nazis intended institutional memory of the camps to remain in some form if only for their own secretive internal political/archival purposes. Happily, history has served different masters, but it does beg the hypothetical question: what exactly would memory mean under the Thousand Year Reich? Could it even be called memory? Or is it really a program of its abolition? I would suspect the latter, but given this, it is difficult to explain the purpose behind the Nazis' militant officiousness in documenting their deeds. Has any other historical regime accused of war atrocities been so diligent in recording their crimes?
6
I cannot forget nor will allow anyone I meet in my life time, accept excuses or fictional theories this horrible event never occurred. We owe it not just for the rememberance of the victims but also to future generations where the light of this horrible period in history begins to dim deeper and deeper into the state of mind where reality goes from true to maybe to false.
11
I have never been moved by anything more than by my visit to Auschwitz. You can read about the atrocities and grieve, but being there takes it to a whole different level. I cried from a place so deep I hadn't been aware of its existence. It is a luxury to visit other historic sites and be able to feel the past. Preserving Auschwitz seems to me more than a luxury. It's a necessity.
83
I respectfully disagree with Jonathan Webber, quoted in the story about building a memorial and leaving it at that. No statue or memorial can convey the horror or sheer size of Auschwitz-Birkenau. Until I visited there in person in 2006, I could not have imagined the size of Birkenau which is roughly the size of my neighborhood, the top of Queen Anne hill in Seattle, WA. Furthermore, I learned of other death camps throughout Europe and Scandinavia that were brushed over in our US history books. I applaud the conservators who maintain the historical site that all people should visit at least once in their lives. We must not forget.
68
Homo homini lupus est roughly translates to "man is a wolf to man."
It's an adaptation of a line of dialogue from Asinaria by Titus Maccius Plautus 195 BC
Little has been learned in all that time, in spite of Stephen Pinker's
optimism in 'The Better Angels of our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined".
To a very great extent, it matters where you look, how, and whether you value numbers of lives sacrificed and saved versus believing each life is precious.
Remember Daniel Pearl.
It's an adaptation of a line of dialogue from Asinaria by Titus Maccius Plautus 195 BC
Little has been learned in all that time, in spite of Stephen Pinker's
optimism in 'The Better Angels of our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined".
To a very great extent, it matters where you look, how, and whether you value numbers of lives sacrificed and saved versus believing each life is precious.
Remember Daniel Pearl.
8
I recommend this comment as a limitation on Pinker's "optimism". The essence of the quotation from Plautus was undoubtedly illustrated in charcoal on the wall of a cave. While we will never be free of atrocities and brutalities, the work to preserve Auschwitz shows an elemental force of humanity that animates the hopeful trend that Pinker has documented, limited by the fact that our nature also harbors an animus for the horrendous and cruel which will never be totally extinguished. And I agree with Mr. Gold, "each life is precious".
2
Looking at the picture of the female preservationist working over some drawings of human anatomy in a cold lab, I could only think of how deeply saddening and lonely that work must be at times. I felt like I could hear the voices of the dead, crying out to be remembered and honored, to tell their stories and have them be heard by all of us who too easily turn away from something that is just too painful, to -real-, to bear.
Thank you for this article, and thank you to those brave souls who care enough to see to it that those cries are never forgotten.
Thank you for this article, and thank you to those brave souls who care enough to see to it that those cries are never forgotten.
55
I find it deeply offensive when people in this country try to compare people with whom they have political disagreements to Hitler and Nazis. Dislike Bush or Obama (for example) all you want, but to compare them to mass murderers is beyond the pale of acceptable discourse and an insult to the memory of the tens of millions who died at Auschwitz and similar camps.
96
How about in Israel in the not too distant past when the government actually closed down some illegal West Bank settlements and the settlers there called the Jewish police officers sent to evict them "Nazis." If Jews are going to so loosely use the term against fellow Jews, what hope do we have for the rest of the world?
2
I went to a very learned Orthodox Rabbi once to ask his advice about what to do about the grave of my grandfather, which was slowly deteriorating. He told me to not to disturb it because it was holy. The ground here and all the things it contains are holy too.
8
Yes, it should be preserved, but so too should evidence of other genocides. Unfortunately some people think the Holocaust was the first and last genocide.
8
Certainly – if available – evidence of other genocides should be documented, preserved, and displayed where and as appropriate. But this particular news story is about Auschwitz, the most notorious killing center of the Holocaust. Auschwitz is not the appropriate place to display information about other genocides.
For your information, the word "genocide" did not even exist before the Holocaust. It was coined by Raphael Lemkin, due to the fact that the Holocaust was the first attempt to eliminate an entire people through industrialized mass slaughter. Over 90% of European Jewry was destroyed, and the Yiddish culture of Eastern Europe was destroyed forever.
Your statement that "some people" think the Holocaust was the first and last genocide sounds as though you are trying to detract from the uniqueness of this event.
For your information, the word "genocide" did not even exist before the Holocaust. It was coined by Raphael Lemkin, due to the fact that the Holocaust was the first attempt to eliminate an entire people through industrialized mass slaughter. Over 90% of European Jewry was destroyed, and the Yiddish culture of Eastern Europe was destroyed forever.
Your statement that "some people" think the Holocaust was the first and last genocide sounds as though you are trying to detract from the uniqueness of this event.
24
Your own statement sounds like you're trying to diminish the significance of other atrocities that have happened in history. Just because the word "genocide" was not coined until the Holocaust does not mean that others did not occur both before and after.
On the contrary, I believe Auschwitz can be an appropriate place to display information about other genocides. Whether those in charge do or do not is their decision to make and there is no right answer. However, I think in this era, it is powerful not only to acknowledge the atrocities suffered by those close to us, but also those far from us - the same way that I can feel sympathy for those killed by African militants or the dead children of the South Korean ferry. Acknowledging that other genocides have happened does not take away from the "uniqueness of this event" as you seem to see. What the original poster laments is that even in my own experience, we spent a large amount of time studying the Holocaust and Anne Frank in several different school years, but I distinctly remember that we spent all of 15 minutes discussing Pol Pot and Cambodia. Many people say they are shocked by the evidence of the Holocaust but turn(ed) a completely blind eye to places like Rwanda and Darfur. Isn't part of the reason why Auschwitz is important is because it serves as a reminder to not forget, and to not let it happen again?
On the contrary, I believe Auschwitz can be an appropriate place to display information about other genocides. Whether those in charge do or do not is their decision to make and there is no right answer. However, I think in this era, it is powerful not only to acknowledge the atrocities suffered by those close to us, but also those far from us - the same way that I can feel sympathy for those killed by African militants or the dead children of the South Korean ferry. Acknowledging that other genocides have happened does not take away from the "uniqueness of this event" as you seem to see. What the original poster laments is that even in my own experience, we spent a large amount of time studying the Holocaust and Anne Frank in several different school years, but I distinctly remember that we spent all of 15 minutes discussing Pol Pot and Cambodia. Many people say they are shocked by the evidence of the Holocaust but turn(ed) a completely blind eye to places like Rwanda and Darfur. Isn't part of the reason why Auschwitz is important is because it serves as a reminder to not forget, and to not let it happen again?
3
For YOUR information, Lemkin clearly stated before that other massacres fitting his definition of genocide happened even before the Holocaust. In his CBS interview, Lemkin states "I became interested in genocide because it happened so many times. It happened to the Armenians, then after the Armenians, Hitler took action."
This is referenced in the NY Times article published only two days ago titled "Questions and Answers About the Armenian Genocide."
It bothers me greatly when people who advocate for education about the Holocaust argue that it is so "unique," nothing else should be mentioned. So what if this particular news story is about Auschwitz? It is as good as any other place to start a discussion about genocide. When was the last news story you saw about the killing fields of Cambodia, should we wait for one before reminding people that it happened?
This is referenced in the NY Times article published only two days ago titled "Questions and Answers About the Armenian Genocide."
It bothers me greatly when people who advocate for education about the Holocaust argue that it is so "unique," nothing else should be mentioned. So what if this particular news story is about Auschwitz? It is as good as any other place to start a discussion about genocide. When was the last news story you saw about the killing fields of Cambodia, should we wait for one before reminding people that it happened?
3
Such an important endeavor. We must not forget.
4
"Another in Nashville" wonders in his or her comment what to do with a Nazi flag found in a grandmother's belongings. Several Commenters offer suggestions.
An additional possibility, though certainly not a recommendation: sell it to a collector of Nazi memorabilia and give the proceeds to an organization that fights Nazis or to a Holocaust memorial.
There is no single "right" answer. Your having asked the question demonstrates your integrity in this matter; thus, whatever you choose to do with it, rest assured you have done the right thing.
An additional possibility, though certainly not a recommendation: sell it to a collector of Nazi memorabilia and give the proceeds to an organization that fights Nazis or to a Holocaust memorial.
There is no single "right" answer. Your having asked the question demonstrates your integrity in this matter; thus, whatever you choose to do with it, rest assured you have done the right thing.
5
I agree that preserving it "as it was" rather than restoring it to a historical replica is more meaningful and haunting. With the way things are going in this world, it should be mandatory for school kids in Europe to visit and experience for themselves where millions of people died. We can only hope something of this scale does not happen to any group of humans no matter which ethnicity, race or creed.
It is also sad that when there is an Israel article there are an average of 800 comments most of which are critical of the Israeli government, which is fine, but would be nice if an important topic like this would get as much attention and zeal as well.
It is also sad that when there is an Israel article there are an average of 800 comments most of which are critical of the Israeli government, which is fine, but would be nice if an important topic like this would get as much attention and zeal as well.
12
I can think of no horror in all time worse than the Holocaust. Are we doing enough to inform our young people about what took place? We must never forget. And we must learn from it.
22
I learned today at the SW Florida Holocaust Museum in Naples, Florida, that only six states require some teaching about the Holocaust. An amazing museum that was the outgrowth of an elementary school project!
7
Yes, the Holocaust and other genocides are taught in schools. https://www.edmodo.com/folder/284300 is an example of materials.
If we restore Auschwitz, then we leave future generations with less uninterrupted material to study and interpret. Best to preserve it in its natural state as long as possible.
4
The fact that the sign "Work Makes You Free" was stolen by neo-Nazis is proof that this work is essential. Although Mr. Webber says,“If you have a very good memorial, you could achieve that without having to have all this effort on conservation and restoration,” I believe he misses the point. More than 110,000 shoes, empty poison containers and the plumbing they needed, the orthopedic replacements, the trumpet, the human hair, etc. are never going to be "proof" to the neo-Nazis and those of their ilk, but it is a stark, visual reminder that no decent human being can forget.
Years ago I visited Dachau, another brutally cold, harsh, terrifying place that stands as a testament to man's inhumanity to man. I have never been so freezing cold in my life (it was only November) as I stood looking at photos of prisoners standing in light cotton pants outside in the same weather. As a person, I have not been the same since I saw - and felt - that cold, that hatred, that ignored madness. No "memorial" can capture the evil that occurred.
The effort must be to show and preserve "life" as it was in the camps. No genocide can be relegated to a tourist visit. Each life lost must be spoken for, even if only in the symbolism of a pile of shoes - or a ton of hair.
Thank you, Rachel Donadio, for an excellent article. I appreciated your use of the word "alas" to precede "the real thing." Here, it had much greater meaning.
Years ago I visited Dachau, another brutally cold, harsh, terrifying place that stands as a testament to man's inhumanity to man. I have never been so freezing cold in my life (it was only November) as I stood looking at photos of prisoners standing in light cotton pants outside in the same weather. As a person, I have not been the same since I saw - and felt - that cold, that hatred, that ignored madness. No "memorial" can capture the evil that occurred.
The effort must be to show and preserve "life" as it was in the camps. No genocide can be relegated to a tourist visit. Each life lost must be spoken for, even if only in the symbolism of a pile of shoes - or a ton of hair.
Thank you, Rachel Donadio, for an excellent article. I appreciated your use of the word "alas" to precede "the real thing." Here, it had much greater meaning.
122
I was distressed at Mr. Webber's statement that 'if you have a very good memorial, you could achieve that without having to have all this effort on conservation and restoration, I agree with the above writer. Mr. Webber would want to make banal the most horrific act against a People in its history. The deliberate destruction of six million Jews needs more than a ' memorial' to allow future generations to understand, if that is possible, what happened during the Second World War. A memorial is not and cannot be enough. The above writer is absolutely correct in his or her assessment and it needs to be emphasized. Ms. Donadio's article was both sensitive and alert to the dimensions of the horror of Auschwitz. It must be preserved and maintained. Auschwitz must in its essence teach us the true measure of evil. And in so doing perhaps 'teach' us to become better human beings.
4
NYT: "It means restoring the crumbling brick barracks where Jews and some others were interned ..."
It seems that the "some others" don't have to be further specified; it really is a focus, as usual, on the Jewish suffering during the Hitler years. Guess what, I find such statments rather painful and insulting to the survivors and relatives of the "some others." I am Jewish and lost relatives in Auschwitz.
It seems that the "some others" don't have to be further specified; it really is a focus, as usual, on the Jewish suffering during the Hitler years. Guess what, I find such statments rather painful and insulting to the survivors and relatives of the "some others." I am Jewish and lost relatives in Auschwitz.
24
"Some others" usually refers to the Roma Gypsies whose numbers are estimated to be about 250,000. Others may be those who helped hide
the Jews and were caught.
the Jews and were caught.
Jews were murdered simply for being Jews.
How many others were murdered by the Nazis for the same reason?
Mostly none.
1
Rudolf, you may have a point that more should be specified about who the other victims were. Nevertheless, if I'm not mistaken, the extermination centers at Auschwitz (where 90% of the victims were Jews) and elsewhere, were designed to exterminate the Jews. That is an important historical phenomenon that is separate from the deaths of millions during the war, both directly from the war as well as extermination in the camps. There was a meticulously planned "Final Solution to the Jewish Question", not of the Polish Question or the Romani Question. This does not diminish the significance of their deaths. The focus is on the Jews because the Nazis focused their demonization and Final Solution very specifically on the Jews, and the history should reflect that phenomenon. It's less about who the victims were than about not forgetting what the perpetrators did so that it won't happen again, to Jews, or Poles, or Swedes, or Cambodians, or Armenians. Unfortunately, the lesson seems to be lost anyway.
8
I firmly believe that Germany and Japan should still be paying war reparations.
9
Wasn't extensive fire-bombing sufficient punishment?
3
It's about time we stopped trivializing our experiences and "disneyfying" everything. Been to NYC lately? A good part of it has become a commercial and social travesty. Sanitized is not the same as authentic.
Kudos to the curators who are attempting to keep these horrors "real".
Kudos to the curators who are attempting to keep these horrors "real".
30
@Felicia: 'It's about time we stopped trivializing our experiences and "disneyfying" everything. Been to NYC lately?'
How is the 9/11 memorial in NYC "trivializing" or "disneyfying"? How about the war memorials in
Washington, D.C. or the Pearl Harbor memorial in Hawaii?
How is the 9/11 memorial in NYC "trivializing" or "disneyfying"? How about the war memorials in
Washington, D.C. or the Pearl Harbor memorial in Hawaii?
What's troubling about the 9/11 memorial is the amusement park type of attitude some visitors have. I was shocked at the selfie-taking, laughing crowds of families milling around near Fr. Mychal Judge's name. Some were actually leaning on it and I had to ask them if they would mind moving away so I could pay respects.
5
When the last survivor and witness is dead, all of this will be moot, Europe will be Europe and everyone will continue to tell the Israels how to behave.
Two millennia and counting...
Two millennia and counting...
12
Until one visits a site like this, it is difficult to grasp exactly the scope and methods, sadly efficient, the Nazi's used. I have not been to Auschwitz however I've been to Dachau and a little known site in Poznan, Fort VII. The silence that greets the visitor is deafening. Generations following World War II have stated, "Never again" but still mankind still embarks on paths of genocide, often with the complicit approval of nations that will not intervene for whatever reason.
69
Intervening is never 'clean'. There's always collateral damage. If you bomb and kill 1000 people committing genocide, 5-10 innocent people might be killed if you are very accurate.
The common sentiment in these comment pages is that "war is always wrong". It's impossible to stop people committed to genocide with anything short of war.
Unless people are willing to accept that, we will never stop genocide.
Most people feel the Iraq war was wrong, yet most accept that Saddam committed genocide against the Kurds.
I don't expect a consensus to end genocide any time soon.
The common sentiment in these comment pages is that "war is always wrong". It's impossible to stop people committed to genocide with anything short of war.
Unless people are willing to accept that, we will never stop genocide.
Most people feel the Iraq war was wrong, yet most accept that Saddam committed genocide against the Kurds.
I don't expect a consensus to end genocide any time soon.
2
How ironic. Today we are dealing earnestly with a country that holds forums for holocaust deniers and maintains that Israel's destruction is non-negotiable while artifacts from Auschwitz are painstakingly preserved..
24
Read "The Nazi Next Door" and you'll immediately realize the consistancy of what the US is doing now, and did then.
8
I still cannot entirely grasp the enormity of this depravity and cruelty--all blessings to the preservationists.
65
thank you for your plain spoken eloquence. i share your insight.
3
So heartbreaking.
13
My friend found an authentic nazi SS flag in her grandmother's "hoarded" belongings after her death. Would this be a good place to donate the flag? The goal is to make sure the flag ends up in a place that does something with it for the greater good of humanity.
10
How about donating it to the US Holocaust Museum in DC?
13
I think the appropriate thing to do with the flag is burn it.
10
Tell him to burn it. Pray that it was just a trophy that some GI brought back at the end of the war.
5