Holocaust memorial day 2015 + my concentration camp experiences.

So today, Tuesday the 27th of January 2015 marks 70 years since the liberation of Auschwitz- Birkenau and it is known as the Holocaust memorial day. In light of todays event's I thought I would share my experience on visiting two concentration camps and my thoughts on being a Jew in 2015. 

Let me preface this by saying my fathers side of the family is Jewish therefore somewhat making me half Jewish and it is something I am extremely proud of. Yesterday I wrote a blog post on my top 5 Holocaust books which I'll link here. 

So back in March of 2011 I was given the chance along with others from my year group to go on a school trip to Berlin (which coincided with our GCSE history course). I immediately said yes as this was something I personally wanted to do. Some of the places we visited were the Wannsee Conference House where the final solution to the Jews was decided, Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp and the memorial to the murdered Jews of Europe. 

Wannsee Conference House

Sachsenhausen camp

The first thing I noticed when we entered Sachsenhausen concentration camp was there were no birds, it was a beautiful spring morning yet there was no noise. Trees were growing but there were no flowers, death still lingered 70 years on. I instantly felt very overwhelmed when walking through the gates marked "arbeit macht fret" and tears welled up. I found it a time to be alone and often shied away from my peers despite their comforting words. Sachsenhausen is known for holding mostly "criminals" and it's extensive medical experiments.

Our teacher (who was also Jewish) wouldn't take us into a gas chamber as he felt it would be too distressing however I was extremely curious to know what lied behind closed doors. One room he did take us to was an underground chamber in which they would hold dead bodies for their experiments. Everything about it felt like a gas chamber cold, dark and blood stained, as out teacher closed the door slightly I felt extremely confined and wanted to get out as soon as possible. We then went over to the museum in which you can see where one of the barracks was torched in 1992 by Neo Nazis, It disgusts me that such people are aloud to freely walk the place and that such groups still exist. 

In the Museum they had books and online software which gave the names of the dead. There I was looking at a book which contained my last name, it was then reinforced by my peers showing me on the computers. It's not a very common name therefore there is a high chance we are related, once again I felt the need to step away from my classmates and have a moment to myself. 

Memorial to the murdered Jews of Europe. 

Another monument we visited was the Memorial to the murdered Jews of Europe which features large blocks of concrete varying in different heights and sizes. I found it really moving to walk through and it felt like you could see the light at the end of the tunnel but it was extremely hard to get their due to the uneven flooring. Over the years the memorial has been subjected to vandalism. Whilst we were there both class mates and children were seen running through and on the concrete which I felt was extremely disrespectful to what it represented. 

Overall it is definitely a trip I will never forget. 

Auschwitz I

In February of 2012 my dad and I decided to take the trip to Poland to visit Auschwitz, it was something we had both wanted to do for a while and it was an unbelievable and completely different experience to the one at Sachsenhausen. As you can see from the photo above it had been snowing and therefore added to the experience as it made you imagine how cold they would of been in just thin rags. I can only imagine that they never got warm as I had about 5 layers on and a hot bath still couldn't warm me. 

We were taken on a guided trip around Auschwitz 1 and it was very educating to have someone tell you about all the different buildings. Once again it was extremely quite and all I could hear was the leader speaking and our boots on the snowy paths. We passed small cells, endless amounts of barbed wire and a wall where they would line inmates up and shoot them. 

One thing that surprised me was that you could smell death, literally there was a distinct smell in the air that can only be described as death and burning bodies. It is something that has stuck with me 3 years on. 

Parts of some buildings had been turned into museums and housed thousands of prisoners personal belongings such as shoes, suitcases and prosthetic limbs. 

Prisoner's glasses

Our tour guide then proceeded to take us to the gas chamber. I knew instantly I had to see it for myself however my dad was quite hesitant and only poked his head in. It was extremely eerie as you can almost hear the thousands of screams and see the scratch marks on the walls. The large room had only one window located in the ceiling where the officials would drop the poison in. I didn't want to stay in there for too long and proceeded to the room next door which housed the ovens for them to quickly and continuously burn the bodies. 

After that we were then taken a couple miles down the road to Auschwitz-Birkenau which is the main camp and famous for its elaborate entrance and train tracks. It was extraordinary to see the vast amount of space and we only walked a very small amount of it. We walked into what should of been barracks for houses yet it would of housed hundreds of people inside each one. I remember my dad and I didn't talk much as we were going around as we were too busy taking in our surroundings. 

 I naturally wanted to document everything I saw and took hundreds of photos, it wasn't until I got home that I saw something interesting in one of my images. A small number had been etched/written on the side of a bunk, I'm not sure what it meant but I can only assume that it was a prisoners number. You can see this in the bottom right corner. 

Overall I'm really glad that I made the trip as it was something that I personally needed to do. I felt extremely moved that I could walk around there FREELY with my dad and at the end of the day walk back out of those gates when so many couldn't. 

I asked my dad what he felt about our trip and he said "it was very sad and moving but he felt he had to go, if you want to see grow men cry that's the place to go".

The Holocaust is something we need as a generation and as humans to learn from and always remember otherwise it will happen again. This quote that I found in Auschwitz 1 is extremely accurate.

In 2015 we have already encountered the terrorist attack in France and anti-semitism is at one of its highest points, I feel that more needs to be done to support those who feel in fear just because of who they are or what they believe. I reiterate that I am extremely proud of who I am and where my family have come from and I will continue to voice my experiences and thoughts on the Holocaust as soon there won't be survivors left but just their stories to tell.

Until next time, Sophie 

My Top 5 Holocaust Books

In light of it being 70 years since the atrocities of the Holocaust I have decided to compile a list of my top 5 Holocaust related books. I have a real interest for ww2 and the Holocaust as I studied it at GCSE's and have myself visited 2 concentration camps. 

1. The Diary Of A Young Girl by Anne Frank: This book is a classic when it comes to non-fiction books. I'm sure you all know about Anne Frank and her story but if not it is about her and her Jewish family having to live in a secret annex for years to avoid persecution. It is a timeless book and is amazing to have it written as it was happening rather than many decades later.

2. Anne Frank Remembered by Miep Gies: Miep Gies is one of the few people that helped to hide the Frank and Van Pels families. I found it really interesting to get an outsiders point of view and to see what risks she took to hide them. This book not only features the hard times but also shows how Miep was still able to laugh during that period. It definitely one to read if you are interested in Anne's story. 

3. Annexed by Sharon Dogar: Sharon's book is of a diary style of which features what it would of been like for Peter Van Pels ( the young boy also staying in the annex) and what he might of been feeling during that time. Again it is a great to have another potential view on their situation and is a must read if you liked Peter and Anne's diary. I gave it 5 stars on Goodreads.

4. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak: This is another classic when it comes to Holocaust related books and since its publishing has been turned into an amazing movie. The book features a young girl called Liesel who stays with a couple in Germany in which they later have to hide a jew. The book follows how Liesel deals with the new addition as well as doing anything to get her hands on some new books. I would completely recommend this book to anyone who wants to start reading ww2 related books. 

5. Out Of Hitler Time by Judith Kerr:  This books is a bind up of three of Judith's books which are; "When Hitler stole pink rabbit", "The other way around" and "A small person far away" Despite reading this many years ago I remember really enjoying it and was one of the first ww2 books I read. It follows a girl called Anna who is just a child in the first book and then throughout the following books we see grow up. I would definitely recommend this series.

I filmed a corresponding video which you can see here.

If you've got any Holocaust or ww2 related books then leave me a comment I'd love to get some new recommendations. 

Until next time, Sophie

The Book Thief | Book & Film Comparison

Pages: 552
Film Length: 125 minutes
Book Rating: 5/5
Film Rating: 5/5

Book Review

So this was my second time reading The Book Thief as I first read it about 3 or 4 years ago. I chose to pick up The Book Thief again as I finally managed to get my hands on the DVD and I wanted to compare the two. The first time I read The Book Thief I was studying GCSE History therefore it was really relevant to my work as we were looking at Hitlers rise to power and the ww2 period. This book opened my eyes to this whole genre surrounding the Holocaust and I've been hooked ever since.

From reading it the first time I remembered the general plot line however I couldn't really remember how it ended. I also remembered little things such as the mentioning of Jesse Owens as me and my classmate were able to discuss this with out teacher as we'd both read the book. Overall I really remembered enjoying the book and the way it was narrated. 

Second time around my views were the same, I was still a little unsure of death narrating the book and giving slight spoilers to the rest of the story but as the book went on it just fitted so well and was a very unique aspect. As expected I instantly warmed to Hans Hubermann (Liesel's new father) and I could see that Liesel's mother did love her she just had a more disciplined view on things. 

Spoilers- If you haven't read the book or seen the film I suggest you don't read on as I talk about the end of the book.

Second time around and I was still saddened by the ending and Liesel being the only one to survive the bombing. I feel this really says something about the book as it gave as much impact as if I was reading it for the first time. On the other hand I was overjoyed that Max survived and was able to return to Liesel however I wanted to know what happened between them in the following weeks/months.

Film Comparison

Going into the film I didn't know what to expect from it as I didn't know any of the characters and I hadn't read any reviews on it either. From that I can happily say that I loved the film and it really brought the book to life. Yes there were things that didn't look how I imagined them to be, for instance I expected the Hubermann's house to be smaller and for Himmel Street to be one straight road). I felt that the cast for the Hubermann's was perfect as I again warmed to Hans Hubermann and disliked(at the start) Frau Hubermann. 

One character I did like more in the film than the book was Rudy. He had such a cheekiness to him that I instantly adored and I bawled when he died on the street. 

One scene I felt was the most poignant and powerful was the Kristallnacht scene where Jews were being thrown out of their houses and their businesses destroyed. The singing of the Hitler Youth alongside this bought a sense of innocence to the children compared to the outrageous acts of the party members. 

Another aspect I didn't anticipate for was how big the Mayor's house was, it was just huge!

One of my favourite scenes was the snowball fight in the basement. I loved how they snuck the snow in and really brought the fun side out of Frau Hubermann ( I think this was her turning point in the film). 

A few things I wanted them to include more in the film were:

-Seeing her Father swap seats on the truck and therefore saving his life

-Liesel actually seeing Max in the parade of Jews.

-There wasn't enough concentration of Liesel actually being a thief. 

-Hans Hubermann being a non party member/sympathiser.

Now I know if they had included more it would of been 3 hrs long but I felt that these were some really important parts and in some cases there just wasn't enough emphasis.

I also feel that in the film you're made to assume more that death is narrating whereas in the book its almost told to you. 

Overall I really enjoyed the film and book and would definitely recommend both.

Sophie

Book Review - After Auschwitz by Eva Schloss

One genre of books that I really enjoy reading and learning about are those set in ww2 or involving the holocaust. My dads side if the family is Jewish so I naturally am interested in that period of time and have read numerous non/fiction accounts and stories. 

After Auschwitz is told by Eva Schloss and is her account of living during Nazi reign and how her family were sent to Auschwitz. Although I have read a lot of personal accounts and fictional stories this story really stood out to me, I'm not sure if this is because of the fluidity in which it was written or the harrowing stories she recalls on. 

Eva is actually the step sister of Anne Frank and has helped to carry on her legacy and work. Pre war, Eva was friends with Anne, not best friends but they lived opposite each other therefore there families knew of each other. Post War, Eva's mother married Otto Frank and together published Anne's diary.

I wouldn't go into reading this book though if you want to know more about the Frank Family, if you're looking for a book like that I really suggest "Anne Frank Remembered" by Miep Gies who helped to hide the family and work for Otto.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and in the first day read 200 pages and then finished it the next day. I really liked the family letters that were woven in and it really gave that sentimental touch.

Pages:336
I give this book 4/5
If you like Holocaust accounts you may like this book

Sophie