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I cried at the 'ripe' old age of seventeen upon entering the infamous and cynical gatehead at Auschwitz. You can understand how stunned I was when I saw children half my age guided around the camp. I don't know about the rest of the world, it seems, but I don't fancy my child's earliest memory being one of mass genocide and extreme ideological destruction. May just be a personal thing, what can I say?
For all of you whom delve in the past, Auschwitz (I,II and indeed Monowitz 'III') are all worthy destinations in your historical travels. In fact, to scrap that very recent statement, I think this very location should be visited by all, for it posesses not only crude emotion and terror, but serves as a vital lesson for the dangers of humanity's capability. Although Auschwitz is arguably less 'preserved' in its present state, the sheer magnitude of the resort is enough to swallow your heart. For a more authentic, original and smaller-scale feel, you should visit camps in Germany; namely those at Buchenwald, and Dachau. At Auschwitz, the modern tourist twist has its advantages in that an overwhelming quantity of books, posters, music and intricate souvenirs is a great way to savour and capture the entire history, not solely what you may have made time to see in one day.
How did I feel? Well, this is some question. What I can tell you will not directly correlate with the sensations you yourselves will indeed feel at Auschwitz, but to give you weak indications, I can say that I felt drowned in the thick air of the cells, I developed severe claustrophobia, and I could have sworn I smelled the spice of murder in the air. I couldn't get out quick enough. And that was Auschwitz I, the 'work' house, let's say. If you want to see the scale of industralisation which embodied the Third Reich with regards to the Final Solution, then you want Birkenau, or Auschwitz II. Wrongly, I admit that the efficiency with which the system of death was sustained is impressive, and is a clear depiction of the supremacy complex which separated the world into man and animal.
The Holocaust is an addictive subject. I visited Auschwitz three days ago, and since I have completed a total of 3 books on the topic. Once you dive into the sadistic psychology of the Jewish Question, you yourselves attempt to answer what no man has ever before been able to piece together completely. Would the whole episode receive so much attention if the story had a beginning, middle and an end? No, we will never know the whole story. However, and nonetheless, I recommend for personal parallels on the 'backstairs' ongoings of the Auschwitz realm to read I was Doctor Mengele's Assistant. For a sound and detailed overall history, I suggest Auschwitz, A History by the fresh Sybille Steinbacher. Both in unison will deliver to you a (hopefully) rounded and very real idea of what many believe was a "catastrophe" that symbolized the unique situation of the Jewish people among the nations of the world.' Dinur, historian. |
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Sara was born in Bologna, Italy, and moved to Buckinghamshire at the age of twelve. She learned English by developing a love of reading Stephen King (who, to this day, remains one of her favourite authors,) and watching Cartoon Network. Never taking an interest in fictional work, Sara developed her style analyzing of casestudies such as that of Ruth Ellis, coincidentally bearing her passion for the subject of History. Although careful not to rule any period of the past out, her favourite material includes the European Reformation and the men behind Hitler. Quickly, the study of History aroused questions that Sara took to answer by delving into the field of philosophy, concentrating primarily on Albert Camus and, before him, Jean-Paul Sartre. Most recently, it seems she was finally made peace with the world of fiction and eased her critical eye, adding authors like Philipa Gregory and Samson to her bookshelves. |
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