# The 63rd Anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau



## v2 (Jan 27, 2008)

*"The Lost Family" *- Commemorating the 63rd Anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau.


The Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum will commemorate the 63rd anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz at a ceremony on September 27, 2008. This year, the Museum is dedicating the observances to the tragedies of the families of many faiths and ethnic backgrounds that suffered and perished in the camp. The President of Poland, Lech Kaczyński, and the First Lady, Maria Kaczyńska, are the honorary patrons of the event. 
During the ceremony at the Sauna at the Birkenau site, former prisoners who were deported to Auschwitz from the Theresienstadt ghetto, the Zamość region, and Warsaw will recount the tragedies that befell their own families. State officials-Minister in the Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland Ewa Junczyk-Ziomecka and Deputy Minister of Culture Tomasz Merta-and members of the diplomatic corps.

Students from the Stanisław Konarski Secondary School in Oświęcim and members of the local Roma community will read passages from accounts by former prisoners and furnish musical accompaniment. The ceremony will conclude with a procession to the Monument at the Birkenau site for the lighting of candles and prayers by clergy of various faiths. 

The theme of this year's commemoration, "The Lost Family", reflects two historical anniversaries that we are marking in 2008. Sixty-five years ago, the Germans opened two so-called "family camps" in Birkenau-first for Sinti and Roma, and the second for Jewish families deported from the ghetto in Theresienstadt. Both of these family camps were later liquidated.




more: :: Muzeum Auschwitz-Birkenau w O¶wiêcimiu EN ::


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Jan 27, 2008)

May they never be forgotten!


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## joy17782 (Jan 27, 2008)

i never really understood it , why it happen and thats not just the germans doing it but the russians too and all the way thought history but anyways theres a sad place in my heart for all


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## seesul (Jan 28, 2008)

We were there with our American friends Joe (that guy in my siggy) and his grandson Nick in summer 2005. Especialy Nick couldn´t get over...no wonder...
Hard to believe,hard to imagine it was a reality back in 40´s...
Last week I´ve seen a document on out TV where they spoke with a Polish older man, a former member of ´Sonderkomando´. I had no words after watching it...
No one will ever be able to imagine his experience and his everydays dreams even when the WW2 was over...
Note the picture with the wall full of scratches...it was taken in gas chamber...
And there are still stupid people saying there were no concentration camps...


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## seesul (Jan 28, 2008)

...few more pics...


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## Konigstiger205 (Jan 28, 2008)

The picture with the wall its just...like Adler said "May they never be forgotten!"


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## joy17782 (Jan 28, 2008)

the pics say a thousand words,


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## evangilder (Jan 28, 2008)

Sad testimony to a tragic event, and a dark time in history. May they never be forgotten.


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## Heinz (Jan 29, 2008)

Very sobering photos Seesul.

I'll echo again " May they never be forgotten "


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## seesul (Jan 29, 2008)

Heinz said:


> Very sobering photos Seesul.
> 
> I'll echo again " May they never be forgotten "



I agree, but I´m afraid the people are forgeting too fast...
Hope I´m wrong...


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## Njaco (Jan 29, 2008)

The pic with the gentleman in the wheelchair next to the oven has no words to describe that. My pre-wife is Jewish and one of her uncles has the tattoo. I cannot imagine that time and I cannot fathom the idiots who disbelieve (like Iran). I watched a show on PBS about a Jewish US soldier in WWII who liberated one of these camps and he didn't know what to do. You look at his face, you hear his words and you just know, deep inside, that it was true and horrible.

Thanks for the pics, Seesul.


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## timshatz (Jan 29, 2008)

Those shots are amazing. We don't get them back here. Well, you do, but they usually have some conotations with them. Those shots were great. They were ordinary. That made them truely effective. Good to start off with the tour group shot first. Set up for great impact (thought I doubt that was the intent).

The wall is haunting. 

Thanks for the shots Seesul. They were excellent. But I truely believe this is as close as I'm ever going to get to the Death Camps.


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## seesul (Jan 29, 2008)

Njaco said:


> The pic with the gentleman in the wheelchair next to the oven has no words to describe that. My pre-wife is Jewish and one of her uncles has the tattoo. I cannot imagine that time and I cannot fathom the idiots who disbelieve (like Iran). I watched a show on PBS about a Jewish US soldier in WWII who liberated one of these camps and he didn't know what to do. You look at his face, you hear his words and you just know, deep inside, that it was true and horrible.
> 
> Thanks for the pics, Seesul.



Njaco, btw, that man on the wheelchair is that one from my siggy. After he bailed out on August 29, 1944, he spent 10 months with Germans in Stalag Luft IV. Since Feb 1944 till Apr 1945 he was on the "Dead March" and he marched 650 miles in this 3 months...
So when he visited me, he just wanted to see, what the people are able to do to the other people...and he couldn´t belive it and couldn´t get over...
I have more pics from there so if you want I can post them later.


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## Marcel (Jan 29, 2008)

I've seen Bergen Belsen and that was more than enough.
Below the monument in Kamp Westerbork. It was the concentration camp for shipping people to Auswitz. One of the people who went into the trains there was Anne Frank. The track is original, pointing up to the sky....


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## Thorlifter (Jan 29, 2008)

Seesul, what was the older gentleman's reaction as you went through the camp? Silence? If he was talking, what was he saying?

Your pictures are amazing. I'm very moved by the one outside the gate with the sign Arbeit Macht Frei (Work will make you free) I think the literal translation is Work Makes Free. Please correct me if I'm mistaken. The look on his face is, I can't even think of proper words.


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## seesul (Jan 30, 2008)

Thorlifter said:


> Seesul, what was the older gentleman's reaction as you went through the camp? Silence? If he was talking, what was he saying?
> 
> Your pictures are amazing. I'm very moved by the one outside the gate with the sign Arbeit Macht Frei (Work will make you free) I think the literal translation is Work Makes Free. Please correct me if I'm mistaken. The look on his face is, I can't even think of proper words.




Yes, a good question...
There are 2 Lagers- Auschwitz 1 and Auschwitz 2 (Birkenau)- after we went through the Auschwitz 1 Joe just said: ''Get the hell outta here,I don´t wanna go to see Auschwitz 2 Lager anymore. That´s more than enough for me'' and stayed in front of the gate. My friends also with Joe´s grandson Nick went to see the Lager 2 as well, but me and my wife stayed with Joe as he was quite upset...He was just looking at the sky without telling any word...
After my friends came back, nobody wanted to speak and all you could see in their faces was OMG,why??? Nick didn´t speak all the way back (some 125 miles away, 3 hours) and we got him back in shape in the evening thanks to our beer...
Yes, think the translation Work Makes Free is correct...


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## Heinz (Jan 30, 2008)

Immense power is held in Auschwitz for all the wrong reasons. 

Even looking at your photos Seesul I go cold.


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## seesul (Jan 30, 2008)

here are the promised pics...


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## seesul (Jan 30, 2008)

and few more...


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## DBII (Jan 31, 2008)

I could never make myself go when I was in Europe. Maybe I should have. Just seeing the pictures makes my skin crawl. The horror of it all. I found a small book that was written by a young prisoner who was on the detail that sorted the new arrivals. I can never read more tha a couple of pages at a time. 

DBII


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## timshatz (Jan 31, 2008)

Seesul, do you have any shots of the outside of the gas chambers? I have read many times about the Allies being chastised for not bombing them. I have also heard they were no bigger than the size of 2 tennis courts and to do so was outside the accuracy/ability of the airplanes of the day (either too far to fly or too small a target for those that could make it). Not that I want to get that topic going, but I would like to see if you have any pictures of the outside of the chambers.


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## Arsenal VG-33 (Jan 31, 2008)

Good pictures, thank you for sharing. I visited Dachau in 1995. One of my grandfather's close friends was sent there, but fortunately he survived, though barely. They said he was a walking skeleton we he came back after the war.

The one thing that really gave me the creeps, for lack of a better word, were the railroad tracks leading to the camp. There were a few other people there during my visit, but was very quiet. It felt like a communal experience with the dead, it's really frightening, though it felt like relief at the same time. It's very hard to describe. I hope to visit Auschwitz someday.

I also remember feeling the same when walking through Oradour-sur-Glane. For anyone interested in WW 2 history, I don't think a visit to Europe can be complete without visiting one of these awful places. They must be seen.


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## seesul (Jan 31, 2008)

timshatz said:


> Seesul, do you have any shots of the outside of the gas chambers? I have read many times about the Allies being chastised for not bombing them. I have also heard they were no bigger than the size of 2 tennis courts and to do so was outside the accuracy/ability of the airplanes of the day (either too far to fly or too small a target for those that could make it). Not that I want to get that topic going, but I would like to see if you have any pictures of the outside of the chambers.



one of the pictures you´re asking for was already posted, but here is the same with one more. The last one shows the hole in the roof, where the Germans threw the CYCLON B gas through...


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Jan 31, 2008)

I have been to several KZ's including Dachau and Auschwitz. I was speechless when I visited them. The horror...


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## seesul (Jan 31, 2008)

DerAdlerIstGelandet said:


> I have been to several KZ's including Dachau and Auschwitz. I was speechless when I visited them. The horror...



yep, my head was absolutely empty on the way back. no thoughts. black out...


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## seesul (Jan 31, 2008)

and btw, I wanna visit Berchtesgaden this year. and mauthausen is on the way from salzburg to vienna. so maybe...


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Feb 1, 2008)

Let me know when you got Berchtesgarden. I am planning on driving down there several times this year. It is so beautiful in Berchtesgarden.

If you are going to be there when I am, we need to meet up and drink a Weizenbier.


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## timshatz (Feb 1, 2008)

seesul said:


> one of the pictures you´re asking for was already posted, but here is the same with one more. The last one shows the hole in the roof, where the Germans threw the CYCLON B gas through...



Thanks Seesul, I appreciate it. That is one small target. Thought it would be a bit bigger. Can't see how somebody using a Norden would hit that from 20K. 

Great shots. Distrubing but needed to be seen. Thanks for posting them.


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## seesul (Feb 2, 2008)

DerAdlerIstGelandet said:


> Let me know when you got Berchtesgarden. I am planning on driving down there several times this year. It is so beautiful in Berchtesgarden.
> 
> If you are going to be there when I am, we need to meet up and drink a Weizenbier.



Jawohl, abgemacht!
How far away is from you? Some 600 km from me...Think in May or June, when there´s a nice weather...because in July there´s another trip planned- Flying Legends in Duxford...if my wife and Good let me go...


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