go to Auschwitz?

[ugeauxgirl]

DH and I are going to Warsaw and Krakow in July and DH wants to go to Auschwitz. I don't want to. I loathe violence and cruelty of any kind. I don't watch gangster movies or shoot-em-up movies of any kind. He thought this was put on, but after 18 years of watching me flinch involuntarily (and sometimes walk out) at violent scenes he concedes its probably not. He wanted to watch Schindler's list- we did, and it was torture.

I'm sure that many of you have been to concentrations camps- are you glad you did or wish you hadn't?

 

[samclem]

I'm sure that many of you have been to concentrations camps- are you glad you did or wish you hadn't?

I have toured Auschwitz. Like most who have been there, I found it very moving, and I would recommend that others see this place.


That does not mean it is for you. If your goal is to have a happy, uplifting day, then you should not go. If you think it will leave you worse off than if you hadn't seen it, you shouldn't go. If you think it will leave you better off as a person, then maybe you should experience it. It is part of our human heritage, and incredible evidence of what type of institutional cruelty is possible. This wasn't an alien or ancient culture thousands of years ago, it was a modern western culture with values uncomfortably similar to our own in many ways.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

I have toured Auschwitz. Like most who have been there, I found it very moving, and I would recommend that others see this place.
That does not mean it is for you. If your goal is to have a happy, uplifting day, then you should not go. If you think it will leave you worse off than if you hadn't seen it, you shouldn't go. If you think it will leave you better off as a person, then maybe you should experience it.

I second this opinion. I saw Auschwitz back in 1996 and if I think about it more than about 20 seconds, I get choked up. The history is important...but it is a very emotional place to visit.

 

[RunningBum]

I went to Dachau a few years ago. Very sobering, and a learning experience. We can't forget the past, no matter how ugly it may be, to try to avoid repeating it. Glad I went. But it's not for everyone. Perhaps there's something else you could do that day while he sees it?

 

[6miths]

It does not sound like this would be a positive experience for you. I would plan a different day excursion for you if your partner really wants to go.

 

[athena53]

I also can't watch violent movies and don't read the graphic details of the Holocaust; I just can't take it. DH and I visited two sites related to the Holocaust: Theresienstadt (Terezin) in the Czech Republic and the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam. I also visited the Jewish Museum in Amsterdam many years ago and remember the scarily- detailed and precise statistics and charts from the prison camps that the Nazis maintained.

I found these sites sobering but not traumatic- far less traumatic than watching violent TV or movie scenes of reading the details of Dr. Mengele's experiments. I believe it's important to understand what happens when intolerance is carried to an extreme.

Can you structure it so that if you find the visit too hard on you, you can leave? DH and I took a public bus to Theresienstadt so it would have been straightforward to get an earlier one back to Prague, unlike a structured tour. (In one of those unbelievable serendipitous travel events, it turned out that a well-dressed, dignified older lady on the bus with us had been interned there as a child and then sent to Auschwitz. My memory of hearing the conversation in German that one of the other passengers had with her still gives me chills. Wow.)

If you really think you aren't up to it, find something else to do while DH visits. As my DH got older and health issues placed some limits on what he could do, there were times when I'd take an expedition too strenuous for him and he'd relax in the room. You may find your DH's stories of his visit easier to take second-hand.

 

[StephieJean]

DH and I are going to Warsaw and Krakow in July and DH wants to go to Auschwitz. I don't want to. I loathe violence and cruelty of any kind. I don't watch gangster movies or shoot-em-up movies of any kind. He thought this was put on, but after 18 years of watching me flinch involuntarily (and sometimes walk out) at violent scenes he concedes its probably not. He wanted to watch Schindler's list- we did, and it was torture.

I'm sure that many of you have been to concentrations camps- are you glad you did or wish you hadn't?

I think if your husband wants to go, he should, if you do not, then do not. Those types of venues are OUR history. The World's history and are very moving and emotional events. I think if anyone has the opportunity to visit, they should; however, it is very emotional. DW and I visited the Holocaust museum in DC and I was moved. We tour Anne Frank and the Jewish Museum in Amsterdam later this year. WE must NEVER forget what happened then so it is NOT repeated. I say, go.

 

[CRLLS]

Sobering is definitely the word. We went to Dachau a few years back. Movies and documentaries don't even come close to relating the atrocities to a personal level. I highly recommend going to Auschwitz if you have only a slight interest in that period of history. I've never been to a place anything like it. And every visitor, I mean EVERYONE was respectful and quiet.

 

[ugeauxgirl]

I also can't watch violent movies and don't read the graphic details of the Holocaust; I just can't take it. DH and I visited two sites related to the Holocaust: Theresienstadt (Terezin) in the Czech Republic and the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam. I also visited the Jewish Museum in Amsterdam many years ago and remember the scarily- detailed and precise statistics and charts from the prison camps that the Nazis maintained.

I found these sites sobering but not traumatic- far less traumatic than watching violent TV or movie scenes of reading the details of Dr. Mengele's experiments. I believe it's important to understand what happens when intolerance is carried to an extreme.

Thanks- this is exactly what I wanted to know. I do know and am horrified at the atrocities of the concentration camps- it is somehow intolerable to me to watch/ see/ read about violence and cruelty I can do nothing about. Athena seems to have the same thing- if she's glad she went maybe I will too.

 

[target2019]

DH and I are going to Warsaw and Krakow in July and DH wants to go to Auschwitz. I don't want to. I loathe violence and cruelty of any kind. I don't watch gangster movies or shoot-em-up movies of any kind. He thought this was put on, but after 18 years of watching me flinch involuntarily (and sometimes walk out) at violent scenes he concedes its probably not. He wanted to watch Schindler's list- we did, and it was torture.

I'm sure that many of you have been to concentrations camps- are you glad you did or wish you hadn't?

I haven't been there, but went to a holocaust museum in Vienna. Yes, it was tough, but never forget, some say.
We are missing a very large part of two families due to holocaust and pogrom, so I personally am compelled to visit sites when I have a chance.

 

[Dash man]

I haven’t been to any of the camps, but have been to the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC and the Anne Frank house. I also heard first hand stories from my high school math teacher who still had a tattoo on his arm.
This is something we must never forget.
You know yourself if is something you can handle or not, but please let your DH see it.

 

[Midpack]

I visited Dachau when I was a teenager with my parents. Very sad, eerie to be in a place where so many atrocities occurred. I wouldn’t recommend for or against going, an individual choice. Important that we never forget what happened, but I didn’t need to see the place to remember...

 

[ER Eddie]

I think it's good for a soul to know the dark side of human nature. I think it's an important learning experience.

However, if you're not in the mood for a disturbing learning experience, I can understand that. It's probably interesting for him (as it would be for me). No reason you two can't do different things that day.

 

[davebarnes]

Interesting topic.
I literally said to my wife, yesterday, that if we ever go to Poland, I want to visit Auschwitz and she agreed.
I don't even know why it popped up in my brain.

 

[Sunset]

OP - if it really bothers you, then don't go.

I personally hope to someday see some of the Holocaust concentration camps as it's part of history and the Germans lost the war, so they couldn't cover up the deed.
I don't know if the US govt has preserved any of the Japanese concentration camps here in the US, but if there are any I'd like to see them too.

 

[ugeauxgirl]

DH would certainly go without me- I would encourage him to. But I am considering going thanks to Athena's comments.

 

[Teacher Terry]

We went because I wanted to. It was a cold day and I started taking off my clothes until I got down to a tank top. Then I had trouble breathing so ran to a open window and stuck my head out. I think I was having a panic attack. I did finish the tour and was glad I went. Be sure to see the salt mine. The miners engraved huge statues and chapels out of salt and they are stunning. It is near Kraków. Kraków has a great square with out side seating and the food is great. Everything is cheap in Poland. We have been there twice. Poland is a beautiful country.

 

[marko]

My neighbor, since deceased, was a concentration camp survivor. He'd always wear long sleeved shirts but one day showed me the numbered tattoos on his arm that they put there as an ID.

I really don't think I could visit.

 

[Chuckanut]

It's up to you if you visit Auschwitz, but I don't recall seeing any mass bloody, gory violence like we we see in today's movies and TV shows. Rather it is the sobering reality of what happened that hits you there. It was one of the few places where people were very quiet, and I did not hear any laughter. But, it was no doom and gloom environment either. Just sobering.

If you do go, I suggest you do it early in your trip. There are many interesting and fun things to do in that area and I recommend that Auschwitz not be your last memory of the Krakow area.

Do visit the salt mines. Amazing art and skills on display.

 

[Nemo2]

Been to Auschwitz/Birkenau, also Terezin in the Czech Republic. Sobering, but reality.

I try not to pretend things didn't happen.

 

[NYEXPAT]

Iv'e visited Dachau as well and was moved. Being of German extraction visiting with my young Jewish mistress was a life changing event for me. As an aside the town of "Dachau" is beautiful and seem's like another world. I highly recommend the restaurant at the top of the hill as you enter town.




























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[RunningBum]

Thanks- this is exactly what I wanted to know. I do know and am horrified at the atrocities of the concentration camps- it is somehow intolerable to me to watch/ see/ read about violence and cruelty I can do nothing about. Athena seems to have the same thing- if she's glad she went maybe I will too.

Good. I agree with what Athena said. I don't recall anything gruesomely graphic that demonstrated the atrocities.

 

[Mdlerth]

In the garden of good and evil

If you decide to go, perhaps you could alleviate your distress the same way EMTs and nurses do when their patients slip away. Try to mentally compartmentalize the tour into a learning experience rather than an emotional one.

Some scenes will almost certainly remain with you afterwards. When making your decision, consider both the pain and the spiritual value that will accompany those memories.

Pax vobiscum.

 

[tfudtuckerpucker]

Here are photos of what you would see at Auschwitz-Birkenau. You could spend some time looking at these to see if it would be too disturbing. If you prefer, there are videos of the entire camp here and here.

 

[Teacher Terry]

What gave me the panic attack was seeing all the people's shoes, eyeglasses, hair and suitcases that they had confiscated. You see children's shoes and it really hits home.