On the 13th of May I left Cardiff to go on an emotional trip. I was chosen as one of two students within my college to participate in a government funded charity to highlight the atrocities of the Holocaust and the affect racism has on a whole country, a whole society, and a whole world. Needless to say, the trip was extremely thought-provoking. Before the trip I couldn't fully understand or contemplate a number such as 11 million -- it was merely a number that was significant only on the basis of fact, and not emotion -- nor could I understand the magnitude of the Holocaust itself. When I arrived in Auschwitz I still couldn't understand it, not on factual understanding but on experience. It would be impossible for my to fully grasp the emotional backlashes of such a time and experience, because I wasn't the one who experienced it in the first place. I left the camp feeling incredibly confused and extremely guilty. I had ongoing thoughts as to how I should be feeling: 'should I feel remorsful?', 'have I no compassion?', and strangly enough 'did so many truly die here?' I must admit that I even had doubts of the Holocaust itself after leaving, it was such a massive blow to me that I was finding hard to even contemplate the thought. People seem to think that genocide is something that happens in backwater countries; that it occured only in medieval times during the crusades. This happened on our very doorsteps, in the middle of Christian Europe and within only two generations of most of our lives, and now, as time grows weary so does the survivors able to tell their stories. The new generation has an obligation to keep this dying flame alive so as to prevent further atrocities for as long as people are willing to listen; because it's only the people who listen that can prevent this as much as the people who are telling the stories. These are the extreme consequences when people remain idle to prejudice and racism: Auschwitz 2008 [Please hold mouse over the photo notes to view full text.]
Oh yes,feeling you have when you leaving Auschwitz camp is ... undescribed.I've been there just one time ,it's not so far from my city but ...I simply can't go there another time...
Awesome photos and text, LA. I loved the frogs: life among death, continuance. I'm related to some of those ashes.
This thread wasn't made to create a debate. It's just to respect those who died, no matter the number. I honestly don't want a debate with you about this, so I won't start one. (The eleven million figure is the total amount of people died. Not just the Jews.)
A journey of mind... Without the information furnished the photos are lovely but in the historical context there is so much more to take in... that so many who were doomed saw those surroundings day to day... was it as pretty and were the imprisoned able to take in their surroundings as scenery or was their imprisonment spiritual as well? To comprehend so much that was build and planned for such an unspeakable purpose suggests that large populations of otherwise decent people can have their ability to discern and question suspended with propaganda designed to make them less apt to question what those in charge are doing. I look at my country and sadly realize that this has not changed. There's depth in your photos that no camera can capture.
Seriously, I'm not going to have a debate with you about it. This isn't the thread for it! Go to an appropriate thread, please! I made this thread to show my photos because I think they should've, not for idiots to question the Holocaust and to incite a completely idiotic debate.
Okay, fair enough. Perhaps I shouldn't have called you an idiot, so I'm sorry for that. But seriously, please can you do this in another thread? There was no question I stated to cause a debate, and it's not because I don't have the 'legs' to debate it; I just don't want to debate full stop. I find it far too emotionally draining and it really is like beating a dead horse for me now, because I've debated it so much. This thread isn't a debate, it's just me showing a sign of respect and to spread a message and also my own creativity with the lens. With all due respect, can you please refrain from this.
Well I'm actually a History student, and I'm also in the middle of doing my exams. I just did a 3 hour exam on the Reichstag Fire. We didn't touch so much on the Holocaust, because it was out of our syllabus time period, so all I've learnt about the Holocaust is that I've read myself and kind of taught myself. Maybe I am abit one sided on the case, but I've looked as much as I morally could into Holocaust denial. I firmly disregard any revisionist ideas, and regard the majority of them as invalid and unreliable. I've researched briefly into Richard Verrall and 'Did 6 Million Really Die?' -- however, not reading it -- but their allegience to far-right groups makes many of their theories bias, so their unreliable on that sole factor. Also, I don't regard an historian to be reliable if he has political ties to parties, so I'm sure Rudolph won't persuade me otherwise either. Sorry.
Fascinating photos, a real insight. Must have been such a mix of emotion standing in those places. Unforgettable
THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Too many people like to argue about stuff like this. It's just absured. Of course it happened. Just because certian individuals can't wrap their warped minds around the fact that it happened doesn't mean it didn't happen. Saying the Holucoust didn't happen, is like saying the Great Wall, or Pyrimids, were never built by man. Thank you for not starting a debate, but rather a concious effort for rememberance.
i honestly think that those are the best recent photos i've seen of Auschwitz in a long time. Its incredibly surreal, isn't it? Its so green... I'm so used to seeing it portrayed in black and white, even now. I guess its just a reminder that life does go on. Even nature can recover from humanity's atrocities against her.
That's because on several occasions I've told you I'm not going to debate with you about it, not because I can't but because I think it's inappropriate. To be honest, you're just trolling this thread.
I'm talking about the point of this thread: it wasn't for you to whine and bitch about whether the Holocaust happened. Piss off, you're doing my bloody head in now.
Elijah is a Jewish name, odd. Anyway, I read Elie Wiesel's 'Night', powerful, it's good that institutions are sending students to visit the place, like you said, it's important to learn from history, and pass that on, so future generations don't make the same mistakes.
