Do you think when I say Auschwitz?

Published on December 3, 2004 By lifehappens In Current Events

According to a BBC television poll found that 45 percent of 4000 questioned have never heard of the Auschwitz concentration camp in southern Poland. This is right before the 60th anniversary of the liberation of said camp.

I find that statistic shocking. Does this mean that people don't care to remember history? Does it mean that history has been changed to present a more politically correct image? (After all, Germans are just fun loving people who drink beer, always have always will....we wouldn't want to imply that any of them may have done something less than wonderful in the past)

It makes me wonder how many people still know who Hitler was or Stalin or how between 1940 and 1945 more than one million men, women and children -- most of them Jews from around 20 European countries -- died in horrific circumstances at Auschwitz, one of the most infamous of World War II concentration camps.

They say, If you forget history, it is destined to repeat itself. American troops made locals march through the camps after liberation to show them what had been done, and eliminate any chance of them denying it. Maybe we need to find a way of doing this for the current generations. By understanding what happened 60 years ago, we can remember that tyrany, genocide and hatred can spread very easily throughout the world....oh, wait. Have I seen any of these things in the news recently? OH YEAH!

Did Germany attack the United States first when the US decided to go to war with them back in World War 1 and 2? Does it matter to the ignorant masses who condemn the United States for supporting democracy and getting rid of dictators who run modern day death camps?
Let's put more a little more emphasis on reality and less on making everyone "feel" good.

Comments (Page 1)

LadyCleve

on Dec 03, 2004

Amen, sister!

It scares me whenever I am reminded of how much people (especially 30's and younger, since that's what I am around alot) do not know, or do not remember of our history, local, national, and international. And then I'm reminded of how little I know, too.

Manopeace

on Dec 03, 2004

I am forced to remember the horrors of the death camps. I live in Israel and we are constantly reminded. Aside from that, I lost the whole side of my father's family right there in Aushewitz...not something easy to forget, or forgive.

T_Bone4Justice

on Dec 03, 2004

"Did Germany attack the United States first when the US decided to go to war with them back in World War 1 and 2?"

Germany didn't but Japan did. Japan, Germany, and Italy were all members of the Axis powers so when one of them attacked us, they all did. Iraq did not attack us and Iraq was not alligned with al Qaeda. Al Qaeda attacked us, not Iraq. Comparing Iraq with Nazi Germany isn't really a fair or accurate comparison. If we attacked Iraq because of the mass killings going on there, why didn't we act when a majority of these Iraqis were being slaughtered during the early 1990s? Why did the U.S. authorize Iraq's use of chemical weapons against Iran during the Iran-Iraq war? Why did we and others supply Iraq with chemical weapons in the first place? Because at the time it was convenient since we did not want Iraq to lose the war with Iran. Iraq was seen as an ally at the time...even as they were using chemical weapons against Iran and in spite of Saddam's mass murders. U.S. and British fighter jets flew overhead while the majority of these mass murders took place. We did nothing about it for 12 years and all of a sudden we attack them out of humanitarian concerns? I think not. The U.S. encouraged the Kurds and Shiites to rise up against Saddam only to abandon them and stood idly by while a majority of these killings occurred. It is a real stretch of logic to pretend Bush went to war against Iraq because of these killings. Assistant Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz was quoted saying that humanitarian intervention was not justification for invading Iraq nor was it the main reason for doing so. If we are so concerned with humanitarian concerns why have we done nothing to stop the massacre of tens of thousands in Sudan? There is genocide taking place there on a massive scale yet we are doing practically nothing to stop it other than promulgating some token lip service. We also did nothing to stop the genocide that occurred in Rwanda. So this whole notion of attacking Iraq because of the "torture chambers" and "mass graves" simply doesn't square with the reality of why we are there. Sad but true...

BlueDev

on Dec 03, 2004

Important points LH. We must remember the horrific experiences of Man's inhumanity to Man, that we may not repeat them.

greywar

on Dec 03, 2004

Al Qaeda attacked us, not Iraq.

WTF does this have to do with the article? Are you trying to take Muggaz crown as King thread hijacker? Hows about talking about the actual TOPIC? Here I have a frosty cool Trolling for you.

Shovelheat

on Dec 03, 2004

My uncle helped liberate one of the camps, I can't remember which and he has passed away now. He told me it was shocking, especially seeing the children. What has always got to me is the precision of it, the exacting science of mass murder that these monsters created. When I see someone wearing a swastika tattoo or lightning bolts with pride, I just shake my head...

greywar

on Dec 03, 2004

When I see someone wearing a swastika tattoo or lightning bolts with pride

Thankfully we have marginalized these sorts of assbiscuits to the point of total irrelevancy. The NSM pages have pics from their rallies.. it is the same 20 folks over and over.....

iamheather

on Dec 03, 2004

Lifehappens, thank you so much for this article. As someone of German-Italian descent, I have always been ashamed of my German heritage. I rarely acknowledge it. I find it appalling that anyone...anyone in this entire world could not know what Auschwitz was! I am 31 years old and have known about the German atrocities since I was 6 years old.

Did Germany attack the United States first when the US decided to go to war with them back in World War 1 and 2? Does it matter to the ignorant masses who condemn the United States for supporting democracy and getting rid of dictators who run modern day death camps?
Let's put more a little more emphasis on reality and less on making everyone "feel" good.

This was the most important quote of the article, IMO. In hindsight, don't we wish we would have stopped the German attrocites before we were ever attacked? How many more innocent lives could have been saved?

thatoneguyinslc

on Dec 03, 2004

My favorite quote applies here i think

He who forgets the past is doomed to repeat it.

fox_in_the_snow

on Dec 03, 2004

I find this statistic shocking as well. For me this is not only world history, but family history as well.

Does it mean that history has been changed to present a more politically correct image? (After all, Germans are just fun loving people who drink beer, always have always will....we wouldn't want to imply that any of them may have done something less than wonderful in the past)

What does this have to do with the label of being "politically correct"??? It's the very opposite. It's not about putting a happy face on the German people...it's about acknowledging the potentially atrocious capabilities of humankind and how easily hate or apathy can spread en masse if it's not kept in check. If you had another reason for associating political correctness with ignorance of the Holocaust, please don't hesitate to say, and I will try to help out with the confusion.

greywar

on Dec 03, 2004

If you had another reason for associating political correctness with ignorance of the Holocaust,

it is politically guache to even mention the holocaust in polite German society (and even in our own). I think that was implied fairly clearly in the article.

fox_in_the_snow

on Dec 03, 2004

it is politically guache to even mention the holocaust in polite German society (and even in our own).

Well, I admit that I don't know much about "polite German society", but I don't think that it's insensitive in an articulate discussion as long as people are informed and thoughtful (it's another issue entirely in the presence of a survivor). The best way for people to think for themselves is to encourage dialogue. As many people have essentially stated, it's important to acknowledge the mistakes made in the past in order to truly move on. The Nazis weren't alien monsters; they were human, and it goes to show that everyone is capable of following such a misguided agenda, to put it lightly. Btw, I don't have anything against German people; it's quite possible to associate Nazism with 1930s/40s Germany without associating modern-day Germany with Nazism.

lifehappens

on Dec 03, 2004

And then I'm reminded of how little I know, too.

Exactly.

Manopeace, I never knew that about you. I agree, it is something that you would hope no one would forget. I am shocked that so many people have only a vauge idea of what happened. I conducted an unofficial poll in my area and I had to stop because I was amazed at the answers I got. "Didn't something bad happen there once?"-27 year old "Wasn't that in a movie?"-14 year old

it was shocking, especially seeing the children.

He who forgets the past is doomed to repeat it.

I read the Diary of Anne Frank in 5th grade and became interested in the survivors of the camps. i read countless books on the subject for many years. In high school, there was a mandatory history class....we spent one week on the Holocaust....It was just names and dates.....too many times the reality of the people, the children involved is glossed over in favor of cold, sanitary dates and places.

I have always been ashamed of my German heritage. I rarely acknowledge it.

You shouldn't be ashamed of who you are. By being aware of how such atrocities could happen, you can prevent them from happening again. The majority of Germans were good people....but they didn't stop it when they had the chance themselves. If we are proactive in our actions we may prevent further atrocities.

(After all, Germans are just fun loving people who drink beer, always have always will....we wouldn't want to imply that any of them may have done something less than wonderful in the past)

What does this have to do with the label of being "politically correct"??? It's the very opposite

Try infusing the original comment with a liberal helping of sarcasm...Then read it again.

dharmagrl

on Dec 03, 2004

I read 'Stones From The River' recently, and learned a lot about wartime Nazi Germany.

When you say Auschwitz, I automatically think of 'Arbeit Macht Frei'...even though that was on the gates at Dachau. I also think of millions of Jewish men, women and children, stripped naked, heads shaved, starved, beaten, tortured for weeks, months, perhaps years.......then gassed under false pretenses or shot and their bodies bulldozed into pits. I think of Nazi fucking asshole pigs, and I feel the rage start to burn in me........

...I felt the same rage this morning when I read in the British papers that too many people don't know what Auschwitz is/was. That's just tragic. If we don't remember our history, we are doomed to repeat it.

T_Bone4Justice

on Dec 03, 2004

"WTF does this have to do with the article? Are you trying to take Muggaz crown as King thread hijacker? Hows about talking about the actual TOPIC? Here I have a frosty cool Trolling for you."

It has everything to do with the article. The article makes a comparison between the U.S. involvement in WWII with current U.S. efforts to topple certain dictators. Here is what the article said and what I was responding to "Did Germany attack the United States first when the US decided to go to war with them back in World War 1 and 2? Does it matter to the ignorant masses who condemn the United States for supporting democracy and getting rid of dictators who run modern day death camps?" You are way out of line greywar and it really suprises me that you are being so personally hostile.

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