Auschwitz MemorialDec 22, 2022

Auschwitz is a place that shows where hatred, #antisemitism and contempt for a fellow man led people decades ago.

It is also a place where we should reflect on our own responsibility for the world we live in. The warnings of the past should be a key to better future.

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Show threadaaronDec 22, 2022
@auschwitzmuseum I visited the camps a decade or so ago and it was one of the most profound experiences in my life.
Show threadAuschwitz MemorialDec 22, 2022
@aaron What do you remember as the most meaningful part of the visit?
Show threadabolitionbbDec 22, 2022
@auschwitzmuseum @aaron
I went in 2017. So many things stood out, seared into my memory. When I watch things about it now there’s an entirely different sense of scale. Hearing numbers can be hard to process. Seeing the physical space, and knowing (somewhat) how crowded it was is different. The piles of gas canisters haunt me, as do the heaps of personal belongings. What was maybe most strange to me tho, or jarring I suppose, was that the area surrounding it was beautiful. I was there around dusk and the trees in the distance were so pretty, and that felt so wrong. I was surrounded by the remnants of one of the most depraved sites in human history, and there was still beauty in nature. To go from the basement in Auschwitz where unspeakable things happened, where I was afraid to be even when I knew I was perfectly safe, to seeing the sun starting to set at Birkenau just an hour or so later left me with a feeling I don’t know I’ll ever actually find words for. It somehow reminded me of the resistance and resilience of the people who ended up there. There were obviously more horrifying things, moments that made my stomach churn, but that feeling of watching the sunset has stuck with me in an uncanny way.
Show threadAmelia E. AdlerDec 22, 2022
@abolitionbb @auschwitzmuseum @aaron I went as a teenager, as most young people in southern Poland, on a school trip. I remember some of my schoolmates acting silly, completely inappropriate. I was appalled then. Now I think it was a coping mechanism. How can a 13-year old truly comprehend it all without being changed forever? I was always a quiet introvert and it hit me hard. The worst were the piles of glasses, shoes, suitcases. And hair.
Show threadKrazov
@amythewicked @abolitionbb @auschwitzmuseum @aaron, I was 15 when they took us, but the teacher said that one inappropriate joke and there would be severe consequences, and somehow she said it the way that everyone took her seriously that one time, and so we have behaved so calm, etc., that later she said she was surprised with "the lack of any emotional reaction to what we saw."
Dec 22, 2022 at 1:09pmWeb
Show threadPaweł SawickiDec 22, 2022
@Krazov @amythewicked @abolitionbb @auschwitzmuseum @aaron From my own experience as a guide I know that emotional reactions can have many different forms and come at different points. Yet, it is essential no to enforce it, trigger it. It's relatively easy at such a tragic surroundings, but it could be a traumatizing factor. One needs to be very sensitive and that is why the Museum does not have 'audio' tours, only educators-guides.
Show threadAmelia E. AdlerDec 22, 2022
@pawelsawicki @Krazov @abolitionbb @auschwitzmuseum @aaron yes, I remember we had a guide. It's been 20 years so I honestly don't remember anything about them, though. But I agree, everyone processes things differently. There's a level of emotional maturity that's required to get through it, though. I think 13 is too young.
Show threadPaweł SawickiDec 22, 2022
@amythewicked @abolitionbb @Krazov @auschwitzmuseum @aaron Today things are a bit different as there is a special guided tour prepared for younger teenagers that avoid some most difficult aspects. Yet, the recommendation is not below 14 years of age.
Show threadAmelia E. AdlerDec 22, 2022
@pawelsawicki @abolitionbb @Krazov @auschwitzmuseum @aaron that's a good recommendation. I think it may be different when you have a younger child woth famiy who helps set up the tone and process the hard emotions versus a group of school kids with a couple teachers that can't give each child the same amount of attention and support. 15 would be the youngest I'd consider bringing a relative of mine, though.
Show threadAmelia E. AdlerDec 22, 2022
@Krazov @abolitionbb @auschwitzmuseum @aaron good teacher. Ours couldn't reign the kids in. I remember them standing in front of the incineration chambers and laughing out loud...
Show threadKrazovDec 22, 2022
@amythewicked @abolitionbb @auschwitzmuseum @aaron, she decided to overdo this, though, hence, she was surprised later. There was one guy on the bus who would talk terrible stuff on the bus, but he was from another group.
Show threadAmelia E. AdlerDec 22, 2022
@Krazov @abolitionbb @auschwitzmuseum @aaron I think in this case maybe overdoing is better than the hapless incompetence of our teacher...
Show threadKrazovDec 22, 2022
@amythewicked @abolitionbb @auschwitzmuseum @aaron, there's no kill like overkill.