Comments on: The Auschwitz Album

By: Gino

Gino — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 23:49:11 +0000

i am more haunted by these images than the, until now, propaganda (is the wrong word) images of the holocaust i’ve seen throughout my life.

you know what i mean. the pics they held up in school saying ‘look at this terrible deed!’

By: The Night Writer

The Night Writer — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 20:16:35 +0000

Hayden, I think it’s possible that the new arrivals in these photos didn’t know what was in store for them. They were Hungarian and had been confined in a ghetto for some time and then endured an arduous train ride to Auschwitz. They hadn’t been in the camp to see or wonder what happened to so many people. They got off the train, no doubt a bit dazed, and were separated immediately. Some of the more astute may have noticed that their group was made up of the oldest, youngest and crippled but the thought that they were to be killed might have been too monstrous to conceive. Sure, today, we’d know better (or suspect) but at the time there was little news or publicity about what was happening in the camps. The Allies knew (or disseminated) very little until the troops started to arrive at the gates and the Germans certainly weren’t sharing details. I’d also think that when the groups were separated the soldiers didn’t say, “Ok – all you people who are about to be executed go over here.” They were told they were being processed and while one group was being registered and fingerprinted another group would go for showers and delousing.

You are right, though, about people being unwilling to accept the monstrous possibility in front of them and to believe that it can’t possibly be happening to them. It’s a staggering rationalization, but perhaps minuscule compared to what the people who were actually carrying out the program must have been telling themselves.

It was good to hear from you. I miss my visits to TTI.

By: Hayden Tompkins

Hayden Tompkins — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 19:01:56 +0000

People hope, until their last moment, that someone will do something…or that it isn’t as bad as they fear. That’s why people walk off with killers instead of fighting with their last breath.

I think what saddens me the most about the holocaust is that there are some people who deny it even happened. With the MOUNTAINS of organized data compiled by the Germans, you’d think the point would be moot.

I guess that’s what happens when the evidence doesn’t back up your beliefs.