Arbeit Macht Frei - Auschwitz
Posted: Friday, July 27, 2007
by Sara O'Rourke
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?
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.
This Article has been viewed 3,008 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
Top-level comments on this article: (3 total)This is superbly written article, but I am of the opposite view and rather feel sick at the thought of these places becoming 'tourist attractions'. I understand your perspective that people should visit to be reminded of the terror, but there will be many who won't feel that way when they visit. It will be pure spectatorship and voyeurism.
I found this article from the sundayherald on these 'war tourist camps' "Murder, genocide and war: the new tourist attractions By David Christie Rise in ‘dark tourism’ as thousands visit death sites Comment | Read Comments (3) TOURISTS ARE showing an increasing appetite for death and disaster as increasing numbers flock to graveyards and killing fields around the world every year. From the modern-day fascination with Ground Zero in New York to the continuing pull of Auschwitz-Birkenau in Poland and even the Necropolis in Glasgow, "dark tourism", as it is dubbed, is an industry on the up. Speaking ahead of a major conference, Professor John Lennon, of Glasgow Caledonian University, said the interest in our recent tragic past is showing little sign of abating. "People want to go and be tourists in war zones while wars are happening. They seem to have an appetite to get very close while the blood is still dripping. There is no limit to the appetite for this stuff and demand is driving it faster and faster. advertisement "We are always fascinated by the dark side of human nature and the most evil things people can do." While around 700,000 people visit the Auschwitz death camps every year, new sites have been adopted by macabre tourists. Lennon notes how hundreds of tourists each day visit Ground Zero, "trying to remember not to smile as they get their photo taken". More gruesome sites include the graves of Soham murder victims Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman........" I think I can recall when these sites were first opened to the public and uproar at the time. I wonder how the relatives of the deceased feel about these places being open to the public and if they themselves visit?That's an interesting article, thank you for sharing it with me. I maintain that everybody should visit these places, for I reckon that the shock and the educational perspective is unmatched. However, I do think they have been made into attractions, rather than being left to their original states. Luckily, Dachau and Buchenwald are not as muddled-with, per say, as Auschwitz was. I hope they stay this way.
I agree that these sites should be visited, and I would certainly go to Auschwitz if given the chance. As far as tourism goes I feel that perspective is the issue. I visited Disney World and bought an Indiana Jones Hat. I visited Gettysburg and bought a book. More importantly, though, I spent some time in the cemetery, respectfully honoring those buried there and contemplating the idiocy of war. We must remember these horrors in order to work towards preventing them. Thank you for a well written article.Thank you for your review. This topic is quite important to me.
We want your comments! If you can read this, you don't have javascript enabled, so you can't use this comment system. Please enable javascript.