Some pictures from Poland...

[Scales]

Here are some of the pictures I took at the concentration camp Majdanek. It's the second largest in Europe. They didn't turn out as well as I hoped, but it was a pretty gloomy day. That really made it even more of a surreal experience!!!

(The pictures are all links to pufile. It was the best I could do from here)

This first picture is pretty self explanitory:
http://img1.putfile.com/thumb/10/28813304785.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=3720027)

This one is the original plans for the camp. The part in blue is the completed part:
http://img1.putfile.com/thumb/10/28813304875.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=3720029)

A "field" or row of barracks:
http://img1.putfile.com/thumb/10/28813304391.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=3720026)

The crematorium where they would burn up to 1,000 bodies a day:
http://img1.putfile.com/thumb/10/28813305073.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=3720037)

The actual furnace where they burned the bodies:
http://img1.putfile.com/thumb/10/28813304958.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=3720035)

A view of the fenceline and guard towers:
http://img1.putfile.com/thumb/10/28813305033.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=3720039)

Inside the fenceline. Double barbed wire fences. They are also all electric:
http://img1.putfile.com/thumb/10/28813304853.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=3720031)

This is my wife with a guy we met there. He was in a camp in Germany and also a slave for years after. We talked with him for almost an hour. The things he went through are unimaginable!!! Givin the life he lived, you never guess he's 83 and looking so young. I felt weird asking for his picture, but I wanted to make sure I'd always remember him and the stories he shared with us:
http://img1.putfile.com/thumb/10/28813304955.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=3720034)

[Feature Pony]

Very cool pics, but at the same time very sad... Just think of how many people lost their lives and their family to a selfish man who thought he could rule the world..

[Flight_740]

Could you imagine just the sheer terror of being locked in there? Just wondering when it was your turn to die. What a thought. Sitting there watching a bellow of constant smoke come from the stacks knowing they are burning bodies by the thousands.

[Scales]

Yeah it was pretty sad and creepy walking around there! When we walked into the crematorium, you could still taste it in the air! It was also about 40* when we went. I was cold walking around in the barrecks and I had on a big a$$ jacket. Those people had nothing but schabby uniforms. There was aslo a room that was just shoes from the people there. I noticed a lot of ladies sandles and kids shoes. My wife told me they even had seperate camps just for kids. Of course with the same end result. I also have a picture of a mass grave they exhumed after the camp was closed. I didn't think it was something good to post. To be honest, I don't see me looking at that picture ever again!!! Her Dad kept asking me "Shock?" And shock wasn't even the word for it. I've never seen anything like that before, and I hope I never do again! It makes me extremely thankful for where I live!!!

[Yooformula]

Thats tragic. IMO, referring to the people were burned and tortured as simply bodies unscores the autrocity there. They were PEOPLE not simply bodies. Sometimes we need the reminders to teach us not to allow this kind of genocide to take place ANYWHERE ever again.

[Nitrousedge]

Very surreal...thanks for sharing.

[Scales]

Thats tragic. IMO, referring to the people were burned and tortured as simply bodies unscores the autrocity there. They were PEOPLE not simply bodies. Sometimes we need the reminders to teach us not to allow this kind of genocide to take place ANYWHERE ever again.

Maybe I didn't pick the right words for how to describe what I saw. But You have to imagine being in my shoes seeing it. This is one of the worlds greatest tragedies. I was one of the few from America to have the chance to see and learn from what happened there. When I talked to the man that was in one of the camps, he also mentioned them as bodies. After talking with my wife, she said this is how it is spoke of. I'm not trying to take anything away from what happened and who it happened to. We all know they were people. Some babies even. Hell, I felt weird taking pictures there until I was told that I should be taking pictures. Mainly in hopes that I would remember what I saw and share it with others. That is all I tried to do. To show what I saw. What the Discovery channel won't show you. I'm sorry if it offended what you expected, but I wanted to share with the group what I experienced there!

This is the sign from the entrance to the crematorium...

http://img1.putfile.com/thumb/10/28818484743.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=3723331)

[Yooformula]

Sorry, I wasnt trying to come off as a d!ck. I was trying to convey that as a society our minds forget and thus we disconnect from the reality of the fact that they were once living human beings and not just a carcas. I wasnt trying to flame you. Carry on Mike! I would be snapping up pics by the hunders also and sharing them with everyone so that they could see what tv and the papers cant accurately depict. Nothing looks quite so real from a pro's camera IMO.

[u_say_go]

thanks for sharing the pictures mike.

[b4mytm]

Yes,Thanks for sharing your pictures with us.
My Busia(Great Grandma ) came over from Poland.I remember her and my Great Aunts always speaking in Polish when I was younger.I'm Polish on both sides and I wish I knew more of my family history from Poland,but all of my Grandparents have since passed away.

[Scales]

I don't know how often I'll have time to post up more pics, but I will as I do. We are going to visit some castles today and a very old downtown so I will be able to get some different, happier shots. :thumbsup

And don't worry about it Yoo. I didn't take it as a personal attack. I just wanted to state my frame of mind when I made the post. :haveabeer