Should Nazi Extermination Camps Be Demolished ....

[naomi24]

.... and holocaust memorial exhibitions abandoned?

Is visiting these places just sick - or is it important to maintain them along with all the evidence they preserve ... lest we forget?

Have you visited such a place and, if so, your thoughts and impressions.

[bhg481]

There are enough people denying the holocaust as it is, without destroying the evidence that id did happen.

[Old_Geezer]

That would help the deniers' cause.

[dannyk13]

Whilst stationed in Germany I visited Belsen.My thoughts were with the people buried in the mass graves, some of which held 5000.

[Zacs-Master]

No, they should remain as a permanent reminder of man’s ability to be monsters. Visiting them isn’t ‘sick’ at all. I found visiting Auschwitz both disturbing and surreal.

[youngmafbog]

No it is not sick and yes they should remain.

Personally I have not visited holocaust memorials but I have visited the Jersey hospital. I have a few friends who have been to Auschwitz who have told me about them, they all have said they found it eerie and a stark reminder of how cruel the Nazi's were.
So now they are on the list of places to visit now the kids have all gone.

[MallyJ]

I visited one in Poland. It was not horrific just , for me anyway, overwhelmingly sad. The collection of shoes taken from prisoners and the living conditions ( although only showing how people were crammed into tiny spaces). I was startled at how close local people lived to this camp (old houses not new build). I saw the ovens and a huge pit with ashes collected in it as a memorial. I don't think I was sick in choosing to visit as I have seen the horror shown in pictures of the time and listened to camp survivors talk about their experiences. The Jewish museum in North London was also just so sad. I do not think they should be closed....everyone should know about how awful people can be and it may make some people fight against this sort of thing happening again...Sadly I think not but like most of us I live in hope

[woofgang]

I have no desire to visit Auschwitz, Belsen or anywhere similar. I am sure that people's reasons for visiting do vary and some go for reasons that most of us would consider "sick". I also think its of the first importance that such awful things should be remembered....what we forget, we repeat. I don't think the mechanism of remembering matters but we MUST remember.

[davebro]

I don't understand why anyone would ask the question - of course they should remain & also form a significant part of any 20th century history lessons.

[Sqad]

I think that there is something wrong with people who want to visit a Nazi Extermination camp as part of their holiday.
I can empathise with historians and academics, but find it difficult to those who want to recreate the horrors of the past.

[jelly baby]

No, absolutely not! They are a reminder of mans inhumanity to fellow man.
To remove them would prevent future generations from seeing what man is capable of.
I’ve visited Auschwitz Birkenau and it was such an emotional time.
All young people should go to one of these places as part of school history lessons.

[Zacs-Master]

No one wants to recreate the horrors, Sqad. What a strange statement.

‘davebro I don't understand why anyone would ask the question’

One has to be aware of internal feuds within Answerbank and the fact that someone has mentioned visiting a camp very recently.

[naomi24]

Davebro, my question follows a conversation with a friend who thinks the horrors of the holocaust should be confined to books and films and chides me for visiting such places. I have reminded her that Orwell’s Winston Smith was employed by the Ministry of Truth to rewrite history.

[Maydup]

I havent visited and have no desire to do so, nor for these places to become tourist attractions.

They should probably not be demolished though, but retained for historic and educational purposes.

[Sqad]

Zac.

"No one wants to recreate the horrors, Sqad. What a strange statement."

How about.....relive, experience, wallow in,........??

[KARL]

The camps are part of history, albeit a very gruesome one, and so are the incarceration and torture chambers, etc. at other sites. The Tower springs to mind. Should they be demolished, I don't think so. I also see a certain parallel to war monuments - should they be demolished ? Maybe, eh ? I once walked through a WW2 cemetery for one side and a monument to the other within a short distance of each other. I found both testaments to the astonishing folly of man and hugely sad, I was alone at both. I did not sense the slightest difference between the two when it came to my emotional response, no sense of "just cause" or "evil".

[Jordyboy9]

Sqad I think that there is something wrong with people who want to visit a Nazi Extermination camp as part of their holiday.
I can empathise with historians and academics, but find it difficult to those who want to recreate the horrors of the past.>>.could not agree more something wrong with some peoples fascination for visiting these places ok we shouldnt forget it happened but we can read about it

[LadyCG]

In my opinion they must be preserved. As our Dachau Tour Guide pointed out, in a mere 10 years' time there could feasibly be no eye witnesses left.

One cannot imagine the horror and scale of Nazi atrocity to their fellow human beings, who were mere insubordinates and human garbage in the eyes of the SS guards, until visiting the holocaust memorials and museums.

Their suffering should never be forgotten.

[naomi24]

Jordy, you can read about it but what you read depends largely upon the author’s pen.

[ToraToraTora]

what with the rise of holocaust deniers and anti semites on the labour party the last thing we want to do is remove evidence. They should be preserved.

[LadyCG]

How does visiting the scene of an atrocity to gain an understanding of it, recreate it? Jeez.