Comments on: What I Did on My Summer Vacation – Part 2

By: chris

chris — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 10:22:56 +0000

I’ve never heard about Rudolf Hoess before, but now i read up. and i have to say this is about the most scary thing i’ve ever read. a buerocrat of death, who administered the murder of over a milllion people. and tried to project the image of not feeling guilty in the slightest.

By: Darrell E

Darrell E — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 18:33:26 +0000

I experienced Dachau around 1975 – 1976. I can still recall in vivid detail images and smells from there and my feelings at the time. I am trying not to cry.

By: Sarah

Sarah — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 21:22:38 +0000

“Others who took the tour came back saying that it was well worth the journey, over an hour by bus each way, but tended not to say much more about it…hmmm.”

I visited Auschwitz in 2001 and yes, that was pretty much my feeling. I’m glad I saw it but what can you say? What happened there – and all over Europe – is horrendous and there’s no way we can even remotely grasp what it was like.

Incidentally, I read a fascinating book some years ago, called Humanity: A moral history of the 20th century (by Jonathan Glover), which looks at the Holocaust and other instances of war and genocide – Cambodia, the Balkans, Vietnam, Rwanda – and discusses the processes that occur to make these things possible both in individuals and in societies. It’s a fascinating book, I really recommend it.

By: JoAnne

JoAnne — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 18:26:56 +0000

I saw Auschwitz in September 1989 – exactly 20 yrs ago – and to this day I get shivers and that hard feeling in my gut, whenever I see or hear the name. It is a truly horrific site and I agree with graviton383 that everyone should see it. I’ve been to Yad Vashem as well and as moving as it was, it is Auschwitz that has had the lasting impact on me.

By: John

John — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 03:42:45 +0000

John K.: thanls for letting me know the link did not work. I am still learning MobileMe…it should be okay now. For your convenience here is the link:

http://gallery.me.com/higgshunter#100008&bgcolor=black&view=grid

By: steeleweed

steeleweed — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 02:14:26 +0000

I suggest a visit to Yad Vashem – the Holocaust Memorial in Israel. If you can spend an hour slowly going through it and not come out feeling like some monsterous claw has ripped out your guts, I don’t want to know you, because you’re not human.

I am not Jewish, but by the time I got out, the emotional ache had become a physical pain.

Yad Vashem isn’t really about Jews, its about inhumanity. Strangely enough, the final room is almost healing. Almost.

By: johnkemeny.com » Blog Archive » Gut Yuntiff = Happy Holidays & Not Forgetting

Sat, 19 Sep 2009 07:00:56 +0000

[...] past? You never forget the smell because it never quite leaves you. Speaking of never forgetting read this travelogue. Then listen to the President’s greeting (and I thought he was [...]

By: John K.

John K. — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 04:11:51 +0000

Thank you for this piece. My parents survived work camps and many of my ancestors were murdered in the camps.

How can I view your pictures link? All I get is a signup page to mobileme.
Thanks.

By: graviton383

graviton383 — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 02:31:56 +0000

I think it is a MUST for everyone to see just how low an apparently enlightened culture can fall. I couldn’t eat for 2 days after seeing Dachau..but that was mild compare to Auschwitz.

By: Kaleberg

Kaleberg — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 01:24:44 +0000

I won’t be visiting either. I grew up knowing too many former guests. I won’t get a tatoo either. Everyone I knew with a tatoo got it Chez Hitler.