Friday, March 5, 2010

The Auschwitz Album. Very interesting...



9 comments:

  1. How do you wrap your mind around this? The German people as a whole believed that they were morally right. Their soldiers wore belt buckles that said 'God with Me'. Of course, most people didn't know what was going on - but they didn't want to know. There are a lot of lessons here, even aside from the obvious.

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  2. "How do you wrap your mind around this?"

    ditto.

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  3. I think it is impossible for the vast majority of us, who possess normal morals and compassion, to wrap our minds around such true evil. And, as Jim points out, so many of teh German people accepted this as the "right" thing to do.

    Thank you for sharing this, Andy.

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  4. I didn't chase the link as I've seen way too much of this particular horror during my life... in books, film, and photos. I've absorbed the lesson and can't bear more.

    Short story: Dachau is just off the autobahn northbound from Munich and has prominent signage and its own exit, as I recall. The Second Mrs. Pennington and I were northbound out of Munich back in the day, saw the sign and we looked at each other and simultaneously said "no." We kept on going, but we talked about it for the better part of an hour.

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  5. Buckskins, you are welcome, sir. I, like Buck, did almost not chase the link, either when I was directed to it.

    But, I found it to be unique among works I have seen personally. I certainly understand, though.

    Man's inhumanity to man truly knows no limit, it seems.

    I remember when the beheading video was out there a few years ago. I could not bring myself to watch it.

    I accidentally stumbled across something similar (Chechen Muslims, yada yada yada) the other day. I rarely let "the cursing Andy" out of the box...but, boy did I ever...

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  6. The only way to wrap your mind around the horror, is to remember the goodness and honor displayed by others during that time. Those who, at great personal risk, made the choice to do the right thing. Most famously, those like Miep Gies & Oskar Schindler come to mind.

    They were not alone, fortunately. The historical literature is full of stories that remind you people can be good and true and brave, even when the stakes are very, very real.

    This album reminds us the evil exists - and that good men must do all they can to stop it.

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  7. Well said, Vox. I truly pray that we shall never be tested in such a way.

    Surely, many on this earth are being sorely tested right now. Evil does exist. And, it is incumbent upon those not possessed of it to stop it.

    It's a danged shame that even though "we wrestle not with flesh and blood," that evil does...and our flesh and blood must confront it. But, "it is what it is."

    Thanks, Vox.

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Don't cuss nobody out, okay?