Holocaust remembrance day

[Wolfy]

My great-grandfather's unit stumbled on a barn that had been filled with several hundred people by the Nazi's. They then proceeded to burn the building to the ground. He was a sergeant in the 102nd Infantry Division at the time. I've heard people in my college deny it even happened, the idiocy required must be immense.

Edit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gardelegen_massacre

 

[DirectorGunner]

Always remembered. God bless all the families which survived, and those that lost loved ones.

 

[SullyQuindarius]

One of the worst crimes ever committed by humans. If not the worst. God bless the survivors of the Holocaust and the families of those who didn't make it.

 

[SullyQuindarius]

Always remembered. God bless all the families which survived, and those that lost loved ones.

oooh, don't say that. you're forcing your christianity onto the poor jewish survivors of this event. /sjw off

 

[Mich Angel]

Thank you for sharing that Montoya, very kind of you :smile:
I been to all of those horrible places when I was teenage kid to show my respect for all those who didn't get away.

Reason why me and my family did that, was my grandma harbored jewish refugee children from nazi occupied areas around europe during ww2.
Their parents been at risk to be taken so they send their kids away to safety and my grandpa was one of all those many men driving trucks across the borders to smuggle as many as possible to safety. Knowing what I know and what happen there it make my skin crawl every time I been there.

So I'm gad for you and good to see your grandma made it through those dark times and still is around, so good of you to share this.

 

[Montoya]

Bump for 2022!

Grandma still kicking it strong!

 

[Aramsolari]

I visited Auschwitz-Birkenau in 2017….

It’s still to this day the hardest place that I have ever visited. I went with 3 other people (2 Jewish Americans, 1 non-religious American, and myself) and we didn't feel like doing anything for the next couple of days after the visit. My trip saw me brush shoulders with Israeli seniors who didn't look like they were old enough to 'live through it' but definitely old enough to have had family members who suffered the Shoah. It was a solemn pilgrimage for them that I was privileged to witness.

I'm troubled that folks of my generation (and younger) are either unaware of what happened or (more alarmingly) prefer to downplay/deny it.

Meanwhile something like this happens and it infuriates me to no end. I read Maus when I was 13/14 thinking it was just some comic book and it floored me. I remember hitting my school and local library hard after reading it. You can say Art Spielgelman helped spark my interest in history both as a kid and as an adult.

My grandma was subjected to and witnessed atrocities committed by Imperial Japanese forces during the war. Having her stories told to me in person gave me a connection to the past history books never could. Your Safta is one tough cookie and a living treasure. She has our admiration and utmost respect. I hope she's around many more years to enjoy the love her family gives her and to perhaps continue telling her stories.

 

[Raven_King]

Thanks so much for posting and bumping this, @Montoya.

My father (83) was in a concentration camp called Theresienstadt as a child of about six years old, along with his two year old sister. They were in the camp for about the last six months of the war. Both of them survived when so many thousands did not, though they were orphaned. My father moved to live with relatives in the UK aged around 10, became a doctor, and now educates adults and children about the holocaust, and genocides in general. He was made an MBE three years ago. If anyone wants, they can hear a brief interview with him on BBC Radio 4, broadcast yesterday here. His interview starts at about 36:26 and lasts about 8 minutes.

I'm obviously incredibly proud of him and what he does. The thought that really sticks with me, and so many others is that ordinary people just like any of us committed these atrocities, and similar horrors elsewhere in the world are still being committed today.

 

[Shadow Reaper]

Worth a peek if you have an interest: https://www.pursuit-of-happiness.org/history-of-happiness/viktor-frankl/

 

[vahadar]

This is something we must all remember and teach future generations about. Whatever the place and whatever the time.

Both my grand mothers were born in Indochina (Vietnam), then under french rule, and endured the atrocities of war with the Imperial Japanese.
When she was a teen, my grand mother on my mother's side was put in a concentration camp when Japanese otherthrew the French administration at the end of the war in march 1945. She stayed there still many months after when the war with Japan was actually over, as they were gradually handling back Indochina to France until 1946. She is very quiet about it, but I managed to record some stories. I never saw her waste any food, or anything actually. This is something she taught to us very early as a kid. War and starvation had a huge impact on her for her entire life.

This is not to the same extent as the Nazi camps, but there is no "level" in atrocities. And unfortunately it has happened again so many times in so many places since WW2...

 

[Montoya]

I'm obviously incredibly proud of him and what he does. The thought that really sticks with me, and so many others is that ordinary people just like any of us committed these atrocities, and similar horrors elsewhere in the world are still being committed today.

Amazing! Thanks for sharing that.

I agree. All the things that lead to the Holocaust are easily repeatable. The worst part is people don't bother understanding history, and if they do, its through their own rewritten version they do it.

 

[Aramsolari]

This is something we must all remember and teach future generations about. Whatever the place and whatever the time.

Both my grand mothers were born in Indochina (Vietnam), then under french rule, and endured the atrocities of war with the Imperial Japanese.
When she was a teen, my grand mother on my mother's side was put in a concentration camp when Japanese otherthrew the French administration at the end of the war in march 1945. She stayed there still many months after when the war with Japan was actually over, as they were gradually handling back Indochina to France until 1946. She is very quiet about it, but I managed to record some stories. I never saw her waste any food, or anything actually. This is something she taught to us very early as a kid. War and starvation had a huge impact on her for her entire life.

This is not to the same extent as the Nazi camps, but there is no "level" in atrocities. And unfortunately it has happened again so many times in so many places since WW2...

Yup. My grandmother had the exact same opinion about food and waste as well! Her views were very much shaped by the war.

 

[Ayeteeone]

In the Holocaust Museum outside of Jerusalem, there was a picture of a child, maybe 4 or 5, in one of the camps. The fear and sadness on that child's face haunts me to this day, and even recalling it now breaks me down.

Ex-wife's grandfather was an Italian who was put to work cutting wood for fires to burn the bodies. He eventually was put in one himself (concentration camp) living through it to create a family.

@Montoya Much respect for raising the topic.

@Raven_King Appreciate the BBC broadcast, and your father. For those who want to just hear the interview, it starts about 36:20.

 

[Amun Khonsu]

I've met a few survivors with these tattoos, all have heart wrenching stories. My heart goes out to them, their families and those who aren't with us today.

May we be ever vigilent to keep society from turning on itself again and prevent these atrocities from happening to anyone, ever.

I wish her all the best.

 

[Montoya]

It is with great sadness that I am updating this thread.

My Grandmother, pictured in the first post of this thread, passed away peacefully in her sleep on Friday.

She would have been 94 next month.

She saw terrible and amazing things in her lifetime, lived through hell and long enough to see her grandkids have kids of their own, living free, healthy and in safe countries.

I will miss her greatly, she was amazing, I hope this little piece of internet history in this thread keeps her memory going.

 

[Shadow Reaper]

My sincere condolences. We're all impoverished by the passing of that Great Generation.

 

[NaffNaffBobFace]

It is with great sadness that I am updating this thread.

My Grandmother, pictured in the first post of this thread, passed away peacefully in her sleep on Friday.

She would have been 94 next month.

She saw terrible and amazing things in her lifetime, lived through hell and long enough to see her grandkids have kids of their own, living free, healthy and in safe countries.

I will miss her greatly, she was amazing, I hope this little piece of internet history in this thread keeps her memory going.

Condolences and a solemn pledge that through the coldest, darkest of nights and warmest, sunniest of days what happened all those years ago will not be forgotten and to the best of our abilities will not be allowed to occur again so no one has to live those horrors again. Lest we forget.

 

[BUTUZ]

SO sorry Montoya Boss my thoughts are with you and your family. xxx

 

[Doyzer]

Sorry to hear. Best wishes to you and your family.

 

[Sky Captain]

Sincere condolences for the loss of your grandmother, Montoya. Let the world remember her as a wonderful, strong lady.