Stubbornoldandstupid

So on Sunday morning while the Craig's and team curled in the semi finals Ed and I went to a place called Chelmno where the Kulmhof Museum is. There were 6 "Death Camps", "Extermination Camps" or "Killing Centres" as they were called, in Nazi occupied Europe. Almost all of them are in Poland. One thing I learned was the difference between a concentration camp and extermination camp. The concentration camps were mostly in Germany and were forced labour camps to keep the German economy going while the men fought. Yes people died there as they were kept in a perpetual state of starvation, brutal treatment and disease. Extermination camps on the other hand were set up to murder people, particularly Jews. Chelmno, also known as Kulmhof was the first extermination camp built only for mass murder in conjunction with Operation Reinhard, the secret code name for Nazi's operation to annihilate the Jews. With the thought the Moscow was goi...

Auschwitz II-Birkeneau is 346 acres, 300 barracks and other buildings, 10 miles of barbed wire and 4 gas chambers and crematoriums. Looking back on the gate. It was the largest of more than 40 camps and sub-camps and the only camp that combined extermination with forced labour. When we were in Westbrok Netherlands earlier this spring, we saw the train car that left there with Jews in it to be brought here in these little cars crammed full with no bathrooms. The Trains would come to this point in the camp and the SS dressed in doctors coats would decide life or death. Left death, right labour camp. Our guide. In 3 years of operation 90% of the prisoners died. Most labourers died from starvation or were exterminated when they were unsuitable for work. A Crematorium that was blown up when the Russians were approaching. They wanted to hide their horrendous crimes. The walk to the Cremato...

These blog posts have taken a while to write. Mostly because i had to digest it and have the will to write. What do you say about this place? It is haunting, horrifying and someplace we should all visit to remember the cruelty we humans can do to others of our race. We had a wonderful guide who repeatedly told us this was the Nazi's, SS and Gestapo who did this. Never once did she mention Germany. She also wanted to make sure that we knew that there were 3 camps here Auschwitz I which was the original camp named after the local town of Oswiecim. Auschwitz II-Birkeneau, a concentration and extermination camp designed for killing and Auschwitz III-Monowitz, a labour camp for industrial sub camps that produced synthetic rubber and chemicals such as the ones used in the gas chambers. About 12,000 people went through  Auschwitz III-Monowitz. Life expectancy was 1-5 months. When you were unfit to work (mostly due to starvation) you were sent to be exterminate...