Do not forget to read one of the great books on the concentration camps befor you go. The accounts of Corrie ten Boom are great, of one of Victor Frankls psychology books. He wrote these from what he learned about humans in the concentration camps. <BR> <BR>I stayed with Germans when I said that I wanted to visit Dachau and was met by silence. The Germans prefer to forget the world war and wants the rest of teh world to forget as well. I can understand that they do not want to give directions. <BR> <BR>

<BR>Dear Mr Sawyer, <BR> <BR>May I add a few footnotes to this long and interesting correspondence ? <BR> <BR>I think nobody's told you where Terezin is. It's 68 kilometers north of Prague, and can be reached by slow trains on the line towards Dresden. <BR> <BR>I don't think Jews destroyed any camps. Mostly, allied armies did. When the British reached Bergen-Belsen they were horrified: English sergeants with four years war behind them paused to vomit. <BR> <BR>The trip to Ausschwitz is long, but worth while. If you sleep well on trains, you might like to take a sleeping car from Berlin Lichtenberg at 2120, or from Dresden main station at 2240, and arrive in Krakow next morning. (If you want notes on night trips Dachau, Munich, Berlin, Sachsenhausen, or Dachau, Munich, Prague, Terezin, please tell me). <BR> <BR>As others have said, Krakow is one of the great cities of Europe, and is beautiful. I think you should take the bus to Auschwitz, not go on a tour. In the entry hall they sell good, and cheap, handbooks in many languages. there are rooms where all you want is silence, and the love of God. In a more practical vein, it is embarrassing to weep in the middle of a tour group. <BR>. <BR>Ben Haines, London <BR>

Actually, while the Jews did not destroy any camps entirely, they did blow up acrematoria, at Auschwitz, I believe. Before you go, you should also get your hands on any book by Arnost Lustig. He is a professor of Holocaust film and literature at American University in Washington, DC. He escaped from several concentration camps, including the ghetto at Theresienstadt. His books will surely prepare you for your visit as well as give you some excellent background information.

I recently finished a book titled "The Last Survivor: In Search of Martin Zaidenstadt" written by an Austrian journalist called Timothy W. Ryback. If you have visited Dachau, you may have seen, even talk to Mr. Zaidenstadt. The book narrates some of the impressions Mr. Ryback had about present day Dachausers and how they deal with the sad notoriety of their town. The framework for this account is a Dachau survivor (Mr. Zaidenstadt), who has made it a crusade to go to Dachau every day and talk to people about what went on during the holocaust/Nazi Germany regime. <BR> <BR>Highly recommend this book for potential visitors. Although a bit disturbing at times, it is an absorbing book that should augment the experience when visiting the actual site. <BR> <BR>Phil, I hope this recommendation helps.

Just as I'm about to leave this forum because of the dreck (see "What most irritates") a few wonderful, insightful people contribute. My wife and I walked Mauthausen on a lovely, sunny day and we cried.

I was told not to visit Dachau at the end of my trip because it can be depressing and a vacation should end on a high note. I was also told that there is still the smell of death that is hard to get out of ones mind and that I should put something like vicks on my nose so that I don't smell anything. Is this true? I can't imagine. Makes me not want to visit Dachau although I would like to.

Judy, you have been misinformed. There is no smell at Dachau other than the industrious effort made by Germans to sanitize the place, tidy up their past, and give the impression that it was like a rest camp for miscreants.

I've been to Dachau twice and agree with most of the posters. It is definitely worth going to, definitely depressing,yet a bit sanitized. The Germans in town seemed quite embarrassed by the fact that it remains. My first time there was on a German holiday and the buses don't run as often from the train station so be careful...it's quite a ways to hoof it. I suggest first going to the administration building which is now a museum and seeing the short film. This will give you more perspective as you walk around camp. After returning from Germany, please go to the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. I found this to be more educational, thought provoking and emotional, but I appreciated it even more after seeing the actual camp.

Must add my 2 cents (and a question) to this very sobering post. We stopped by Mauthausen purely on impulse as we drove down the A1 2 years ago. It was quite possibly the most intense and meaningful experience I've had in travelling the world. Walking into the actual gas chambers, peering into the ovens, pictures affixed to these structures of camp victims being exterminated right there 50 years previous. <BR>I wasn't alive when these atrocities took place. Travelling, for me, is enjoyable mostly because it lets me experience life as others live it, to see the world from a different perspective and broaden my view of what is meaningful to others. The concentration camp experience is very powerful on many levels. <BR> <BR>We went on from there to Munich to have dinner with friends (she, from the US, her husband a native of Berlin and in his 60's). I asked, trying to be as delicate as possible, what is taught in the German school system about the Holocaust. The silence was eerie and uncomfortable as he, a consummate conversationalist and nearly nonstop talker, searched. Obviously this is not discussed much in Germany. I didn't get much of an answer and have been troubled by and curious about this ever since. I understand the shame/guilt/embarrassment that must accompany these issues...that's not the point. The unwillingness to discuss it, however, even 50 years later is difficult for me to understand. Openly discussing these issues, especially in the school system, would seem to me to be valuable, almost necessary, to insure that such circumstances never occur again. Does this not happen in Germany? Anyone out there with an insider's opinion?

Gardener--- I have experienced the same conspicuous silence when bringing the subject with members of the younger German generation. As a matter of fact, I received a very stern " I do not wish to talk about it" from, what I considered a good German friend, when I asked her about the movie "Saving Private Ryan"!. <BR> <BR>I agree with you. Not talking about it or wiping any evidence for future generations only guarantees a resurgence giving some time. Last January's elections in Austria may be the best example at hand.

It would be great if someone who is a recent graduate of the German education system could answer this question. It would be interesting to know just what is taught about this. Officially, Germany seems very intent on ensuring that it doesn't happen again, in that it has very strict laws against almost anything invoking Nazism. However, it would seem that the best way is to educate people about these issues. From what I know about Germany, I think there are two thoughts in the country about this: (1) to admit we were wrong and move on and (2) to maintain a vigilant stance against extremism and never forget what happened. I don't want to start an argument on this, but similar things have happened in other countries. Japan has had a very hard time determining how to deal with its "war guilt," for example. Also, in the U.S. there are those who say we must never forget slavery and segregation, while others say those days are over, so lets move on to other issues. If you look at the magnitude of Nazi Germany's actions, you can understand the difficulty of accepting the responsibility and in trying to move past those times. The Holocaust was the most obvious wrong, but what about the millions of soldiers and non-Jewish civilians who died all over Europe trying to defeat Germany's unrelenting expansion. The Soviet Union alone lost millions.

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I was in Dachau in 1968 and I agree that it was a very emotional and very worthwhile experience. Are you all aware that Stalin murdered even more people in the Soviet Union during the 40's and 50's. This can happen again unless we are vigilant. Look at the all the imbeciles here in this country with their hate groups. <BR>Germany had the best record of treatment of the Jewish people in the world until Hitler. The French had a record of persecution in the 20's. Have any of you read the Dreyfus affair. <BR>Hitler build the SS by going to small towns and recruiting the bullies. <BR>I plan on visiting Auschwitz when I go to Poland in either 1 or 3 years. <BR>For a good book on the time in Hungary read John Bierman's RIGHTEOUS GENTILE about Raoul Wallenberg who saved many Jewish people in Budapest. <BR> <BR>

I hate going on organized tours, but in Krakow this summer the hotel really talked us into taking an organized tour to Auschwitz rather than winging it on our own. I am so glad. It cost about $20 each and laster almost all day. We had an excellent tour "leader" who gave us some background on the bus, but ushered us into the movie, and then turned us over to a local guide who was extremely thourough and knowledgeable. We had extra time to go back and see anything again if we wanted to, and then we were taken to Birkenau with another full guided tour. This tour only took up to 18 people so not a bad size. It was not only a very moving day, but one I will never forget. I know that I could not have gotten half so much out of it if we had been on our own. Incidentally we talked to people in Krakow who got stuck at Auschwitz the day before when the last train of the day back to Krakow never showed up. This is not an unknown experience in Poland. They found a hotel and spent the night with all their stuff in the hotel in Krakow.

I thought it was worth mentioning Treblinka. Do not expect it to be like Dachau or Auschwitz-Birkenau, as it was completely destroyed. But it is a profoundly moving place. I did not go to Majdanek, but apparently that is well preserved. It is difficult to write on a forum like this without it sounding like some tasteless or macabre form of tourism, but believe me these places tell you more than a thousand books will ever do. Although Dachau is a shocking place, in my view only a visit to one of the Polish camps gives you a true idea of the scale of what happened.

Auschwitz is the German name for the small Polish town Oseviciem (or something like that), located 12km south of Katowice, and some more distance southwest of Krakow. The museum is fantastic, if such a word can be used for such a place. After that visit things will never be the same. <BR>I visited the museum in 1983, combined with a trip to Checkoslovakia. Going from Krakow via Zakopane/Tatry mountains in Poland/check was a nice and interesting trip <BR>Bjorn

My father was in the military and we were assigned to a post in England from 1951 to 53, when I was about 6 years old. Before being rotated back to the States we spent a month touring Europe, including visiting Dachau, which at that time had not yet been turned into the memorial site it is today. Even though I do not remember much of that trip, I remember clearly my father asking directions and being deliberately misled by the locals who were understandably ashamed of what had happened there. <BR> <BR>I visited Dachau again, some 40 years later, and had a disturbing succession of "flashbacks" when I came upon places that I subliminally remembered from my earlier trip. I would walk along not recognizing anything, then literally take only another step and the scene would snap into focus and I knew I had stood on the exact same spot 40 years earlier. This was a very emotional experience that I have trouble writing about even now, several years later. <BR> <BR>As someone alluded to above, Dachau was not one of the true "death camps" such as Auschwitz, though certainly many were murdered there and countless other horrible acts were performed. Disturbing though the experience may be, I wish everyone could visit these camps, lest we too easily forget and allow it to happen again.

If you go to Auschwitz, I recommend taking a tour. We didn't. We took a bus out there which was very cheap and then walked around on our own. I had read a lot about it but I overheard some tours which gave a lot more info. Birkenau is about 2 miles away, and you'll be walking on the side of a small highway. From Auschwitz it wasn't clear which way to start walking. The shuttle bus is only convenient if you happen to be ready to leave when it does, which is not very often. We took a taxi (there was only 1 waiting). Birkenau is huge and very disturbing. Again, to get back to Auschwitz where the bus comes you either have to walk or be lucky enough to catch the shuttle. Our taxi driver was still there so we lucked out. We were there in June and the last bus was around 6pm and I don't know about the trains. I would recommend to anyone to take an organized tour and save yourself the transportation troubles. I definitely recommend going to Auschwitz but be prepared for an emotional day. The rooms of hair, luggage and shoes are very difficult.

I will say that although Auschwitz is often seen as the most important of the death camps to see, I was much more affected by Majdanek, which is right outside of Lublin, Poland, in the south-east. It is very well preserved, adn not so touristy as Auschwitz. If you take a train to Krakow, and take a bus or train to Auschwitz, you can take a train to Lublin also, and stop at Majdanek. One thing I base my preference on is that I cried at Majdanek - but not at Auschwitz. The "bunkers" (I'm not sure of the name for the buildings on the compounds) all have tile floor at Auschwitz, adn new walls and all that because of the high volume of tourists - Majdanek, on the other hand, had the original bunkers, with beds still in some of them, and some open for visitors to walk around in. The crematoria and gas chambers are open, and so powerful - I didn't know what to make of it all, but it really affected me. The most powerful aspect of Majdanek, though, is the dome at the back of the compound - it holds the ashes of the Polish and Jewish and other nationality people that were killed there. As morbid as it sounds, seeing a gigantic mound of greyish ash in front of you makes you think about not only the suffering of these people, but of your own life and how much pain you bring to others. Wow, this turned out to be a long reply - I just feel that it is important to see Majdanek adn Auschwitz, if time allows. Have a good trip.

I forgot to mention that if you go to a camp in Poland, and especially Majdanek, to read the part in James Mitchner's Poland about the camp - it is so well written, that it brings it all to life.