A grim visit in beautiful Alsace

Old Aug 29th, 2013, 02:10 AM
  #1  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 23,773
Likes: 0
Received 6 Likes on 1 Post
A grim visit in beautiful Alsace

This week I was in my grandmother's ancestral village in the Vosges mountains, and I decided that I was due to a visit of one of the sights only 25 kilometers away, just over the pass on the Alsatian side of the mountains.

It is the Struthof-Natzweiler (Natzwiller) Nazi death camp, the only such place to have been located on French soil. My first visit was when I was 7 years old and the war had ended fewer than 20 years earlier. The place is still as stark as it was back then, but it serves as a permanent reminder of how lucky my family was.

Here is the photo report that I made: http://tinyurl.com/struthof
kerouac is online now  
Old Aug 29th, 2013, 02:31 AM
  #2  
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 6,815
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Powerful and poignant photo essay, Kerouac. Your personal connection with the village truly makes this story come "alive". Thank you for sharing this.
progol is offline  
Old Aug 29th, 2013, 03:26 AM
  #3  
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Posts: 4,109
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
I am having a hard time finding words to express my feelings. Progol says it all and says it well. Thank you for sharing and thank you Progol for putting words to my thoughts and emotions.
irishface is offline  
Old Aug 29th, 2013, 04:49 AM
  #4  
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Posts: 25,499
Received 4 Likes on 4 Posts
ttt
bilboburgler is online now  
Old Aug 29th, 2013, 05:24 AM
  #5  
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 10,255
Likes: 0
Received 3 Likes on 1 Post
Can't say it any better than progol.
Fra_Diavolo is online now  
Old Aug 29th, 2013, 06:28 AM
  #6  
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Posts: 2,813
Received 26 Likes on 5 Posts
From here in Austria, "Niemals Vergessen." Never Forget.

Thank you, Kerouac.
fourfortravel is offline  
Old Aug 29th, 2013, 06:53 AM
  #7  
 
Join Date: Dec 2012
Posts: 50
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Thank you for posting this. Prior to your photo essay, I had been aware that there were concentration camps in France, but I did not realize that there was a death camp there.

While it is difficult to look at these pictures, they are important to see.
artfan is offline  
Old Aug 29th, 2013, 09:27 AM
  #8  
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 3,042
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Thanks so much for this report.
bigtyke is offline  
Old Aug 29th, 2013, 09:43 AM
  #9  
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Posts: 2,989
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Kerouac, let me add my thanks for sharing this sobering experience.


The fate of French victims of the Holocaust has always interested me, and your tour of Natzwiller Death Camp brings their stories to life again.


Many of those Jews killed thought that their connections/wealth/social position would save them until it was too late. Examples: the well-known novelist IRENE NEMIROVSKY, deported and killed in 1942; and the daughter and grandchildren of NISSIM DE CAMONDO whose residence near Parc Monceau remains one of the most delightful small museums in Paris.


http://www.lesartsdecoratifs.fr/engl...e-camondo-742/
latedaytraveler is offline  
Old Aug 29th, 2013, 09:48 AM
  #10  
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Posts: 4,350
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Very touching Kerouac.
michele_d is offline  
Old Aug 29th, 2013, 10:09 AM
  #11  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 23,773
Likes: 0
Received 6 Likes on 1 Post
Latedaytraveler, in this particular death camp, the Jews were actually a small minority because it was mostly for political prisoners.

The largest number of prisoners were Polish, followed by Soviet and French. About 25,000 people died there... and 82 managed to escape.
kerouac is online now  
Old Aug 30th, 2013, 03:11 AM
  #12  
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Posts: 2,989
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Kerouac, interesting. Amazing the number of death camps throughout Europe during the Nazi era.
latedaytraveler is offline  
Old Aug 30th, 2013, 03:56 AM
  #13  
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 15,396
Likes: 0
Received 11 Likes on 4 Posts
Thank you.
Nikki is online now  
Old Aug 30th, 2013, 05:22 AM
  #14  
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 679
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
wow-Kerouac, interesting pictures.
surfingmomma is offline  
Old Aug 30th, 2013, 10:30 AM
  #15  
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 417
Received 15 Likes on 3 Posts
Very sobering experience. Thanks for the interesting pictures.
TravelerKaren is offline  
Old Aug 30th, 2013, 11:30 AM
  #16  
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Vancouver
Posts: 4,589
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Years ago, while aimlessly driving around the countryside we
came across this horrible place by accident. Even though we
drove by the outside we could feel a sense of the evil that
went on inside. Thank you for showing a glimpse of what went
on in this hell on earth.
immimi is offline  
Old Aug 30th, 2013, 10:57 PM
  #17  
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 4,823
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Natzweiler was a so called "Nacht und Nebel" camp, especially meant to "disappear" political prisoners. "Annihilation through work" was the main purpose of the camp.

an impressive testimony, in Dutch, to Roessingh, a Dutch survivor of Natzweiler (you'll have to Google translate it, sorry)

http://historiek.net/held-van-de-maa...essingh/19435/
menachem is offline  
Old Aug 30th, 2013, 11:04 PM
  #18  
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 4,823
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
good reminder to think that these resistance fighters were invariably called "terrorists" by the german authorities.
menachem is offline  
Old Sep 1st, 2013, 12:27 PM
  #19  
 
Join Date: Sep 2013
Posts: 5
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Thank you Kerouac, very interesting pictures
NachtundNebel is offline  
Old Sep 1st, 2013, 12:55 PM
  #20  
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 399
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Sobering indeed. I have chills looking at these! Thank you!
MarySteveChicago is offline  

Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Manage Preferences - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information -