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Behind the Aegis

(53,833 posts)
Thu Jan 18, 2018, 05:35 PM Jan 2018

Birkenau (14 photos)

This was the last death camp I visited while in Europe. I did go to the Oskar Schindler Museum, which I highly recommend, but most of my pictures from there were blurry or dark, so I won't subject y'all to them. I am sorry about some of the quality of the photos, I am still learning. What struck me about Birkenau was how large it was. I didn't realize the immense nature of the site. It was actually intimidating in a way the other sites were not. I know, it sounds strange to say, but it was this site which made me the most uneasy.


The entrance to Birkenau from the outside.


The more iconic view from inside the camp.


Ruins of the barracks.




An actual transport car used to bring victims to the camp. It usually "held" 80-100 people!


Entrance to the main field of the barracks.




Memorial plate. There were 29 (?) of these in various languages.




Recreation of the inside of a typical barrack.




View from the guard tower of the main entrance.


Another view from the guard tower of the main entrance.


Actual train cars outside of the concentration camp used for transport. (Photo touched up)

16 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Birkenau (14 photos) (Original Post) Behind the Aegis Jan 2018 OP
I am trying to imagine being murielm99 Jan 2018 #1
Much of the construction was done by prisoners thucythucy Jan 2018 #6
Yes, and considering that the German national railroad employed 1 million people GreenEyedLefty Jan 2018 #8
I always find it very hard to look a pictures like this Skittles Jan 2018 #2
These are fantastic photos! They clearly show the magnitude of the place. CaliforniaPeggy Jan 2018 #3
The size. That is what really struck me. Behind the Aegis Jan 2018 #4
Very thoughtful reply and moving photos. CurtEastPoint Jan 2018 #5
You won't go wrong when you let your heart guide your eye... CaliforniaPeggy Jan 2018 #9
I'm not much of a photographer, but those are quite good and moving. Thanks. Hoyt Jan 2018 #7
I am not much of a photographer either, but I try. Behind the Aegis Jan 2018 #13
I've only been to Dachau outside Munich Chasstev365 Jan 2018 #10
I posted my photots from Dachau too. Behind the Aegis Jan 2018 #14
OH Mira Jan 2018 #11
Personally, I think you should go. Behind the Aegis Jan 2018 #15
I hate seeing this, but remember my dad's take. raven mad Jan 2018 #12
Disturbing to see these. Dark n Stormy Knight Jan 2018 #16

murielm99

(30,656 posts)
1. I am trying to imagine being
Thu Jan 18, 2018, 05:38 PM
Jan 2018

one of the people constructing the camp, building a barracks, stringing fence. They had to have known why they were doing this.

thucythucy

(7,986 posts)
6. Much of the construction was done by prisoners
Thu Jan 18, 2018, 05:58 PM
Jan 2018

who were then murdered themselves. They may have known, but then again the enormity of what the Nazis planned was so outrageous and unprecedented even prisoners themselves often didn't believe what was happening until it was too late.

An example is Primo Levi, who writes about this in "Survival at Auschwitz"--one of the most depressing books I've ever read. Levi at first simply refused to believe it was a death camp, not until after he'd been there a while. I had a neighbor years back who was also a survivor of Auschwitz, and she told me the same thing.

GreenEyedLefty

(2,073 posts)
8. Yes, and considering that the German national railroad employed 1 million people
Thu Jan 18, 2018, 06:03 PM
Jan 2018

And not just constructing the camps - designing. Designing the ovens in the crematoria to exact specifications... the barracks, the other buildings.

Literally no one could claim ignorance of what was happening.

Skittles

(152,964 posts)
2. I always find it very hard to look a pictures like this
Thu Jan 18, 2018, 05:43 PM
Jan 2018

because in my mind, I see the black and white photos from history

CaliforniaPeggy

(149,300 posts)
3. These are fantastic photos! They clearly show the magnitude of the place.
Thu Jan 18, 2018, 05:44 PM
Jan 2018

They also show the magnitude of the butchery that went on for so many years.

I can believe it was hard for you to be there.

Thank you for sharing these.

We shall never forget.

Behind the Aegis

(53,833 posts)
4. The size. That is what really struck me.
Thu Jan 18, 2018, 05:50 PM
Jan 2018

Dachau and Auschwitz were relatively small and compact. Birkenau was vast! Standing next to the "cattle car" was the most rattling for me and I had already been in the crematoriums at the other two camps. I think, for me, it was feeling those inside knew what was coming. The anticipation. The fear. That railway car was steeped in it. When I touched it, it took my breath way. The only other thing I saw while there which did the same in a negative way, was when I was at Auschwitz and turned a corner to be confronted by a mountain of human hair.

I am glad you enjoyed the pictures. I am still working on improving my "eye", but a few of these, I think it was my heart that took the picture, not my eye.

Behind the Aegis

(53,833 posts)
13. I am not much of a photographer either, but I try.
Fri Jan 19, 2018, 03:50 PM
Jan 2018

Thank you for your comments. I am glad you appreciated them.

Chasstev365

(5,191 posts)
10. I've only been to Dachau outside Munich
Thu Jan 18, 2018, 06:33 PM
Jan 2018

There was a presence, atmosphere, aura, whatever you want to call it, that was very heavy. I imagine Auschwitz/ Birkenau was that 1000 fold.

Thanks for sharing these.

Behind the Aegis

(53,833 posts)
14. I posted my photots from Dachau too.
Fri Jan 19, 2018, 03:54 PM
Jan 2018

When I went to Dachau, it was a bright and sunny day. It was raining, then overcast, most of the day when I was at Auschwitz and Birkenau. The size of Birkenau is breathtaking.

Mira

(22,378 posts)
11. OH
Thu Jan 18, 2018, 10:40 PM
Jan 2018

this is hard to see. Makes my heart cramp in my body.
The second photo is the infamous view of the entrance to Auschwitz in so many movies. Certainly in Schindler's list. Also I think in Sophie's Choice. The one they did not bomb, as the Allied said, because of fear of worse recriminations. How worse could it have been? It's the entrance depicted all over Shoah. I have been watching it in short segments because it is all I can handle at a time.
I do not think I could go there. I really don't. And I very much respect that you did, though I know it must have been intolerably painful.

Behind the Aegis

(53,833 posts)
15. Personally, I think you should go.
Fri Jan 19, 2018, 04:02 PM
Jan 2018

Not because I wish for your heart to be burdened, because I certainly don't. You are one of my favorite photographers here, and you rank pretty high in my faves among DU'ers in general. Your photographs are often awe-inspiring and so poignant. I feel someone like you (or Solly Mack or regnaD kciN) would take some mind (heart) blowing photographs, which would speak to the nature of the horror there.

Most of the time, I viewed the places as a "historian", but there were times when great sadness, and sometimes fear, just hit me like a ton of bricks. I, often, 'live' in my own head, so I can compartmentalize quickly, if needed. Not always though. Given the shitty attitudes some had there (mocking being electrocuted on fences and making hissing sounds indicating gas...yes those happened while I was there), I almost wish they would have parts of the camps with live re-enactments of the horrors, so for some, it would really set in as to the disgusting nature of those places.

Dark n Stormy Knight

(9,760 posts)
16. Disturbing to see these.
Sun Jan 28, 2018, 11:28 PM
Jan 2018

But necessary. Thanks for sharing them all. How anyone can see these places and fail to reject bigotry is unfathomable.

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