• SHOP MY BOOKS
    • AUDIOBOOKS
  • HOME
    • ABOUT
    • MEET THE AUTHOR.
    • NOTES ON ATTRIBUTION
  • DISCUSSION GUIDE
  • A TRAIN NEAR MAGDEBURG-HOLOCAUST FILM PROJECT
  • HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS, LIBERATORS REUNITED
    • THE LIBERATION PHOTOS.
  • 1945 Manifest List-Names of those liberated at Farsleben, Germany, April 13th 1945
    • Looking for someone? Post here.
  • Privacy Policy

Teaching History Matters

"for the sake of humanity"… A small town American high school history project changes lives worldwide. These are the observations of a veteran teacher- on the Power of Teaching, the importance of the study of History, and especially the lessons we must learn, and teach, on the Holocaust. Click on "Holocaust Survivors, Liberators Reunited" tab above to begin.

Feeds:
Posts
Comments
« London – Sir Nicholas Winton.
A Backwards Journey into the Holocaust. »

WWII – The Nazis.

October 8, 2013 by Matthew Rozell

Traveling compadres Tim, Scott, and Alan in front of our hotel next to the Presidential Palace, Warsaw, Poland, summer 2013.

Traveling compadres Tim, Scott, and Alan in front of our hotel next to the Presidential Palace, Warsaw, Poland, summer 2013. Out for a nightcap and to discuss our shared day.

I am stealing another post from my friend Scott. We traveled together for three weeks this summer on our roller coaster Holocaust tour, and he continued on. Here is a great post with great pictures. Wish I was there with you buddy, but you make it come alive for me and my readers. Great pics, too. Learned a lot. Safe travels. MR

 

WWII – The Nazis

01 Tuesday Oct 2013

During the 11 day tour of WWI and WWII, we stopped at some important and significant locations to Hitler and the Nazis.  I think it is important to look into the history and development of the Nazis if we want to further understand how this much hate can manifest in a  major government.  If you have been following the news out of Greece and their political party known as Golden Dawn (whose symbol resembles the swastika), I don’t think we are that far away from this still happening.

One stop that marked Hitler’s rise was the site of his Beer Hall Putsch in 1923.  Hitler tried to rally some fellow drinkers from a beer hall in Munich to overthrow the Bavaria State Government.  It failed.  Here is the room he gathered supporters:

Image

 

This was a great place to be.  However, if you took a moment to think about what happened here, you had to pause.  I think this is a great example of resilience, though, to see people using this space for good things today.

We also stopped in Nuremberg and visited Zeppelin Field – the site of the large Nazi rallies of the late 1930′s you have seen in documentaries and films.  In the 1970′s, the German government passed a law forbidding the destruction of important Nazi buildings.  However, seeing Zeppelin Field it is clear that they are not doing much to preserve these sites.

Image

 

The podium you see down there is the one Hitler stood on.  You can see this area has become a parking lot and it is also the route of a road race so you can see the racetrack walls on the right.  The field in front of you, blocked by trees, is where Nazi’s rallied.  Here is a close up of the sides:Image

Here is the podium straight on:Image

Image

 

When I was up there on the podium, I turned around and imagined Hitler walking through the doors behind the podium to the place I was standing – it was a little creepy.  Image

I am impressed and disgusted by the amount of energy and money and resources and humanity spent on this hateful man and his message.  But this field was full of people who supported him.  In the museum nearby, there are videos of older German ladies who recall as young children all the excitement when Hitler came to town.  They told of going home and getting ladders so they could see him when his parade passed by.  And they told the camera this – years later mind you – with smiles on their faces and laughter in their voices.  I did not sense a bit of shame of their role (though they WERE children) in what Germany did during WWII and leading up to.  This was a something that stuck with me.

The Museum I talk about was in the largest building the Nazis were building in Nuremberg.  It was never finished, but the building remains:

Image

 

To give you a better idea of its size, here is what it looks like inside – that is a motorcoach full sized bus below:

Image

 

Again, you can kind of see the disrepair this building is in.  It does house a pretty good museum on the history of Nazism and its place in Nuremberg history, but most of the building is crumbling.

Another place we went to was what we call The Eagle’s Nest up in the German Alps overlooking Austria.  This house was a gift to Hitler by the Nazi Party on his 50th Birthday.  We took our bus to the bottom of the mountain is sits upon and then had to take another bus, driven by special drivers to near the top.  This is how we saw the house at this point:ImageImage

Notice the tunnel in the picture above – this was the way to the elevator:Image

 

From here, we took an elevator up to the house.  The same elevator Hitler took.  Again – creepy.  It felt though like most people here were doing the touristy thing – like we were – rather than once again comprehending the historical significance of this man and this movement.  I couldn’t wait to get off the elevator.

At the house, it was beautiful.  It was much smaller than I had imagined.

Image

 

Here are some pics from inside.  They turned the living room area into a restaurant now:ImageImage

Here is the signature fireplace:

Image

 

Hitler must have stood right here on days like this (which was pretty cold up here in the mountains) warming his hands.  I had to get out of here  – so I went outside and enjoyed some spectacular views.  Notice the fresh snow on the surrounding mountaintops:

ImageImage

But no matter how impressive the view was, the reason for this place never escaped my mind.  When we got back down to the bottom of the mountain, we went through some Nazi bunkers that were built here as well:

Image

 

Inside were these tunnels and rooms:

ImageImageImage

 

In one room, they made into a memorial for Holocaust victims and names were being read 24/7.  Here is the room and the walls which were covered in graffiti I think encouraged by the museum people:

ImageImage

 

And this leads us to the details of the Nazi atrocities.  If you have been reading my blog, I have been to 8 or 9 concentration camps already.  I went to another one on this tour – the first camp – known as Dachau.  Here is the train platform and the main building the Jews (and political prisoners, POWs, etc.) went through:Image

The now all too familiar “Work will set you free” sign”

Image

 

The fence and guard towers:

ImageImage

 

The area where victims were gathered each day:

Image

 

The main lane with the barracks outlines and bunks inside:

ImageImageImageImageImage

 

The gas chamber:

Image

 

The old crematorium:

Image

 

When that wasn’t enough, the new crematorium:

Image

 

Image

 

You all know what happened here and the horrible thing the Nazis did.  If you want to know more, read my first 12 or so blogs.

There are some symbols of remembrance here, like this sculpture:

Image

 

And this synagogue:

Image

 

But this is a horrible place.  My group, many of whom had never been to a camp, where visibly shaken and moved.  That is why it was good that we visited the Court House that housed the Nuremberg Trials after WWII and saw the punishment of those responsible for this.

Here are the gates to the court house:

Image

 

This is a functioning court house today and the court room that housed the trial is still being used as well.  Here is a pic of what the outside looked like after WWII:Image

The court room today:

Image

 

Luckily we were there on a Saturday, so we could sit in here all we wanted.  They had little video monitors that you could use to watch parts of the trials.  It was great to sit there and watch, through logic and reason and rules and respect, these Nazis get convicted.  I could have watched this all day.  I could have watched this for a week.  I think I will have to watch the movies again when I get home, but this made me happy being here.

Finally, we visited a German cemetery:Image

Notice the markers in the ground – they represent two Nazis for two German soldiers were in every hole.  Standing there, I could not bring myself to forgive these people.  I almost felt like they did not deserve this burial and respect.  Just then, out of the fog, came our friends – reminding us of the message from the bridge that perhaps it was time to heal.

Image

http://scottdurham.wordpress.com/

 

Share this:

  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email
  • Tumblr
  • Print
  • More
  • LinkedIn
  • Reddit

Like this:

Like Loading...

Related

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged history education, Holocaust, teaching history matters, World War II | 1 Comment

One Response

  1. on October 8, 2013 at 7:22 pm Kim Mogilevsky

    Great post and excellent pictures. Thanks for sharing – both of you! 🙂



Comments are closed.

  • Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

    Join 781 other subscribers
  • Blog Stats

    • 635,414 hits
  • Top Posts & Pages

    • Why I Loathe 'The Boy in the Striped Pajamas'.
      Why I Loathe 'The Boy in the Striped Pajamas'.
    • A TRAIN NEAR MAGDEBURG-HOLOCAUST FILM PROJECT
      A TRAIN NEAR MAGDEBURG-HOLOCAUST FILM PROJECT
    • So, I am suspicious of education.
      So, I am suspicious of education.
    • HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS, LIBERATORS REUNITED
      HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS, LIBERATORS REUNITED
    • THE LIBERATION PHOTOS.
      THE LIBERATION PHOTOS.
  • Recent Posts

    • International Holocaust Remembrance Day 2023
    • Time to Remember: A Walk in the Snow.
    • New York, New York.
  • Facebook Page

    Facebook Page
  • Twitter Updates

    • International Holocaust Remembrance Day 2023 teachinghistorymatters.com/2023/01/27/int… 3 days ago
    • Time to Remember: A Walk in the Snow. teachinghistorymatters.com/2022/12/07/tim… 1 month ago
    Follow @marozell
  • Archives

    • January 2023 (1)
    • December 2022 (1)
    • November 2022 (2)
    • September 2022 (2)
    • July 2022 (1)
    • June 2022 (2)
    • May 2022 (1)
    • April 2022 (7)
    • February 2022 (1)
    • January 2022 (1)
    • September 2021 (2)
    • July 2021 (1)
    • May 2021 (1)
    • April 2021 (1)
    • March 2021 (1)
    • August 2020 (1)
    • June 2020 (1)
    • May 2020 (1)
    • April 2020 (2)
    • March 2020 (1)
    • February 2020 (4)
    • January 2020 (4)
    • December 2019 (3)
    • November 2019 (1)
    • October 2019 (2)
    • September 2019 (1)
    • August 2019 (1)
    • July 2019 (2)
    • June 2019 (2)
    • May 2019 (2)
    • April 2019 (4)
    • March 2019 (2)
    • February 2019 (2)
    • January 2019 (1)
    • December 2018 (3)
    • November 2018 (2)
    • October 2018 (1)
    • September 2018 (2)
    • June 2018 (3)
    • May 2018 (2)
    • April 2018 (2)
    • March 2018 (1)
    • February 2018 (2)
    • January 2018 (1)
    • December 2017 (2)
    • November 2017 (2)
    • September 2017 (3)
    • August 2017 (3)
    • June 2017 (3)
    • May 2017 (1)
    • April 2017 (8)
    • February 2017 (3)
    • January 2017 (2)
    • December 2016 (2)
    • November 2016 (4)
    • September 2016 (3)
    • July 2016 (5)
    • June 2016 (3)
    • May 2016 (3)
    • April 2016 (3)
    • March 2016 (4)
    • February 2016 (3)
    • January 2016 (3)
    • December 2015 (7)
    • November 2015 (4)
    • October 2015 (3)
    • September 2015 (8)
    • August 2015 (6)
    • July 2015 (6)
    • June 2015 (2)
    • May 2015 (5)
    • April 2015 (13)
    • March 2015 (1)
    • February 2015 (2)
    • January 2015 (8)
    • December 2014 (2)
    • November 2014 (6)
    • October 2014 (2)
    • August 2014 (1)
    • July 2014 (20)
    • June 2014 (2)
    • May 2014 (3)
    • April 2014 (5)
    • March 2014 (3)
    • January 2014 (1)
    • November 2013 (7)
    • October 2013 (4)
    • September 2013 (4)
    • August 2013 (3)
    • July 2013 (6)
    • June 2013 (6)
    • May 2013 (7)
    • April 2013 (12)
    • March 2013 (2)
    • January 2013 (7)
    • December 2012 (4)
    • November 2012 (7)
    • September 2012 (1)
    • August 2012 (2)
    • June 2012 (1)
    • May 2012 (3)
    • April 2012 (13)
    • March 2012 (3)
    • January 2012 (3)
    • December 2011 (1)
    • November 2011 (1)
    • October 2011 (2)
    • September 2011 (5)
    • August 2011 (4)
    • July 2011 (1)
    • June 2011 (2)
    • May 2011 (4)
    • April 2011 (3)
    • March 2011 (1)
    • February 2011 (3)
    • October 2010 (4)
    • September 2010 (1)
    • August 2010 (1)
    • July 2010 (2)
    • June 2010 (5)
    • May 2010 (3)
    • April 2010 (10)
    • March 2010 (3)
    • February 2010 (4)
    • January 2010 (2)
    • December 2009 (2)
    • September 2009 (2)
    • June 2009 (1)
    • May 2009 (2)
    • April 2009 (3)
    • February 2009 (1)
    • January 2009 (3)
    • December 2008 (5)
    • November 2008 (3)
    • August 2008 (4)
    • July 2008 (1)
    • May 2008 (4)
    • April 2008 (4)
    • January 2008 (3)
    • December 2007 (1)
    • November 2007 (2)
    • October 2007 (1)
    • September 2007 (4)

Blog at WordPress.com.

WPThemes.


  • Follow Following
    • Teaching History Matters
    • Join 570 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Teaching History Matters
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Copy shortlink
    • Report this content
    • View post in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...
 

    %d bloggers like this: