Children at Auchwitz

[JuvenileBigfoot]

I went to Auchwitz yesterday. There was a family on our tour with 2 young children. 6ish and 3ish. I was pretty surprised to see them to be honest. Even taking away where we actually were, it was a 2 hour coach ride each way and 4 hours of walking around. The little one had reached her limit before we even got through security and had a meltdown. And then walked around with her mum's phone during the tour. She also fell over a few times on the uneven ground. Her dad was then getting annoyed that she was crying and whinging.

And then.... well, we all know what happened there. The 6 year old did seem very interested but I think there's a bit more of a child friendly way to teach about the holocaust without being there, surrounded by horror. It was a lot even for the adults. Several people cried, some had to walk out of some of the exhibits. It just felt like it was a bit much. And who knows how much the little one took in. The parents started off with the ear phones on her, listening to the guide who did NOT hold back on the details (and nor should he)

Lastly, on a selfish level, it was very distracting having a whiny 3 year old there.

Overall it just didn't seem appropriate.

AIBU?

It's almost impossible to get to Auschwitz from Krakow unless you go on a coach trip, so the many tour operators are obviously going to compete on a commercial basis.

The camp itself is not 'commercial' at all, but very solemn. I seem to recall either leaflets or signs reminding us that it was a cemetery is daily use by relatives of the victims.

No way I would have taken children that age. Youngest is now 12 and I would just about consider it, even then I would hesitate.

Where does all the graffiti come from? And what does it signify? I just remember thinking surely it’s not visitors going in just to deface the place?

I agree op. If they understood what it is about it's too much for them and if they didn't understand it's not appropriate anyway

With this sort of thing I check who the profits go to and who the company is endorsed by.
When I knew that the film Schindler's List had (mostly) been welcomed/accepted by the Jewish people and holocaust survivors (sorry if that sounds crass) I felt that I wasn't being voyeuristic in watching it. Same with books.

I don't know, I really feel unqualified to have much of a say in it really, but I do try and be respectful.

I despair sometimes.

I was a child when that was on and absolutely have them imprinted on my mind-
I remember the scenes vividly.
NO good can come from showing children stuff like that.
It’s revolting and disturbing, they can’t understand.

Show it to older children ( teenagers) but those World at War images were horrific.

My secondary school age children came back and couldn’t talk about it. It was traumatising for them. Which is absolutely the right and sane response.

As for the idiots taking young children, I right it off as them being dumb and selfish, like I do every time I see parents with young noisy children in totally inappropriate places.

I don’t see a problem with bringing a child but they should be old enough to have some understanding-a 3 year old and also a 6 year old will have no understanding and be bored silly and have meltdowns-thus affecting the experience of other people. I can never understand these people-we had an underground wine tour ruined thanks to the screaming and tantrum of a toddler who understandably didn’t want to stand quietly and listen to the guide. And then for a big performance parenting session from the mother who instead of removing her child loudly tried distraction methods trying to make the toddler laugh while the guide was doing her best. Some people think they are the centre of the world.

Oh my goodness, why?!! I can’t believe someone would want to take their kids to this. As an adult it’s important to know what happened - but children ?! Total disbelief at people.

It wasn't just me then. When I was a child in the 1960s it was, "All our Yesterday.s" which would report on what happened this day x years ago and show something from the war. It wasn't as graphic as The World at War which I think is an excellent documentary but yes "imprinted on my mind" is exactly it.

I took my son when he was 10. The tour guide asked how old he was afterwards and said she'd left a few details out due to his age. I cannot begin to think what she left out, given the horrific nature of what we did hear. I think my son was old enough to understand the facts he was hearing but young enough to not be too emotionally affected.

The guide said the worst groups are teenagers on school trips. They often laugh inappropriately but she felt this was due to them not really knowing how to handle it.

The only novels my son has ever read are those proscribed by school. But he did read the boy in the striped pyjamas again of his own accord.

I went to Auschwitz when I was about 15, it was powerful but emotionally very difficult.
Unless you have a very quiet 3 year old it’s not a great place for young children who will be bored and don’t really understand why they should be quiet. A 6 year old would pick up on the vibe but a lot of details would go over their head which is probably for the best. But if I was them and a bit older I’d think “why did my parents take me there when I was so young?”

If you do the guided tour you go into one of the gas chambers, there’s no way I could watch my clueless young child walk in there, or tell my 6 year old “this is where children thought they were going to have a shower but they were actually killed”. It’s making me upset thinking about it

I actually bollocked a Dutch family at Dachau last year.
They were being loud and disrespectful all the way around (they had quite a few kids) but the final straw was when I went into one area that had a sign saying it wasn't for younger DC due to content to find their (roughly) 6 and 8 year old sitting open mouthed staring at a really disturbing video. The Mum tried to argue back but staff intervened and told them all to leave.
Our DC were 14 and 17 at the time and I wouldn't take DC much younger and certainly not pre Secondary school age.
And don't even get me started on the arseholes taking selfies

What is wrong with people? Children should be children. Even the UK History curriculum is disturbing for young minds.Once you have seen something, you can't un see it.

OMG no way would I take myself, let alone children to any camp.
Maybe because both my parents were camp survivors (Sachsenhausen & Auschwitz) and I grew up with endless horror stories about their past. I do not want to see these places more than I already have in my childhood nightmares.
I also told both my (now adult) children not to go when they considered going. Told, as in - advised. I was very pleased they listened to me.

I find it hard to get my head arounnd the way it is included in holiday information.

Also... I clicked on this thread because I thought it was going to be about child survivors of Auschwitz.... a subject close to my heart

The guide said the worst groups are teenagers on school trips. They often laugh inappropriately but she felt this was due to them not really knowing how to handle it.

I agree. I think teenagers should go in very small groups. They are self conscious, still learning how to handle emotions etc.
Laughter and crying share similar biology.

Madness to take young kids.
I get the parents of these children probably wanted to go, but you'd certainly wait until they were older or leave them with a relative for the day/go in a group one at a time. It's not so much the kids going and not 'getting it', they probably are on some level - they can see people are upset by what they're seeing and age 6 they will know about death, etc. I'm Jewish and we didn't really get formally taught about the Holocaust until age 10 (last year in primary). I remember getting a book about it with a yellow cover.
I havent' been but I really do want to go at some point in the next few years - my eldest went with school (in sixth form).

There should be a strict age limit and children should not be allowed. Childhood is a time for innocence and happiness.

There is enough time when they are teens and young adults for them to bear the weight of the horrors that humans can inflict on others.

It's no wonder that there is mental health problems and depression in young people when they are shown these things at such a young age.

I do agree that Auschwitz and the other camps should be preserved and visited by those that feel they need to.

Visiting Auschwitz is emotionally intense. They should think about whether their child is ready to handle the grim and awfulness of the siteI. If the visit is used as a way to learn about history and human rights, and the consequences of hatred and intolerance, it could be a powerful lesson, but it should never be treated as just another tourist destination.

They shouldn't have been allowed in

I queued up to see the T Rex at the National History Museum, and there was a toddler in a push chair in front. The expression on his face when the T Rex began to roar ... He would have to think the thing was real, wouldn't he?

It's really inappropriate to take young kids, they won't understand it - the parents should have gone individually if they both wanted to go on different days