A question for anyone who’s been to Auschwitz

[AI41]

Are you pleased you went, or do you regret going?

We’re going to Krakow on Boxing Day for a few days, and inevitably will need to discuss whether to visit Auschwitz. I’m going with two friends and obviously they can make their own decision. One of my friends is very interested in the war so I suspect he will want to go.

I was once told by someone who visited in the 80s that he regretted going because the horror has never left him. I am erring towards not going. But other people who’ve visited said to go and they don’t regret it at all.

The problem is that for the most part, the people who should go, or need to go, aren't the ones who do.

I remember a woman giving a talk on a school trip to a Holocaust museum. She had been at one of the camps. She lost many friends and family members. Her story was harrowing.

She was determined to press on us the lessons of the past. For her, it was vital that people attend, witness, hear their stories. To never forget. You could feel her urgency in keeping the memory of what happened alive.

Why are you very privileged to have gone? It's not any more expensive than any of the other Continental holidays that tens of millions of Brits take every year, is it? Perhaps I'm missing something.

Absolutely this.

I can see why people feel they would be honouring those who were murdered by going, but I must admit that I don’t feel the same way.

See I don't get this, none of us on here want WWIII to happen do we? How is going to visit a harrowing concentration camp going to help?

Totally agree xx

I've never understood why people would want to go to these places. I already know the horrors of these camps and I would find it extremely disressing and the upset would be long lasting in my mind

We went. I have no regrets. It’s part of history, and whilst I obviously knew about a lot of what went in due to books/media, it was very interesting, and humbling. Krakow is beautiful too.

It’s part of history though. And whilst I don’t agree with the sentiment of everyone should go, I don’t feel people should be judged for visiting. We’re all different, and if someone feels it would affect their lives by them feeling traumatised for it months after visiting, then clearly don’t go. Don’t judge someone for not going, but equally don’t judge someone if they do.

I'm not judging people either way, go or don't go, but I don't think saying we need to go to stop another WW is particularly relevant to most posters on here is it?

The Holocaust wasn't WWII though and wasn't what was being fought over. The Allies didn't even really know the full extent of what was going on for a couple of years.

The othering of, gathering up and eventual attempted extermination of a group of people doesn't need a WWIII. I'm sure we can all think of relevant examples since WWII.

In the film A Real Pain they go to a concentration camp, and even just seeing the scenes in a film has stayed with me ever since. I wouldn’t be able to go.

That being said I think everyone should chose for themselves and understand why people would want to.

Perhaps you are missing something, yes. Privileged doesn’t only refer to money. In fact, it was probably the cheapest holiday I’d had in about 10 years, so finances had absolutely nothing to do with my comment.
I felt privileged to be in a position mentally and emotionally where I could visit somewhere like Auschwitz and take in the enormity of what happened there. At that point in my life I was secure at home, work and within my family, and able to go with a clear head.
It’s an incredibly difficult place to visit and the feeling stayed with me for a long time afterwards, as I actually said in my post.
So yes, you were missing something — the meaning of the word privileged in the context I used it. It had absolutely nothing to do with whether I could afford a continental holiday. In which case I do - several times a year.

I went a few years ago and , yes, a few people took photos - I have one of the gates. Everyone processes things differently. I saw no one taking selfies and no one being silly or disrespectful. Did someone upthread say they took a 5 year old?? No, not possible. There is a strictly enforced lower age limit. Pretty sure the youngest school trips to go are year 9, too.

Actually, just checked. The age limit is discretionary. But no young children were there. Youngest were mid teens.

It really didn’t impact me that much. It was interesting to visit. I didn’t feel upset.

I mean obviously I am upset at what happened - and I have Jewish family - but Auschwitz itself didn’t make me feel bad.

I haven't been to Auschwitz, I have been to Dachau in my 20s. It was a sobering experience, one that I am glad I did. The physical size, and the scale gots home more than anything that I had read or seen about the holocaust.
There is a (or was) McDonald's not far from the exit, and the silence in there and just the feeling as we had all just come from the same place, was incredibly odd and actually probably had the biggest impact on me, the juxtaposition of the collective horror, in maccies.

I also haven’t been to Auschwitz (or to Poland at all) but I have been to Dachau because I have visited Bavaria many times. It’s a fascinating place with horrifying history but I learned a lot and I don’t regret going.

I've been. I didn't regret it. Being there gives you a real sense of what a organised machine the nature of the murders took. It helped me understand more fully the horror that took place by seeing the complex with my own eyes. I hadn't got that from the information I'd read or films I'd seen before that point.

Thank you everyone. I really appreciate the replies.

I think on balance I won’t go. It’s the idea of seeing the children’s belongings. I don’t know what my friends will do but I don’t think there is anything to be gained from me going.

Pleased isn’t the right word as it’s just so awful, but I feel it was right to go and I think everyone should if they get the chance. My great grandfather was killed there so it is also personal, but the horrors have never left me

Sorry my reply is being taken out of context as I was replying to a poster who said we all needed to go to Auschwitz to prevent WWIII

I agree that knowing about it and understanding it is right and proper but I think people are entitled to decide how much they want to be harrowed and whether they can cope with the after effects on them.

I think if you are there in a group, decided that its not something for you or that you could cope with is, in itself, a brave decision.