Holocaust Photos--Warning: Disturbing Content

[Jonathan M]

i agree with ant, i think he was quoting the captions that came with the photos
Jonathan

[Von Hoth]

If you read enough of the holocaust you would see a tendency that the horrific conditions were self perpetuating. For example, inmates who did the grueling tasks of emptying out the dead babies, fecies, and luggage of all the prisoners who came non stop out of the trains actually began to hate the victims. It occurs because they got sick of dealing with the unbearable and never ending waves of more victims. When I go to my book shelf I will try to find a book that displays this common occurence perfectly. A book written by a victim who survived but gives the most honest account of everyday life at the camps. (self survival, hating the other victims, killing other inmates, etc.)

so this just shows that if the victims were capable of that, it is very easy to see that many SS personnel followed their orders. Orders that were already described by high command as difficult and disturbing work, but necessary. (necessary to the sick nazis)

[CIANO]

Hi,

Did the German people know about these atrocities?
I don´t think so...may be only a few, but they were affraid to talk about...

regards

Ciano

[David Patrick]

The horror, the horror....

Colenel Kurtz's monologue in Coppola's iconic war movie " Apocalypse Now" comes to mind "the horror, the horror, like being shot with a diamond bullet between the eyes". He describes the event when his unit went into a village and innoculated all of the children with vaccine into their arms to protect them. When they returned to the village they found that the viet cong had severed all of the childrens' arms and stacked them in a pile. The point being that the depths to which man will step knows no bounds. As the Holy Bible says, "the heart of man is indesribably wicked...".

Hannnah Arendt's work "The Banality of Evil" is a good insight into how such appallingly evil events can occur. Look at Eichmann as an example. As the arch technician of genocide he sent millions to their deaths by the bureaucratic stroke of a pen, in all probability expending no more emotion than when we sign an invoice or authorise a cheque. It was sheer indifference.

The horror, the horror

[Chris Lee]

photos

The power over life and death is overwhelming. Even the most normal person can become corrupt by it.

[Jean-Loup]

Horrible pictures. To think that the majority of these people were just normal people who could have lived normal lives and maybe even still be alive today. The funny thing is that all this was also a huge waste of resources for Germany. Imagine the work force that was wasted in the camps.

The bodies barely even look human any more. Imagine what they had to go through to become like that. Look at the dead female bodie, with no hair, completely cachetic... Imagine your wife or girlfriend looking looking like that.... Horror.

[PZIV]

I see now that some people had a problem with the post that I made. I did not want a response or anything like that. I just expressed my views (which I maybe should have kept to myself). In this situation I should just look and learn instead of commenting.

Sorry if I had any conclusions that offended anyone (I hope not) and sorry for "trolling" even though I did not mean too.

[EKman]

A couple of the photos appear to be from Gardelegen in Germany. This was a "barn" that contained a little over 1100 displaced workers (mostly Poles and eastern people) who were closed in the large windowless building and set on fire. These were not the type of starved concentration camp prisoner you see in the Belsen photos, but rather a slave worker type and the death was mainly caused by lack of oxygen.
I know this well because my father was one attached to the medical unit who found this place while the bodies were still smoking and photographed it. Many of his photos have appeared in post war magazines as he was in a medical outfit and developed the photos at the X-Ray in the 113th evac hospital. I have had his scrapbook for as long as I remember and this incident was etched into my mind along with his article that appeared in our town newspaper in 1945. His personal description of the incident and his impression of the Germans who committed this act was very moving to me and was detailed in the paper. A truly eye opening event in my younger years.
Ron Weinand
Weinand Militaria

Ron,

You are quite correct. In the press photo grouping, numbers 6, 9, and 11 were taken at Gardelegen. Please feel free to save these photos to your computer if you would like to add them to the documentation that you have from your father. Until these pictures arrived, I had never even heard of this particular atrocity, but was quite shocked when I read the description of the photos given on the reverse.

Thanks and Best Regards,

Chris

[behblc]

Loactions.

There might be three possible locations here dachau . Bergen-Belsen adn a thrid location - a barn intro which CZ prisoners , Russian POWs were forced before it was set on fire and swept with small arms fire - the name of the lcoation escapes me at present - it was covered in some detail in recent years by "After The Battle".

The prisoners seen came from the camps in the east and were dumped into the camps in the west - feeding them , providing for them was not planned for - starvation and disease was the result.

As far as a work force goes selection for work was still going on - what you see are those who could not work - feeding them was not given a high priority - "useless eaters".

If you look at the guards - no stravation there - none in the local population.
This answers anything relating to how and why.

Disturbing - yes - mankind seldom fails to disappoint.
Could this happen again - yes - at anytime as karl Jaspers said all it take is that we ignore " the lesson from history".

[EKman]

With showing a dead person and comment it with "This is a good german" you
disqualify yourself.

Sir,

I apologize for this comment. However, as I stated at the beginning of the thread, it was my intention simply to portray the images paired with the written comments attached to them from 60+ years ago with no additional commentary as I am not in a position to add anything to these images, they speak loudly enough for themselves. The sentiment that you took issue with was that of the veteran and not me. Whether right or wrong, it was a very common attitude among Allied troops and I am sure that it was characteristic of many German soldier's attitudes toward their American, British, or Russian foes as well.

Best Regards,

Chris

[Von Hoth]

The book I recommend to read if you want to know what truly happened inside those camps is THIS WAY FOR THE GAS, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN. by Tdeusz Borowski. He was so screwed up that after the war, he made insane choices about dealing with the cold war, and he killed himself right after he wrote this book about his life at the death camp.

It's up there with forgotten soldier, and an account I read about Stalingrad. Stalingrad was so horrible that animals such as dogs were frequently seen trying to swim across the river to escape it. (Dogs have never been seen voluntarily trying to swim across such a wide body of water ever before or after as far that is known)

[VtwinVince]

I think Patrick's comments on the banality of such massacres is apropo. It wasn't just Germans who were involved in genocide in the last war. One might want to watch a film called The Fog of War, about the career of a certain American war criminal, Robert McNamara. It is striking how such people can justify their actions in wartime, and live out their banal lives afterward.

[MikeW]

I think Patrick's comments on the banality of such massacres is apropo. It wasn't just Germans who were involved in genocide in the last war. One might want to watch a film called The Fog of War, about the career of a certain American war criminal, Robert McNamara. It is striking how such people can justify their actions in wartime, and live out their banal lives afterward.

Keep the politics out of this forum and you are inviting debate.

[Gregory Koepp]

ok, I knew i seen those ulgy bitches before!!

I looked threw some of my stuff and found all those women in the photo and more, officers/men/women that ran Belsen Concentration Camp in some Belsen photos I have AT trial with Numbers pinned to thier chest being guarded by Brit's. so i will scan them tomarrow and post them for you guys, the women look like they are poor milk women. also I have a medical lady holding a very sick and thin nude women up, and the regular camp dead.

gregory koepp

[Von Hoth]

yeah, please scan and post, it will be appreicated.

thanks.