An Important Documentary on Bergen Belsen

You are allowed to comment, even if it is to say that it is no wonder the British Gov't ditched the film as being too hard hitting. The truth was and is too awful.

ATB from Goerge

“To forget a Holocaust is to kill twice.”

I lived next door to Belsen, first in the mid sixties aged 5 and then in the seventies as a teenager. We lived on a camp called Hohne which became home to a large number of the survivors after being liberated. Where my Dad was based was a former Hospital where allegedly experiments were conducted by the SS. I still remember going round Belsen aged 15/16 and the feeling it evoked as you saw earth mounds with signs indicating the number of people buried usually in the thousands.

The Crematorium at Maidanek.

A place to visit just once. Never to be forgotten.

ATB from George

I have seen a great deal of footage of the camps in my life, but this is far and away the most deeply shocking and disturbing to view, and, personally, it serves to solidify my belief that human nature is not perfectible, and while individually we have a great capacity for all the positives--love, caring, nurturing, and selflessness, there remains a dark spot in the soul of the human race that enables us to turn off all the positive switches.  Large numbers of the German People at that time did indeed flip those switches off and allow themselves to plunge into rationalization of their own dark side. Yet we tend to lose sight of how endemic is the meting out of violent death throughout our history--the massacres that literally jump out at us from the earliest papyrus, parchment and stone tablets--the tens of thousands of dead in engagements between great armies throughout antiquity--from the Far East to battles between Romans, Goths, Visigoths, Celts, and God knows who else--and not just between military units, but the rape, dismemberment, and pillage of cities themselves----the sale of human beings as slaves from antiquity through the period prior to the outlawing of slavery in the United States--sales which started with blacks selling blacks to the Portuguese (and again, others), who in turn, sold them to the planters of the Americas.  And while this was going on in my own country, there was the virtual extermination (mostly but by no means always unintentional) of the Amerindian population--frequently aided by other members of the Amerindians themselves.  Then, fast forwarding to World War II, we know only too well of the devastating attacks on Civilian populations by first the Axis and then, the Allies.  Today, we have the threats of genocide by Iran and others, ethnic cleansing, and the murderous hatred in Rwanda--just to name a few. 

The perpetrators of the holocaust are not to be forgiven--(and they are to be distinguished from the great majority of the German population today).  But I would submit that the film George presents raises a much more important point than just the occurrences at that one camp.  What characterizes the actions of the Nazis was nothing new to human history--rather, it arose in the same spirit of isolation, differentiation, stereotyping, and rationalization we as humans have always been far too ready to display--aided by the same technology that has "modernized" warfare after 1914.  The death camps are to the slaughters of the past as the machine gun is to the spear.  The addition of the motion picture camera to that technological array "merely" brings the images into our consciousness as no textual history of the past can ever do.

I admit this is not a pretty picture of human nature--but I believe it to be the correct one.  As long as there are evil people willing to be led by evil leaders, there will exist the necessity to engage in war.  Our difficulty lies in somehow imposing sane limits on what is essentially insane--though sometimes, in my opinion, necessary--behavior.

Best regards,

Russ

Dear Russ,

Your post is eloquent.

And it behoves us occasionally to remember what [apparently, previously[ civilised modern man has been capable of in the times of our parents and grandparents, lest we fall into the same way of thinking again. Not to say that this has noy been shown as human behaviour since, but rather the sheer scale of it ...

All it takes for evil to thrives is the silence of good men.

ATB from George

I sometimes get pissed at Germany and Japan for the fact that they get off relatively Scott free from paying (as someone has phrased it) "their fair share" of the costs of defending Europe and the Pacific, respectively, creating huge boosts to their economies and huge expenditures by the United States.  At the same time, I have to congratulate the post-war generations in those countries for decrying the atrocities committed by their military governments during World War II--including the aggressive acts that led to war in the first place.  To hope that the war eliminated anti semitism in Europe or a belief in Japanese supremacy in that country would be naive.  But, with whatever exceptions might exist, the young people of the former axis powers, now in or coming to power, certainly seem to be walking the walk of true regret combined with a determination not to allow it to happen again.  Of course it will happen again, but hopefully not soon in places where the memories are so fresh.

Best regards,

Russ

Dear Russ,

So long as we remember the history shown in such a film as this, then no civilised population can allow their government to repeat it.

In my view that is why such historical documents are so vital.

The Pogroms are not so recorded, and thus were a question of history from dusty books, but anyone can inform themselves in the days of the internet of such as this film. 

ATB from George

Dear Frank,

The great thing about the internet nowadays, is that anyone can search out and find nuggets of gold among the dross. The film i linked to is one such nugget, and so I felt that it was worth sharing.

It is the most sad and shocking film on the topic that I have ever seen, and yet delivered with that understatement that avoids any sense of the subject being sensationalised ...

____________

I am delighted that you passed a useful weekend in Worcester and found the Post Office with ease. I also wondering what this has to do with the topic. On such a serious point, it seems to be odd to bring in private chit-chat.

ATB from Geogre

An experience for which I shall remain ever grateful.

No reason to visit Auschwitz after that. 

Very best wishes from George

After visiting Auswitch last year I thought I partly understood how awful the holocaust had been.

I sat in horror watching the Alfred Hitchcock narrated film as scenes unfolded in front of me of pure evil. 

I cannot for a second understand the pain and suffering the poor prisoners endured.

Lets all hope humanity has learnt from these events.