My Visit To AuschwitzMore Articles

Jewish Press ^ | Feb 11 2009 | Christopher Buckley

[SJackson]

Middle East and terrorism, occasional political and Jewish issues Ping List. High Volume

If you'd like to be on or off, please FR mail me.

[Red Badger]

I guess that’s where he got inspired to support Obama...........

[PzLdr]

The first commandant of Auschwitz was Rudolf Hoess, not Rudolf Hess [the Deputy Fuehrer who flew to Englaqnd in 1941].

[SJackson]

Yes, thanks, most people know of Hess, and they shouldn’t be confused.

[Cicero]

Put your actions where your mouth is, Chris. You supported Obama the baby killing Muslim lover. You are supporting the guys who are calling for the “next Holocaust.”

[Maceman]

Obviously, the Holocaust is a filthy Zionist lie. The people in this photo were merely poor unfortunates who happened to get trampled in a soccer riot. Or perhaps at a Wal-Mart during the Christmas shopping season. Or perhaps it's just a Photoshop hoax.

[IYAS9YAS]

I just got ahold of Jonah Goldberg's "Liberal Fascism." I've read about Mussolini, and have just started the chapter on Hitler. It is a very interesting read.

Why the left, and many Jews today who vote for the left, is somewhat explained, but Nazism was certainly a leftist regime. The real reason those who think it was right-wing was simply that it fought communism for control of the totalitarian idealogy.

[Skid Marx]

...It leaves you quiet, Auschwitz, even as it impels you not to be quiet about it, to tell what you saw, no matter that it is all by now so well known and documented and familiar.

Wonderful article. Thanks.

[Petronski]

I have some open questions for those who have visited Auschwitz.

How did you arrange your trip? Group package? Individually?

Were you satisfied with those arrangements?

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

It is noteworthy that there is a big difference between concentration camps in Germany, and outside of Germany. Within Germany, there were attempts to “hide in plain sight”, camps such as Dachau.

Dachau is something of a disconnected suburb of Munich, a flat terrain small city. Today, the camp is within city limits, and occupies about the same area as would a suburban high school in America. This normalcy makes it no less sinister.

Camps like Auschwitz are clear examples of “industrial genocide”, the treatment of mass murder like mass production, but with human beings as the raw materials and death as the product. A semi-automated abattoir.

But the question remains, why have such camps in Germany? Was there a purpose in putting such a place “in their backyard?” There is no doubt that they knew what it was, though they pretended not to know of it.

It is easy to see the outrage of US military personnel who forced the local citizens to see what was happening next door.

[Attention Surplus Disorder]

I don’t know if I could handle going to Auschwitz.

[Illuminatas]

Jesus Christ Almighty.... A curse that came from my lips that turned into a prayer as I spoke it.

Never Again. Never, never again.

[SJackson]

But the question remains, why have such camps in Germany? Was there a purpose in putting such a place “in their backyard?”

Dachau was built in 1933 to deal political prisoners. At that point in time their geographical options were limited. And Germany was where the political prisoners were, in the same sense that Auschwitz was built where the Jews were.

[RushIsMyTeddyBear]

Go to Krakow. Then there are trains to the area. Tour buses run from the station. I’ll write more when I’m on a better computer.

[PzLdr]

There’s another difference. The six death camps were located in Poland. The difference between them and the concentration camps was that they were designed for the principal task [initially in the case of Auschwitz -Birkenau] of extermination, if not immediately, within a very short time of arrival. While the concentration camps were lethal [some, e.g Mauthausen, more than others], the theoretical task was forced labor, and the survivability rate was higher.

[Petronski]

I look forward to your further post. Thanks.

[SJackson]

Auschwitz was built where the Jews were, more accurately at it's inception, where the POWs and Polish political prisoners were.

[PzLdr]

It has happened again. Take a look at Rwanda, and the Sudan. And although it wasn’t genocide, you have the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, the people that died in the Cultural Revolution in China, etc. ‘The beat goes on’.

[Petronski]

My understanding was that Auschwitz was built because of its a confluence of coal, fresh water and substantial rail access, to suit the designs both of RSHA and IG Farben.