Auschwitz - sensitive material.
Discussion
Our recent visit to Auschwitz, needless to say it was quite upsetting, despair is the overriding emotion still very present & even with many visitors attending, there is a somber respectfull hushed silence about the place, here are a few images, sadly the new lens I had I was not used too so they are not too clear but I dont think that matters somehow 
These 1st images are from Auschwitz 1, the first camp built & where prisoners were taken initially, they were housed and made to work hard labour on a daily basis, 700 calories & 13 hour days, morning role call could sometimes be 4 hours sometimes 8 hours, then they had to go to work. The initial experiments on the best way of extermination were carried out here & it houses the first purpose built gas chamber still in tact (did not take pictures of this our of respect) also medical experiments were performed here & there was a prison within the prison, a court & execution wall.
the next three images are of personal belongings taken from the Jews when they arrived. They bought these belongings with them because they were lead to beleive by the Nazis that they were being given new lives & for this they they would need all there personal belongings. hence their names they personally added.
Half way up the 1st image you can see the built up shoe of someone who was crippled, I found this very difficult to stomach TBO, the next room (2nd image) almost bought me to my knees
these are the stairs within the living quarters, they are only 60 years old yet are worn in a different way.....
Courtyard area between dwellings
Staunch reminder
Personally drawn by a prisoner as a record of prisoners, the prisoner / artist who drew them managed to serve his entire time due to his job.
The wall where prisoners were shot on a daily basis, note the windows upper right which are bricked up to 3/4 height so as to stop prisoners seeing the executiions
One of the cell blocks in the prison where the disobedient where four people were forced into these tight spaces, this forced them to sleep standing until work the next day.
These images are from Auschwitz 2 Birkenau where the mass murders were carried out, to give an idea of its size, the perimeter of the camp was 20km & it contained 300 out buildings each housing 2-300 people, when a train arrived the strong were filtered into the buildings on the left & right of the centred train & made to work hard labour, the other 90% carried on the journey for about 1/2 km straight too the gas chambers, if the chambers were running at full capacity already then they were told to wait in the woods by the chambers to wait for their turn, they then had to watch their friends and family enter & never come out.
Best panorama I could achieve with the size of it
Some died on the camp from overworking, beatings, malnutrition, disease & -20 temperatures. This cart was used for the dead bodies & pulled by the working Jews too the chambers, the chambers were used for cremation as well as gassing .
Toilets within the huts
Sleeping bunks, although not looking too bad, there was no proper roof to the building & the outside temreture was -20 in the winter, they were allowed one small burner in the centre of the building that would struggle to heat a bathroom.
One of the sites near the Gas chambers where the Nazis dumped the ashes from the bodies.
One of the five Gas chambers, when the Nazis realized they had lost the war they tried to destroy evidence of the atrocities they had committed, all the chambers at Auschwitz 2 are the same, but where the roofs have been removed on some of them you can see the underground section & layout where they were lead in, stripped, Gassed & then burnt, it is quite literally sickening to see.
these are the stairs that they walked down, never to return.
This is where the train track ended
Says it all. RIP
These 1st images are from Auschwitz 1, the first camp built & where prisoners were taken initially, they were housed and made to work hard labour on a daily basis, 700 calories & 13 hour days, morning role call could sometimes be 4 hours sometimes 8 hours, then they had to go to work. The initial experiments on the best way of extermination were carried out here & it houses the first purpose built gas chamber still in tact (did not take pictures of this our of respect) also medical experiments were performed here & there was a prison within the prison, a court & execution wall.
the next three images are of personal belongings taken from the Jews when they arrived. They bought these belongings with them because they were lead to beleive by the Nazis that they were being given new lives & for this they they would need all there personal belongings. hence their names they personally added.
Half way up the 1st image you can see the built up shoe of someone who was crippled, I found this very difficult to stomach TBO, the next room (2nd image) almost bought me to my knees
these are the stairs within the living quarters, they are only 60 years old yet are worn in a different way.....
Courtyard area between dwellings
Staunch reminder
Personally drawn by a prisoner as a record of prisoners, the prisoner / artist who drew them managed to serve his entire time due to his job.
The wall where prisoners were shot on a daily basis, note the windows upper right which are bricked up to 3/4 height so as to stop prisoners seeing the executiions
One of the cell blocks in the prison where the disobedient where four people were forced into these tight spaces, this forced them to sleep standing until work the next day.
These images are from Auschwitz 2 Birkenau where the mass murders were carried out, to give an idea of its size, the perimeter of the camp was 20km & it contained 300 out buildings each housing 2-300 people, when a train arrived the strong were filtered into the buildings on the left & right of the centred train & made to work hard labour, the other 90% carried on the journey for about 1/2 km straight too the gas chambers, if the chambers were running at full capacity already then they were told to wait in the woods by the chambers to wait for their turn, they then had to watch their friends and family enter & never come out.
Best panorama I could achieve with the size of it
Some died on the camp from overworking, beatings, malnutrition, disease & -20 temperatures. This cart was used for the dead bodies & pulled by the working Jews too the chambers, the chambers were used for cremation as well as gassing .
Toilets within the huts
Sleeping bunks, although not looking too bad, there was no proper roof to the building & the outside temreture was -20 in the winter, they were allowed one small burner in the centre of the building that would struggle to heat a bathroom.
One of the sites near the Gas chambers where the Nazis dumped the ashes from the bodies.
One of the five Gas chambers, when the Nazis realized they had lost the war they tried to destroy evidence of the atrocities they had committed, all the chambers at Auschwitz 2 are the same, but where the roofs have been removed on some of them you can see the underground section & layout where they were lead in, stripped, Gassed & then burnt, it is quite literally sickening to see.
these are the stairs that they walked down, never to return.
This is where the train track ended
Says it all. RIP
Edited by Pvapour on Saturday 1st August 09:06
I went back in '99 with my father - it remains one of two times I've seen hom cry (the other being the death of his mother). He saw a photo that reminded him of my sister, and he just broke down. I studied Nazi Germany at A-Level, so knew what to expect. It took another two days for the whole experience to hit me. Drank a lot of vodka that night.
With reference to the photos of the possessions, consider that these are from the last few weeks of the camps being in operation. The scale of the thing is bewildering. We stood there on a freezing day (-24 inc wind chill) with thick clothing on... the poor souls at these camps effectively had pyjamas on.
It's a strange place, but would strongly recommend people find time to go. Oh, and it;s true what they say - the birds really do not sing.
ETA - Arbeit Macht Frei... works makes (you) free.
With reference to the photos of the possessions, consider that these are from the last few weeks of the camps being in operation. The scale of the thing is bewildering. We stood there on a freezing day (-24 inc wind chill) with thick clothing on... the poor souls at these camps effectively had pyjamas on.
It's a strange place, but would strongly recommend people find time to go. Oh, and it;s true what they say - the birds really do not sing.
ETA - Arbeit Macht Frei... works makes (you) free.
Edited by Podie on Friday 31st July 20:25
Excellent (I'm not sure that's the right word) shots, very moving. I didn't find Auschwitz as haunting when I visited as I did Mauthausen a couple of years ago, perhaps owing to its familiarity, perhaps owing to only being in my teens at the time, but you've captured the horrifically well-ordered nature of it very well.
haworthlloyd1 said:
It sickens me to say this but I don't think it will be the last 'mass killing' of its type sadly
I think it's fair to say that it wasn't Simpo Two said:
jetskidia said:
Its a place everyone should be made to visit I believe!
Made to?I think the more people that see it & understand it the better chance mankind has of it never happening again, I know some of you believe it will & some of you that it already has but awareness is our best chance of it not happening on this scale again, they murdered over 600 jews every day for 6 years, the amount of shoes & prosthetic limbs in the first images represent ONE days worth of new arrivals!
As for the comment 'made to' Simpo, I know it's a little misplaced considering the topic but I do not think it was meant in that way, although to be honest this topic evokes such strong emotion it makes you feel a bit that way.
I'm still finding it hard to understand how it happened, posting the pictures & trying to write about it took me straight back there, hence the description being a little scrambled, I hope the impact it has had on me never leaves, & by the sound of it, it never will, which is a good thing.
I'd like to thank you all for your receptive comments (as I was unsure) & do hope some of you who haven't been make the effort to go, if you do, then please let us know your thoughts.
Out of interest, did you ask permission for the indoor shots or did you just fire away?
Not having a dig, but I decided to heed the signs that ask you not to photgraph inside. My understanding of that is that they feel that the impact of the exhibits is lost in photographs, as you don't get the sheer scale of them conveyed fully.
When I was there I entered the Auschwitz gas chambers to find a German guy and his daughter clicking away, which I found horrendously disrespectful and told them so. To their credit, they did realise their mistake and apologised and stuck the cameras away.
You'll know what I mean about scale if you think back to the half hall of hair and the room of shoes!
To be honest I don't think I could have shot a decent photo inside even if I'd tried anyway. After the first few halls I wasn't even sure I was going to make it all the way round, although there is something compelling about it.
Certainly after about the third hall, with the hair and the shoes I was really struggling. I think it was after seeing the little case of children's shoes that really did it to me. Some of them were the size of my friend's kids, and that really got to me. I had to stop for a while after that hall, and wander round outside taking some snaps after my hands had stopped shaking.
I never made it to Birkenau, as I went in the winter when it closes earlier.
In any case, here's my flickr set and thoughts from the time from New Year's Eve in 2007/8.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bigalinembra/sets/721...
Not having a dig, but I decided to heed the signs that ask you not to photgraph inside. My understanding of that is that they feel that the impact of the exhibits is lost in photographs, as you don't get the sheer scale of them conveyed fully.
When I was there I entered the Auschwitz gas chambers to find a German guy and his daughter clicking away, which I found horrendously disrespectful and told them so. To their credit, they did realise their mistake and apologised and stuck the cameras away.
You'll know what I mean about scale if you think back to the half hall of hair and the room of shoes!
To be honest I don't think I could have shot a decent photo inside even if I'd tried anyway. After the first few halls I wasn't even sure I was going to make it all the way round, although there is something compelling about it.
Certainly after about the third hall, with the hair and the shoes I was really struggling. I think it was after seeing the little case of children's shoes that really did it to me. Some of them were the size of my friend's kids, and that really got to me. I had to stop for a while after that hall, and wander round outside taking some snaps after my hands had stopped shaking.
I never made it to Birkenau, as I went in the winter when it closes earlier.
In any case, here's my flickr set and thoughts from the time from New Year's Eve in 2007/8.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bigalinembra/sets/721...
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