concentration camps
 

Okay, please help with concentration camps. This in particular I don't want to overdo. We will visit Prague, Budapest, Austria and Bavaria in Germany. We will visit Germany more in depth next year so I know there are concentration camps there as well so I certainly can wait to do a camp then. So, the areas that we will see this summer that have a concentration camp are in Berchtegarden, 12 miles s. of Salzburg amd Terezin Concentration Camp outside of Prague. There may be even more that I have not discovered yet. What do you recommend?

Have you Googled ANYTHING?

not yet, what are you thinking I should google?

Google "concentration camps in Bavaria" and "concentration camps in Austria"

Terezin was a very moving and sober day... but certainly a very worthwhile trip. The only concentration camp that I've visited.

I was also very moved at Terezin. The whole town seems as if it has remained the same. As you remember, it was the camp that was often dressed up for Red Cross visits, but behind the facades, were people living in squallor. It's worth a visit if you can fit it in.

We visited Mathausen (sp?) And found it very somber and worthwhile

Hi ti,

Why do you want to visit concentration camps?
Who will be going?

I'm not being nosy. It will affect my suggestions.

((I))

We are in our 60's and as I said I am only interested in visiting one or 2 camps. With that said I am exploring other itineraries. Originally I thought we'd visit Prague, Budapest, Austria, and maybe the Bavarian area of Germany. We will do Germany another trip.Now I am thinking that maybe we should include Poland in this trip instead of Bavaria. Then possibly the camp that we would see would be Auschwitz and of course other sites. Otherwise I don't know that we would ever visit Poland. I am sure there is much else to see in Poland.Thoughts, does Poland merit a visit??

There are very few places in the world that don't 'merit a visit'....

Krakow is regarded as one of Europe's most beautiful and historic cities. And the Tatra mountains are very scenic.

We really enjoyed Krakow. Auschwitz was an easy day trip via public transportation, and very moving. If you plan to do Germany for a future trip I would drop it from this one and add Poland. Don't miss the Terror and Holocaust Museums in Budapest, both are excellent.

"Thoughts, does Poland merit a visit??"

Well it's a country that has seen massive brutality and massive beauty, so...no, there's nothing there for you to learn.

Honestly, at what point are you embarrassed to mull over the possibility that an entire COUNTRY is not worthy of a visit from you?

Two things in particular struck me on our visit to Dachau. The first is how close it is to town - people in the town are said to claim they did not know what what the camp was about -how could they not?

The second was how small the camp was considering the number of people interned there.

If you visit Terezin, be sure to visit its museum in town as well as the crematorium. The docent there gave an excellent and moving explanation of how the crematorium was run. Young teenagers were used to load the bodies into the ovens and after a few months it became their turn.

tidy:
Over the past 50 years or so, I have visited all "recognizable name" K-Kamps as well as some rarely if ever mentioned ones throughout Europe...on professional assignments. Knowingsome of your past posts, I suggest you go to Theresienstadt (Terezin) and save others for your next trip.

I visited Budapest and Krakow last October. Saw both the Terror Museum in Budapest and Auschwitz in Krakow. Both are very interesting to see, lots to learn but prepared that it's very heavy on the mind and heart. While in Budapest, if time permits, try to take a day trip out to Szentendre, cute little medieval town on the river (and only 30mins out of the city)

As for your comment "Otherwise I don't know that we would ever visit Poland." - perhaps doing a bit of reading up on places you're thinking of going might help. Google: Krakow or Zakopane and the Tatras.

We did this day trip for Auschwitz and the Salt Mine: http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attract...rn_Poland.html

Also went to Warsaw for 2 days (was flying out from there). Checked out the Uprising Museum. Again very interesting. They also have an Old Town which is actually not that old since Warsaw was bombed to ruins and everything you see in the main part of town was rebuilt in the 50's/60's (or sometime around then).

Yikes, I'm sorry that I said "does it merit a visit". Of course I know that every place has its beauty, history etc. I do not know much about Poland. We are flying with BA and unfortunaely they do not serve Krakow I need to think about the travel time for such a short visit. It looks like it will take about 8 hours on the train to travel between BP and Krakow or Krakow and Prague.Thanks for all of your help.

tidy,
Yes, it will take 8 hours by train from Prague to Krakow. We did just that in 2003. We decided to go to Poland because that is where my grandmother was born. Also, we were visiting my daughter who was studying in Prague at the time, & we allocated about 5 days for the trip to Poland. I don't know if you have the time since you are going to several other countries, but if you can, Poland is definitely worth the visit. Krakow is beautiful! Auschwitz is, of course, depressing, but worth to see for historical purposes & so we don't forget the horrors that happened there.

We also rented a car for 2 days & drove through southern Poland (very pretty countryside) & stayed in a castle overnight. I don't remember the name but it's close to the Ukraine border. I know you are interested in castles, too; I responded to your other post.

If you don't see Poland on this trip, perhaps when you visit Germany at some future date, you could include Poland.

You really need a better idea of the various levels of Nazi hell in deciding what you want to see as "concentration camps." The term is used interchangeably with more accurate descriptions such as "extermination camp" and "detention camp" and "transit site."

Terezin was at a junction of various train lines and more a transit site than a concentration camp - boxcar loads of Jews would be transited through Terezin to the various concentration and death camps (basically all the human traffic from Hungary to Auschwitz traveled via Terezin; Hungary had the second largest number of Holocaust victims even though the Holocaust reached it only in the late spring and summer of 1944) . The Nazis also used it to dupe the International Red Cross (whose inspectors consisted of a Swiss and two persons from countries then under Nazi control).

Mauthausen in Austria was a concentration camp. Most of the extermination camps (Chelmno, Sobibor, Belzec, Treblinka, Majdanek, the Birkenau situs of the Auschwitz camp) were in Poland. There is no concentration camp near Budapest.

Thanks for taking the time to educate me. YOu are right I know very little at this time, I am just beginning my planning. I learn so much from planning a trip and ofcourse from all of you kind people who take the time to help.

Over the years we've been to Mauthausen and Dachau. Unless I was doing historical research, I would not dwell on concentration camps. It is enlightening to see from a historical perspective, but to plan to see so many can be quite taxing. Even after visiting one, it takes a long time to get over the tremendous suffering these poor people had to endure. Remember the past, live for today, and look to a brighter tomorrow!