Auschwitz photo album, an SS officer's snapshots.

[Milu]

These photos are from an SS officer's personal album.

http://www.ushmm.org./research/collections/highlights/auschwitz/

They make a counterpoint to the usual concentration camp photos we see. In some ways they make the usual shots even more horrific because the people running the camps seem like everyone else, not monsters or depraved or mad.

[Joeaksa]

Just saw this in the NYT yesterday and its very interesting. A part of history never seen before... Glad it was saved.

[Chocaholic]

Didn't view every picture, but it's interesting that he seems to have kept no pictures of the "business-at-hand". Only ceremonial or jovial shots of commerads.

[kach22i]

Nice pictures of the dogs.

[motion]

Originally Posted by Milu

They make a counterpoint to the usual concentration camp photos we see. In some ways they make the usual shots even more horrific because the people running the camps seem like everyone else, not monsters or depraved or mad.

My impression is that they make the depraved, mad monsters seem even worse. They seem very happy considering the environment.

[Super_Dave_D]

Its so nice to see how much fun they were having at the height of exterminating jews. Not a care in the world. It sickens me and I am glad the pics were saved to we can remember what man can do. Of course we are doomed to repeat it!! I wonder if they are smiling now?

the SS women were hot!!

[pwd72s]

Chilling...but I had to stop viewing at the lighting of candles on a Christmas tree.

[dd74]

Fascinating. What year were these photos taken? The only date I saw was 1944. If that's the case, Germany was being beaten rather handily in many theaters. Meanwhile, everyone here, including Mengele, look rather jubilant.

I wonder how close was to the extermination camp in Auschwitz.

To me, the pictorial (I looked at all 146 shots) reveals that no matter what megalomaniac President, Fuhrer, Prime Minister, King or anyone else that attempts influence, the military which does their bidding remains the same. In the case of these photos, the SS relaxed, played, ate, dedicated hospitals and mourned their dead just as ours and other soldiers have done in the past and now in the present.

[Super_Dave_D]

[QUOTE=dd74;3491308]Fascinating. What year were these photos taken? The only date I saw was 1944. If that's the case, Germany was being beaten rather handily in many theaters. Meanwhile, everyone here, including Mengele, look rather jubilant.

I wonder how close was to the extermination camp in Auschwitz. QUOTE]

The site says that they were taken in 1944 and the Russians were closing in but yet they found time to have some R&R

[JCF]

Remember that Twilight Zone episode with the girl so ugly she needed to have her face reconstructed and when they showed her face she was very fetching ? (All the others were all monsters)
No matter how hideous one might be or ones actions - surrounded by others of like body or mind it's "The Others" who are ugly or wrong.

Tribal instinct.

Something to think a lot about these days.

[dd74]

I see. Thanks, Dave.

Has anyone seen "The Bunker"? About the last days for Hitler inside a bunker in Berlin. Excellent film.

[BGCarrera32]

Originally Posted by pwd72s

Chilling...but I had to stop viewing at the lighting of candles on a Christmas tree.

Sick isn't it?

[Mo_Gearhead]

...and what the He11 is up with these Holocaust deniers? Photographs, movies, diaries, camps, OVENS, etc.

Because THEY didn't witness it, it must be a lie??

How, other than having a blatant hatred of Jews, can anyone be so stupid?

[Sonic dB]

Great post, thanks for this one Milu...

Looking at the photos, it is not surprising to see these people smiling, singing, drinking,
having fun with their dogs etc.

After all...they are human, and enjoyment on some level is part of the human experience.

I wouldnt be surprised if the members of Al Quaeda do the same things during their time off
from killing and planning to kill.

It just shows that people can be brainwashed into a doctrination very very easily, while
seemingly maintaining "normal lives" on the exterior.

This happens at all levels of society...from the smallest indoctrination of a lifestyle consisting
of smaller-level indiscrections (such as serial adultry, petty theft, general dishonesty)....to
of course larger ones such as mass murder in the name of the state and religion.

Bottom line is that we all are 'brainwashed' to some degree, as our minds have been shaped
to believe in the certain causes that we believe in... and are convicted in. Lucky for us, that
the majority of us, do not subscribe to the really destructive perspectives... for the most part.

[techweenie]

Originally Posted by Mo_Gearhead

...and what the He11 is up with these Holocaust deniers? Photographs, movies, diaries, camps, OVENS, etc.

Because THEY didn't witness it, it must be a lie??

How, other than having a blatant hatred of Jews, can anyone be so stupid?

Denial.

I know a guy who became a major figure in the 'historical revisionism' movement. A Porsche fan and automotive journalist. Initially, he said he was a libertarian, but seemed to get the most pleasure from just arguing with everyone and anyone. He was a social misfit and found a niche where he could be infamous without much effort.

His claim is that the camps were for the Jews' protection and that the only deaths were from natural causes(!!!)

Let's remember that along with (4? 6?) million Jews, there were also gypsies, Catholics, intellectuals, the mentally ill, and many other groups that were exterminated.

Never forget.

[JCF]

But be careful.
It is very easy to be smug and think it can't happen here.

What would happen if some terrorists went into some of our schools and killed a bunch of our kids - I believe if you do a search here you will find out.

HYPOTHETICAL

What if it was not Al Queda but a few kooks in our own gov. that went into those schools. As an excuse to eliminate a group that they were afraid of ?
The Reichstag was burned by the Nazis and Kristlenacht and down the line Auschwitz was the response.
I may be simplifying and badly stating the problem but enough Germans thought that killing innocent women and children in pursuit of security was moraly acceptable or were too cowed by the gov. to stand up against it .

It could happen here. Don't kid yourself.
Those could easily become our smiling faces.
It would be good if we were all a little afraid of ourselves and not just "The Enemy"

I'll be headed for cover now...

[jluetjen]

After having visited Dachau, I came away let down at some level because I got there, and it was just "a place", just like any other. It was a sunny warm day, the sky was blue, the birds were singing. If it weren't for my knowledge of what had taken place there, it would have been a wonderful place for a picnic.

This lead me to the "aha!" conclusion, that in spite of the famous names: Dachau, Buchenwald, Auschwitz, they are really just places. The physical world is neutral. It was people who did these awful things to other people. And those people, they looked and often acted very normal, just like you and me. If you passed an SS officer on the street (less the uniform), he wouldn't have had any horns growing out of his head. You could most likely have a marvelous conversation with him about art, or music or horses. But then, some how, for some reason, they would go to work the next day and just wreck untold pain and suffering on their fellow man. The same is true today. You can't judge a book by it's cover.

Here's a couple of pictures that my Dad took at Buchenwald on the same day that Eisenhower viewed the camp, just a day or two after it was liberated in April 1945. I believe that Buchenwald was the first of the concentration camps to be liberated by the US Army.





I think that the look on the face of the US soldier in the foreground pretty much says it all.

[jluetjen]

Originally Posted by techweenie

Denial.
His claim is that the camps were for the Jews' protection and that the only deaths were from natural causes(!!!)

That's like a saying that a race engine stopped for electrical reasons without mentioning the rod that punctured the black box!

[Les Paul]

I think many more of these types of pictures will come out as many of the surving WWII vets die and their kids and grandkids find them.

[Jims5543]

Originally Posted by Super_Dave_D

Its so nice to see how much fun they were having at the height of exterminating jews. Not a care in the world. It sickens me and I am glad the pics were saved to we can remember what man can do. Of course we are doomed to repeat it!! I wonder if they are smiling now?

the SS women were hot!!

+1

Except the SS woman are hot part, I now understand the East German woman jokes.


I had no direct relatives in the camps. I have met survivors, Jehovah's Witnesses that were put in the camps due to their refusal to join the Nazi party and denounce the Jews, but would rather hold to their religious convictions to only worship God and not the governments of men. They were imprisoned and killed alongside the Jews due to their stance of neutrality and their lack of patriotism.