WWII 70 years later: Preserving the truth at Auschwitz

Among the artifacts at the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum, at the site of the most notorious Nazi concentration camps of World War II, are 110,000 shoes, 3,800 suitcases, 246 tallits (Jewish prayer shawls), 8,000 letters from prisoners and reams of documents from the SS, Adolf Hitler’s terrifying paramilitary force.

The sheer size of the archive that documents how 1.1 million people perished there during the Holocaust forces the museum’s keepers to at least try to distance themselves emotionally from their work.

“We usually treat these buildings or blocks just like we would treat any other preservation objects,” says Agnieszka Tanistra, acting head of the museum’s preservation department. “It’s a job to be done.”

Yet even seven decades after the camps were liberated by Soviet troops, it’s still impossible to fully maintain that distance.
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Within the worldwide community of Holocaust scholars, some wonder whether the preservation efforts are worth it. At great expense and effort, the museum has transformed a horrible place into a popular tourist destination. They question whether visitors can understand the depth of the suffering that occurred there.

“Is there a case for abandoning the site and letting nature take its course?” says Robert Jan Van Pelt, an architectural historian and Holocaust scholar at the University of Waterloo in Canada. “There is, and there isn’t. I continue to argue with myself on that.”


Museum officials believe the effort to remember is what matters. As the last survivors of Auschwitz and Birkenau die, the museum recounts their experiences for the tens of thousands of visitors who pass through the camps every week.

WWII 70 years later: Preserving the truth at Auschwitz

UPDATE::Nicholas Winton’s ‘Most Emotional Moment’ - The New York Times

It is with tremendous sadness that I post the following; humanity has lost a very humble man:

Nicholas Winton, who died Wednesday at 106, went 50 years without telling anyone about how he had rescued 669 children from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia.

Even after his anonymity ended in 1988, when his wife’s discovery of an old scrapbook in their attic set off a wave of public recognition, he never fully explained why he did it.

One especially poignant appearance came in 1988 on the BBC program “That’s Life,” when for the first time, dozens of people who owed their lives to him assembled to thank him. In the video, he dabs tears as a woman hugs him. Then he is surprised to learn that the dozens of people seated around him were also children he had saved.

Nicholas Winton’s ‘Most Emotional Moment’ - The New York Times

Last of original group of Navajo Code Talkers dies

Chester Nez grew up in Chi Chil Tah, among the oaks, in Jones Ranch, N.M. When World War II broke out, young Nez was at Tuba City Boarding School. On a spring day in 1942, U.S. Marines came to the boarding school, looking for Navajo boys.

Nez said he signed up because he was eager for an adventure. He wanted to see what was on the other side of the butte, where he had never traveled.

He and the other 28 Navajo Code Talkers developed a code using their language.

Last of original group of Navajo Code Talkers dies

UPDATE::Man Who Saved 669 Kids From Nazis Turns 105, Gets Beautiful Birthday Honor

This is an update of sort to a story I posted in early February.

The story of Sir Nicholas Winton is one of the most profound tales of humanitarianism that you've probably never heard.

After saving 669 children, most of them Jewish, from likely death at Nazi concentration camps at the onset of World War II, it was announced Monday -- on Winton's 105th birthday -- that the heroic Englishman will be awarded the Order of the White Lion, the highest order in the Czech Republic, the Associated Press reported. In the official announcement, Czech President Milos Zeman noted Winton's example of humanity, selflessness, personal bravery and modesty as reasons for the prestigious honor. The award will be given to Winton this October.

Man Who Saved 669 Kids From Nazis Turns 105, Gets Beautiful Birthday Honor

A Man Discovers He’s Sitting With ‘Kids’ He Saved From Nazis (VIDEO) | LiberalAmerica.org

This piece comes courtesy of Tiffany Willis over at Liberal America. It is the story of Nicholas Winton and the Czech Kindertransport. A bit of history I knew nothing about,,,

In December 1938 — on the eve of World War II — a British stockbroker named Nicholas Winton was readying himself to leave for a skiing vacation when he was summoned unexpectedly by his friend.

Upon arrival in Prague, Czechoslovakia, Nicholas Winton found that he had traded his skiing vacation for working at a refugee camp for people who had been vacated from Western Czechoslovakia by Nazis after it was annexed by Germany.

Winton became very concerned about the people in the camp, particularly the children. Everyone was still saying “what war, we’re not going to war,” but he was convinced that German occupation would soon take over all of Czechoslovakia. Tales of the horrible Kristallnacht, a “night of broken glass” when Germans waged a violent attack against German and Austrian Jews, were fresh on his mind. He simply wasn’t having it. Not there, not those children.

A Man Discovers He’s Sitting With ‘Kids’ He Saved From Nazis (VIDEO) | LiberalAmerica.org

Chinese share the Holocaust's bitter memory | Benjamin Peng | Ops & Blogs | The Times of Israel

I've been mulling over this OP for a few days. Trying to determine if it was a part of history I never learned about, or I did learn and forgot, or maybe I just ignored it.

The 27th of January was International Holocaust Remembrance Day, memorializing the victims of WW2 Holocaust, especially the Jewish victims murdered by Nazi Germany. During WW2, six million European Jews lost their lives. In the same conflict, at least 18 million Chinese people (most of them civilians) were killed by ferocious Japanese Army forces who invaded China. Thousands of Jewish refugees fled to China from Europe, where they lived in Shanghai for many years. For this reason, the Chinese people share the bitterness of the Holocaust with Jewish people.

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Aside from those who were held accountable for their actions, a number of heinous Japanese war criminals who were directly responsible for the carnage escaped punishment. Asaka Yasuhiko signed the order to “kill all captives” that resulted in Nanjing’s brutal massacre. He and other war culprits evaded the penalty because of their royal status.

In China, there is no institution such as the Mossad to track war culprits, leaving numerous war criminals living carefree lives, free to propagate their militarism in Japan. Despite this, a number have returned to China to repent for their actions. After establishing diplomatic relationships with China, the Japanese government initially provided financial aid to China, however there was no sincere repentance for their actions in China. Many Japanese officials deny the Nanjing Massacre ever occurred, with the government refusing to apologize officially to survivors.



Chinese share the Holocaust's bitter memory | Benjamin Peng | Ops & Blogs | The Times of Israel

88-year-old charged in Nazi-era massacre - Yahoo News

An act of war or a war crime? Is there a difference? Does the fact that Werner C. was only 19 have any bearing on his guilt or innocence. Does the fact that he was SS have any bearing?

Stuff I ponder anytime I see stories such as these. But I am biased,,,

German authorities said Wednesday they have charged an 88-year-old former member of an SS armored division with 25 counts of murder over allegations that he took part in the largest civilian massacre in Nazi-occupied France.

Cologne state court spokesman Achim Hengstenberg said suspect Werner C., whose last name wasn't given in accordance with German privacy laws, was also charged with hundreds of counts of accessory to murder in connection with the 1944 slaughter in Oradour-sur-Glane in southwestern France.

Dortmund prosecutors allege that the suspect shot 25 men as part of a firing squad, and then helped as troops blockaded and then set fire to a church, in which dozens of women and children were burned alive.

In total 642 men, women and children were killed



88-year-old charged in Nazi-era massacre - Yahoo News