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When my ship was paying a 5-day visit to Hamburg in 1979, I had the good fortune (me and a coachload of shipmates) to spend the day visiting Belsen concentration camp. Although I had only turned 18 a few months earlier, to this day, I will never forget the eeriness & the strange feeling of what happened there all those years earlier. Whenever I hear the word "Belsen" even today, my mind takes me back instantly to that day in 1979.
The main visitor centre contains many artefacts, numerous photos & testimonies - but when you walk through what's left of the camp and the main burial mounds where thousands are buried, the birds really don't sing like they say, even though the camp is in a forest.
For the past thirty or so years, I have been a dealer in all-things WW2 related - and that day at Belsen was the inspiration to learn everything I could about WW2 which still applies today. I guess some good came out of that day at the camp despite the history & human shame of events there. Auschwitz is on my 'to do' list of course. I have been to several famous WW2 locations in Europe but never quite made it to Poland... yet. It's on my 2026 list though. I can't walk very far these days so I'd better get a move on. Same goes for Arnhem & The Rhine Crossings. What I'd really love is a small camper home for me & the missus to tour Europe in... but that's out of our budget sadly what with everything else being so expensive thee days. I keep doing the lottery though, so, finger's crossed!
Old Skool is Cool
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Bergen-Belsen - Liberated 80-years ago today... on 13:02 - Apr 15 with 1019 views
I went to Auschwitz last year, it is a very sobering experience, it is not shock horror and pictures of decaying corpses, but using the power of the site itself and the artefacts to convey the absolute atrocities that went on there, the sheer scale of the site or two main sites was frightening
Satisfying The Bloodlust Of The Masses In Peacetime
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Bergen-Belsen - Liberated 80-years ago today... on 13:05 - Apr 15 with 1008 views
I've always been in two minds about visiting Auschwitz or Belsen.
On the one hand it's a part of history we can never forget for fear of repeating it, and the lessons it can teach us are hugely important (today more so than ever).
But on the other hand there's something that feels slightly wrong about tourism taking place there, to have it as a venue on a holiday to tick off like the taj mahal or the eiffel tower feels to me to lessen it's significance (not saying anyone here did that by the way).
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Bergen-Belsen - Liberated 80-years ago today... on 13:25 - Apr 15 with 978 views
Bergen-Belsen - Liberated 80-years ago today... on 13:02 - Apr 15 by SaintNick
I went to Auschwitz last year, it is a very sobering experience, it is not shock horror and pictures of decaying corpses, but using the power of the site itself and the artefacts to convey the absolute atrocities that went on there, the sheer scale of the site or two main sites was frightening
Sounds much like Belsen. It's not designed to cause shock or have heaps of awful, macabre photos. It's strangely a place to reflect, as it were, on how human beings could carry out such atrocities on other human beings.
A good mate of mine went to Auschwitz three years ago and said go, you'd really enjoy it.
Old Skool is Cool
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Bergen-Belsen - Liberated 80-years ago today... on 13:32 - Apr 15 with 972 views
Bergen-Belsen - Liberated 80-years ago today... on 13:25 - Apr 15 by 1885_SFC
Sounds much like Belsen. It's not designed to cause shock or have heaps of awful, macabre photos. It's strangely a place to reflect, as it were, on how human beings could carry out such atrocities on other human beings.
A good mate of mine went to Auschwitz three years ago and said go, you'd really enjoy it.
I was very worried when I went that it would be horrific, but as you said it was more about making people reflect on just how vast and awful it was and how anyone could plan such evil on such a large scale
Satisfying The Bloodlust Of The Masses In Peacetime
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Bergen-Belsen - Liberated 80-years ago today... on 13:33 - Apr 15 with 970 views
Bergen-Belsen - Liberated 80-years ago today... on 13:05 - Apr 15 by franniesTache
I've always been in two minds about visiting Auschwitz or Belsen.
On the one hand it's a part of history we can never forget for fear of repeating it, and the lessons it can teach us are hugely important (today more so than ever).
But on the other hand there's something that feels slightly wrong about tourism taking place there, to have it as a venue on a holiday to tick off like the taj mahal or the eiffel tower feels to me to lessen it's significance (not saying anyone here did that by the way).
I hear what you're saying FT. It isn't for everyone of course. I guess my interest in all things WW2 makes places like Belsen somewhere I'd much rather visit than say the usual tourist attractions like those you've mentioned. Each to their own of course.
Old Skool is Cool
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Bergen-Belsen - Liberated 80-years ago today... on 13:41 - Apr 15 with 943 views
Bergen-Belsen - Liberated 80-years ago today... on 13:25 - Apr 15 by 1885_SFC
Sounds much like Belsen. It's not designed to cause shock or have heaps of awful, macabre photos. It's strangely a place to reflect, as it were, on how human beings could carry out such atrocities on other human beings.
A good mate of mine went to Auschwitz three years ago and said go, you'd really enjoy it.
Auschwitz is an incredibly moving place and they've done such a good job with the tone of both sites; the guide we had was superb. I used to question why anyone would want to go to such a place, but I'm so glad I did and would recommend it to anyone. Plus, Krakow is a great city.
Bergen-Belsen - Liberated 80-years ago today... on 13:33 - Apr 15 by 1885_SFC
I hear what you're saying FT. It isn't for everyone of course. I guess my interest in all things WW2 makes places like Belsen somewhere I'd much rather visit than say the usual tourist attractions like those you've mentioned. Each to their own of course.
Oh yeah absolutely no judgement on my part for people who do go (well unless you're a pr*ck who uses it to take selfies for social media).
It's just my own personal ethics that make me uneasy with it, probably because i cannot get my head around how humans could've caused such horrendous suffering on others for the sole fact they were different to them.
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Bergen-Belsen - Liberated 80-years ago today... on 14:26 - Apr 15 with 899 views
My Father was in the forces and was based in Bergen-Hohne garrison for a few years. As a young lad I remember visiting Belsen a few times and going to school in Hohne there for 2 years.
This is where the British established a large military base after the liberation of Belsen.
As a youngster, we were always told that birds never flew over Belsen because of the atrocities there. Whilst it is quiet, it is a unfounded myth.
1885, the there are a number of BFBS sites that have a lot of history on this.
Bergen-Belsen - Liberated 80-years ago today... on 13:47 - Apr 15 by franniesTache
Oh yeah absolutely no judgement on my part for people who do go (well unless you're a pr*ck who uses it to take selfies for social media).
It's just my own personal ethics that make me uneasy with it, probably because i cannot get my head around how humans could've caused such horrendous suffering on others for the sole fact they were different to them.
I went to Auschwitz/Birkenau a few years ago and agree with all that has been said on here re the place and also understand why you couldn't go there, but it was one of those places you go to with apprehension for obvious reasons. Going there as a "tourist" though is probably the only way you can get there I'd guess. But just to learn more of the place first hand is really educational
The first thing you see is the Nazi propaganda film showing it as a happy place to be and all is nice and rosy. Then you go round with your tour guide in small groups (well we did) to see the reality of the place
However you then realise that the more people that see it the better to see the horrific things that happened and stories told by the guides must never happen again. The suitcases, the human hair, the disgarded shoes etc (all behind glass screens), bring it home
And I'll be honest I did take some photos including the well known entrance gate, as well as the railway lines that brought the poor souls in, but quite rightly you are not allowed to take photos inside ato see any of those exhibits I've mentioned above. I can assure you they were not for public consumption, they were for personal reminders of what life must have been like and to appreciate how lucky we now are to live as we do nowadays and still look at them now and again for that very reason
I wonder did you/anyone watch the Sam Mendes film/documentary from the other night about the Brits liberating the place - imagine the shock for those guys, who were expecting to see a hospital! Now that really did bring it all home
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Bergen-Belsen - Liberated 80-years ago today... on 15:07 - Apr 15 with 855 views
Bergen-Belsen - Liberated 80-years ago today... on 14:26 - Apr 15 by City_boy
My Father was in the forces and was based in Bergen-Hohne garrison for a few years. As a young lad I remember visiting Belsen a few times and going to school in Hohne there for 2 years.
This is where the British established a large military base after the liberation of Belsen.
As a youngster, we were always told that birds never flew over Belsen because of the atrocities there. Whilst it is quiet, it is a unfounded myth.
1885, the there are a number of BFBS sites that have a lot of history on this.
Cheers. Never tire of good media WW2 content. Despite having numerous TV channels to watch nowadays, there's barely anything of interest on them that takes my fancy. I spend a fair time on YouTube where some of the content is terrific. I know it's boring for many & not everyone's cup of tea, but two of my favourite superb channels are below... if it's a rainy day & there really isn't anything on the telly to watch.
Old Skool is Cool
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Bergen-Belsen - Liberated 80-years ago today... on 19:06 - Apr 15 with 742 views
Thank you for bringing the significance of today’s date to my attention 1885.
I’ve not been to any of the death camps but have visited many of the Normandy and Somme cemeteries both large and small, on each occasion I was reminded of the words generally attributed to Thomas Jefferson, the Third President of the United States:-
Bergen-Belsen - Liberated 80-years ago today... on 13:25 - Apr 15 by 1885_SFC
Sounds much like Belsen. It's not designed to cause shock or have heaps of awful, macabre photos. It's strangely a place to reflect, as it were, on how human beings could carry out such atrocities on other human beings.
A good mate of mine went to Auschwitz three years ago and said go, you'd really enjoy it.
go you`ll really enjoy it ? strange sense of humour .
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Bergen-Belsen - Liberated 80-years ago today... on 15:56 - Apr 16 with 348 views
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