January 27th 2022 marks 77 years since the Auschwitz concentration camp was liberated by the Soviet Red Army.
It's scary to think that the Second World War wasn't really all that long ago. I knew a man who was captured as a child in the Netherlands and detained for several months in Westerbork before being deported to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. He lost his parents there and spoke at length about the day it was liberated by the British 11th Armoured Division in April 1945, three months after Auschwitz. He unfortunately passed away in early 2019 but I don't think I'll ever forget listening to him talk of his experiences. Meeting him and hearing about his life made history feel all the more real to me.
Does anyone else have any family members or friends (whether those who have passed or still with us) who have told them stories of their experience in World War II? Or if you just wish to share your feelings on what transpired, that's okay too.
This shouldn't need to be said, but this thread will be very closely moderated.
Thank you for making this thread, Chris. I believe it is important to remember history, so that it doesn't repeat itself.
My paternal grandfather was a medic in WWII. He later became an enbalmer/mortician. If I remember correctly, he did something fudge his way in, either regarding age or weight...something.
Fast-forwarding, later my grandpa owned a funeral home. I called it a couple of years ago to get his Honerable Discharge papers and they said that all of the records had been lost in a fire in the 80s. They managed to help me get them though somehow, and I had a copy framed for each of my family members. He died when my dad was 9 years old. ❤
I don’t personally have any relatives that have experience with this. I did, however, go to this Holocaust museum many years ago for a school trip. My memories of this are very vague, though. I thought it was interesting. However, I couldn’t really get the full experience because I was with classmates and I didn’t exactly get along with said classmates. This museum I went to was in Washington (DC) back in 2010. My only memory of the museum was the Holocaust. It was a nice trip.
I had two uncles that served in the U.S. Army during World War II.One of them fought in The Aleutians,The Philippines and Okinawa.He received a Purple Heart after being wounded by a phosphorus grenade.He told me a story about shooting at a low-flying Japanese bomber with his rifle.My other uncle was on his way to the Pacific Theater when the atomic bombs were dropped on Japan.He was part of the American Occupation forces in Japan.Also,my mother's second husband was originally from Austria and his father was forced to join the German Wehrmacht after Austria was annexed by the Germans.He said that he was barely two weeks out of boot camp when he was captured by the Russians.I would like to have learned more about his experiences but he didn't really like to talk about it which is understandable.
I don't have any personal or family experience, but I did enter a Holocaust writing contest two years in a row during high school. The first year I submitted a poem and the second year I submitted a story. My story placed second overall and the top students got to go on a trip to the Holocaust Museum in DC (the same one that @Croconaw mentioned). The main thing I remember from that visit was this one room that was completely covered in old photographs of those who had died. It was very memorable and emotional. I think that was the highlight of my trip.
In my 8th grade year we took a trip to New York/ DC and we went to the Holocaust Museum that a few people have mentioned in this thread. I think there was a room just filled with clothes and shoes, so many clothes and shoes, I don't really have words for how I felt in that moment, so many emotions just hit me and I couldn't comprehend most of them. I also tutor my friend's little sister and her English class is doing a bunch of assignments for Holocaust Remembrance Day, I don't think my school did this, so I think that's pretty cool.
I was just talking about this yesterday with my fiancé. It's literally insane that we as humans have done this to one another and like it was mentioned, less than 100 years ago!
I remember going to the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles as a kid and man, it was really eye opening to the hate people can have for one another. Especially as a kid ignorant to these kinds of things.
My granfather had to flee from his farm when the WW2 happened, but he never really talked about it and I don't want to try and dig into a horrible memory like that. However, I can tell a bit about the KZ Auschwitz-Birkenau. We went there in 7th grade I believe. It was such a weird feeling to walk on the ground where thousands of people died, suffered and just had a horrible time. I can't believe how some people in my class acted.. like it was a amusement park. Anyways, it's interesting to see history like that and I hope it never happens again. Also we went to the gas chambers and my nose started bleeding, like really heavily out of nowhere. That was so weird.
as a jewish person, there are a lot of gaps in my family tree bc of the holocaust. it saddens me to think something like this actually happened. ive watched a lot of videos of survivor interviews but i havent actually gone to a museum. but honestly i dont really want to go since i just know my classmates will act like its no big deal or make some kind of dumb joke. i really commend foundations and people who do interviews or videos to spread awareness and help people learn.
Bingo, Im Jewish by ethnicity but I look racially ambiguous so nobody ever really asked? But being Jewish was the butt of so many jokes that I was ashamed of it for so long. It's really disgusting that people still think of it as a joke. I get dark humor and coping with traumatic events with humor but for random unaffected people to make such terrible jokes... just disgusts me. High school was awful!
I personally never really got much info on my family background so I don't know my families personal involvement in the holocaust, but it's something I regret not learning about sooner. I don't think I'll ever be able to since most of my older relatives have passed already.
