Hi! Just got back from Poland. Very good and enjoyable time was had by our party of six.
Spent over seven hours in the camps and didn't see all of them. Will write a bit more when i get my regular machine back and will put a few photo's on. Believe the rain was a bit much here, it was never cooler than 80 c


Will write more soon, missed you all!!!

Victor

Its a reallity check seeing such a place. My mother was very moved by the camps when she visited them with my father. One can't imagine what life was like for those poor people, only faith to hold on too

Went to both Auschwitz camps in 2000 and had our own tour. Very harrowing. Got lots of photos. (Strange thing was, my camera refused to work when inside any of the buildings in the first camp)

Also went to Colditz during the same trip. Not harrowing. was taken round by a Bloke, originally from Motherwell, now res in Colditz, and was shown stuff not normally available to the ordinary tourist like the courtyard round the back. Have photo's of there too. Wonderful town.

so coastie, can you show us those pics? if possible, where those horrific crimes actually happened. If not for any one else just for me to see where these disgisting things actually happened

If you dont mind me asking, why the hell would a person want to go to the site of such atrocities ? Are you a ghoul ? People died there, are you up for turning it into a holiday resort ? What next shall we have a Peter Sutcliff rememberance tour ? Mabey in a year or two we can all go pay homage to Saddam Hussein eh ? Why would a tourist invest money into a country such as Poland when we lost thousands of Brit lives in a country that the natives even wouldnt fight to defend from the Nazis, do you get my point Meldrew ?

He is known a 'Victor' to his friends, hope you get my point TracyB

These places are part of History albiet it unpleasant.
Do you think the people who visit 9/11 ground zero are ghouls or those who visited the Hillsborough ground where there was a deadly human crush on April 15, 1989, resulting in the deaths of 96 people???
There must be ZILLIONS of 'ghouls' in the world then TracyB.

It's horrendous to see the meter square, punishment cells with their one meter square "door" where four would have to spend the night standing up, or taking it in turns to kneel down to get a bit of fresh air. I am glad I saw them as I would never have heard about them or even believed they existed.

When we drove away from there, no one said a word for about an hour. Even though my Brother had been there before.

Exactly Coastie!!!!
There is NOTHING ghoulish about facing the truth and reality of what happened!!
If I had the opportunity to visit these places then I would do so in a heartbeat AND with the greatest respect for those who died there!!!!

Another place I would recommend (if that's the right word) is Yad Vashem in Jerusalem.

I myself went to Ground Zero in New York three years ago. Can't put into words what it felt like there, very eerie and emotional.
New York is so full of hustle and bustle, but when you stood at Ground Zero, there was no noise!
Loads of other buildings had bee affected when the towers fell, but the church nearby was untouched..............

I agree with what was said as visiting these places reminds us of what has happened, and also reminds us that this kind of thing should never happen again. You cannot delete History, and why should such things be forgotten, as, as human beings I feel we sometimes need to be reminded of things, and other people may want to go there to show their respects for family memebers etc etc. There are a million different reasons for people wanting to go there who are we to judge. Victor did not give his reasons, and why should he have to justify them. Some people may never get the chance to go there, and sometimes it is communication in this form that may help others to understand what the place was like. I see no harm in that

If you dont mind me asking, why the hell would a person want to go to the site of such atrocities ? Are you a ghoul ? People died there, are you up for turning it into a holiday resort ? What next shall we have a Peter Sutcliff rememberance tour ? Mabey in a year or two we can all go pay homage to Saddam Hussein eh ? Why would a tourist invest money into a country such as Poland when we lost thousands of Brit lives in a country that the natives even wouldnt fight to defend from the Nazis, do you get my point Meldrew ?

I have an interest in modern history and particulary that of the second world war. My interest arose from being asked to visit & photograph the grave of a Holyhead man who was killed in WW2 and is buried in Northern France as his own family had NEVER been there and as i was in the area.....
I felt humbled by the sheer size of the human cost in giving us the freedom we have today. My visit to Poland was on the reccomendation of a Polish friend of mine who lost relatives in Auschwitz and said I should take time to go and visit both Camps. By your statement "we lost thousands of British lives in a country that the natives even wouldnt defend" do you mean Poland or Europe? The british saw no millitary actions or campaigns (apart from SOE) in Poland during the entire war. The "natives" as you put it displayed tremendous courage against an overwhelming force of invaders. If you mean Europe, then you really should stick your nose into your history books as many thousands of "natives" died fighting for the freedom of individual countries.
There is nothing ghoulish in visiting the camps, many millions of people have done so in a bid to keep the memory of those who died there alive and so the world will never forget what happened. If its not your cup of tea then so be it.
On a personal note, kindly refer to me by my first name which is Victor, using surnames is so impersonal and rude.

I am not into history whatsoever, but a great many people in the world ARE and have been involved in important events in history (good and bad) that have shaped our world as it is today. My daughter has learnt about these events in School and I am sure many great Scholars have visited such places also, as this kind of thing helps to piece together different parts of the whole puzzle and allows us to understand and to learn(from our mistakes also). This may not be for everyone, but then thats the nature of being Human isnt it, we are all different!!!!! I have learnt a few things from these posts also by reading them, and I see no harm in this.

why is she a liar????????????////

Bit uncalled for. I know what Samz means because I am not 'into' history either, meaning I dont read up on it and it's not a strong subject forme.
My being honest about this does this make me a liar?

Read it properly Davey

i wish people could read the tone of my voice when i write.. havnt you ever said to someone in a conversation, liar.. and its meant as "i dont beleive you".. it was meant to be taken as " your a liar".. i retract the liar word...

go back up and have a look at the same post edited...

its ok!!!! No prob!!!!