These photos comprise only the second collection of pre-liberation photos
taken at the camp. What makes them different from the original collection is the subject matter. The original photos depict the arrival of a transport of Hungarian Jews to the camp in the spring of 1944, and are mostly of Auschwitz prisoners. The new photos are from a scrapbook maintained by Karl Hocker, adjutant to the camp commandant (essentially the second in command). They depict senior Auschwitz officers in their daily lives, in times of leisure and recreation.The collection was donated by a former US Army Intelligence Officer (it was his wish to remain anonymous – he has since passed away) who was stationed in Germany in 1946 while investigating suspected Nazi perpetrators. He found the photos in an abandoned apartment in Frankfurt and brought them home.
What is most disturbing about these pictures is their humanity. They were taken as the end of WWII approached and the fall of the Nazi empire was imminent. This was a time when the gas chambers were operating at maximum efficiency; the final, frenzied efforts by the Nazi party to eliminate Europe’s Jewish population before they were defeated. That summer the crematoriums broke down from overuse and bodies were burned in open pits.
Yet the men and women in these photos, Auschwitz officers and operational staff, gather for a sing along, accompanied by an accordion. They feign dismay that their blueberries are gone.
These are murderers with no conscience. But do they look any different than you or I?
Amongst these photos you’ll find images of Josef Mengele, the camp physician notorious for his bizarre and cruel medical experiments. These are first authenticated pictures of Dr. Mengele at Auschwitz. You’ll find famed SS Officer and Auschwitz Commandant Rudolf Höss, later executed for war crimes. You’ll find immortalized images of men and women smiling, laughing, happily living comfortable lives as millions are suffering unimaginable deaths in the buildings next door.
Let these images be forever emblazoned on your memory. Never forget the victims of the Nazi regime, or the survivors. Never forget that such atrocities were carried out by men and women not so very different from the rest of us.
And let’s make sure nothing like this ever happens again.
Thanks for reading
11 comments:
It is sick seeing that these people completely thought they were doing nothing wrong. Somehow Hitlar was able to brandwash these men and women into following whatever orders he said. I truly do not understand how something like this is able to happen. And even more then that, how can someone say that the Holocaust did not happen? Some of those stories drive me nuts.
These pictures hit me because they are so decieving. Do you think these people felt any guilt at all for what they were apart of? I would like to see into their minds to see what was making them do this day after day. It is unimaginable and like you say Gruber, I pray nothing like this ever happens again.
I need to edit my postings before I publish my comment.
brandwash=BRAINWASH
I was told to post more often, so I'll take a stab at it...
During my Junior year of college I visited the concentration camp in Dachau, which was actually the first large-scale concentration camp in Germany. Auschwitz is the one everyone knows, but Dachau was just as bad.
I got to watch an hour long video about the camp, walk through a museum, a recreated bunkhouse the gas chambers, and crematoriums where we could look into the incinerators. It is a lot of the same stuff that the website explains, but the goosebumps you get are 10 time bigger when you're there in person.
I agree that this stuff is ridiculous to think about. I can't see anything like this ever happening again. But maybe this is just because I live in Minnesota, where everyone is nice and there are few prejudices, as Gruber pointed out in an earlier blog.
Welcome K Han. I like that you have stepped out of the shadows. I'm sure it was an eerie feeling walking through a machine built for the sole purpose of destroying human life.
The sad part for me is that when i think about those people and the fact that they really aren't much different from all of us. After world war one pretty much all of the blame was dumped on Germany and they were strapped with a huge overwhelming debt that would have burdened generations of Germans. They were in a huge depression when all of a sudden a flamboyant leader pops out promising them to pull them out of depression and telling them that it isn't there fault.
And then he actually begins to follow through on his promises. Soon the whole country sees him as a savior, he brain washes them for years and the whole country is filled with propoganda, most humans in that situation would be powerless to do anything else but jump on the bandwagon (Imagine FDR doing what he did for our country but with evil motives).
With his power established and a group of like thinking cronies surrounding him the people had nothing else they could do besides follow orders. Yes, some people probably were happy to Kill the Jews, but a lot of them were stuck in a chain of command where they just had to carry out orders or it was there own lives at stake. I feel like the pictures represent all those people attempting to be normal when surrounded by a world that is crazy. I believe they did things like the pictures show to try and forget about what was going on in the buildings next to them, to try and pretend they were normal again.
It is definetly hard to look at thos pictures and not feel hatred towards the people in them. But i think that when i take into perspective the power that Hitler had, i really can't feel that way. It is like pat said, "Hitler was looked at like a Savior, and he was fullfilling his promises."
I know sitting here today that i can say i would never be controlled by a leader to perform that kind of evil doings, but realisticly i can't say what i would have done if i were in the situation his people were in. It is like Grubs said, "They all look like normal people just like us." So who is to say we wouldn't fall into the trap.
Of course i don't think that at a time like ours a leader could come in and control Americans like Hitler did. But obviously we can see there are still people that are controlled enough by others and religion to do things like suicide bombings and fly planes into buildings.
Remembering events such as the Holocaust make me thank God for what we have and for not having to be a witness to one of the greatest tradgedies of all time.
Also on a side not...i suck at spelling especially when i am constantly distracted and trying to eat lunch. So lay off bitches!
Joe can't spell!
I agree with what you said joey, "what is to say that we wouldn't fall into the trap."
It is easy to say that there is no way, but the way people learn is by looking at past mistakes. If there was nothing like this ever done before we would be in an unfamiliar situation where we wouldn't necessarily know the right way to act.
However, thank God that it is over! We have learned from it, and it was terrible, but now we can make contributions to help assure something like the Holocaust never happens again...
I somewhat agree with what you say Joey and Swajac. But do you think that with the faith you hold onto and the things that you beleive in, you would truly get caught in that trap. Don't you think we would fit into the small minority of people like Oskar Schindler from "Schindler's List", trying to find ways to save these innocent people? Because some of the people who were involved found ways to get around that and would attempt do what was they thought was right in their heart, even if it meant their own life would be taken. Not EVERYONE believed in Hitlar, there was such a great number that did that you don't hear about the other side as much. I would like to think I would be a part of the minority. Now this is being said that I have a strong faith and believe in the God that I do today. If it was not that way and I did not have such a high standard to live up to, then it might be different.
I would suggest that people read about (or reflect upon) Millgram's psychological experiment on obedience. The ethics involved are certainly questionable, but I think it helps show that more people (from any country) would fall victim to such indoctrination than we'd like to admit.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milgram_experiment
Mr. Antagonist,
Very interesting perspective and experiment. The only thing that bugs me about it is the fact that it IS a controlled experiment. This was not real life following orders, it was set up. Very different.
Also at the end of the brief description of the article it states that "relatively few people have the resources needed to resist authority." Key word is few. In his experiment there were a few, like I said it in my response there was a "minority". There will always be that strong select few that know right from wrong and CAN resist.
In fact, I completely agree. I didn't post my comment as a rebuttle to you specifically, but was instead just throwing something I found to be interesting into the discussion.
That being said, I do think it's impossible to know (and a mistake to assume) how you or I would react to a situation as extreme as the Holocaust. Simply imagining oneself in that particular situation is, in my opinion, almost irrelevant. For instance, I have never been in a serious fight of any kind, yet every time I close my eyes and consider the situation, I seem to kick major ass. Oh yes, those airplane highjackers wouldn't stand a chance.
Post a Comment