Pope Francis Visits Auschwitz

[MylesBAstor]

The sheer number of people who perished here is simply inconceivable and Incomprehensible to the ordinary person. 1.5 million people. Very touching story about the Franciscan Monk Kolbe.

[Audiocrack]

I have read an awful lot of books on the Holocaust, biographies of the perpetrators, stories of the few victims that somehow survived this ordeal, etc.

The more I try to understand how (i) this grandscale murder could take place and (ii) how a bunch of gangsters could lead a whole nation into this direction the less I understand it. Of course a lot of (technical) 'explanations' have been brought forward by all kind of scholars after WO II but I still cannot imagine how ordinary people can consider other human beings as 'untermenschen' or subhuman with the 'right' to finish them off the way the the nazis did.

Somehow the human race seems not to be able to learn from its mistakes in the past and get rid of the wickedness that surrounds us.

[Garth]

Very true when you read WW1 was called the great War also called the War to end all Wars that one was a bit short sighted too bad.

and you are right the more you study the event the stranger it gets and harder to understand how so many, over that length of time could do what they did.

[siddh]

Harder yet to fathom is how a nation so culturally imbued with music, art and science could inexplicably coact and bow to a leader with such an abominable, horrific vision and final solution.

[Rob]

as individuals, many Catholics risked their lives to save Jews during the war, history will also show the Catholic church itself did practically nothing and capitulated to the Nazis. I'm of two minds since I have relatives that were victims of the holocaust and a side which are a majority Catholic. This pope seems to 'get it' bringing much needed gravitas to the issue of genocide which seemingly never ends, i.e DAESH/ISIS and others. history continues to show us man's greatest enemy is himself.

[mep]

And the world said "Never again," but genocide continues on various scales.

[Analog21]

WWII, the Holocaust specifically, really turned the tide as far as the Enlightenment concept of societal progress and progress of humanity. So many issues arise out of this evil, and ultimately shows that humanity cannot solve the problem of evil in humanity, nor heal the injustices that occur in every generation. This was not very long ago, which puts this evil into a more modern context, including the evils during civll rights era. This one really hits home for us, since this was during so called "civilized" times. Still mind-blowing to reflect upon.

[MylesBAstor]

[MylesBAstor]

Still not a clear understanding of what happened to this angel. Just more mysteries.

[Alrainbow]

Great topic Myles. Here is what I see as of now the Muslims need help and I know this . But since the terror groups have been smart enough to infuse them selves with them two things happen. First I feel it makes it hard to choose who to help for sheer fear , second as the world grows cold of accepting them it keeps them grouped where they are to be future abused. This makes me sick as it's what happened to the Jews at that time for reasons I'll never understand . I am well Aware of this and makes me wonder what is right in this. The Jews were and still are a great group who hurt no one and give so much culture in arts and life in general. It's tough choice what to do. For me I moved my family 500 miles to whT I feel is a time machine some 20 years back to avoid this barrage of choices we now face.

[Audiocrack]

What a shame that our fears about a real hero like Walkenberg turn out to be true and that one monster (Stalin) replaced the other (Hitler) in large parts of the world. Wallenberg was an extraordinary man and should never be forgotten.

[JCOConnell]

Once the truth about the Nazi's genocidal ways came out, even if Hitler had won the war, he could never have held his power for long.

[GaryB]

Once the truth about the Nazi's genocidal ways came out, even if Hitler had won the war, he could never have held his power for long.

JC,
This strikes me as a particularly naive and potentially dangerous reading of history. It treats the holocaust as an anomaly that could only have happened behind closed door and would never have occurred if only it had been exposed to the harsh light of day. History tells a very different tale.

For a interesting, fictional exploration of what could have happened during that time period in the US, I recommend a book by Philip Roth, "The Plot Against America". It explores a fictional America where Charles Lindberg, a known Nazi sympathizer, ran for President in 1940 and won.

---Gary

[MylesBAstor]

Once the truth about the Nazi's genocidal ways came out, even if Hitler had won the war, he could never have held his power for long.

Sorry I don't see it that way at all! If you understand what Hitler had up his sleeve weapon wise had he had another six month or so to prosecute the war, it might have turned out very differently. Then those V2s and more ICBMs would have reached the American shores from Europe.

Fact is, no one really cared about the fate of the Jews. It was only until later in the war that the Allies said they learned about the concentration camps but history has proven otherwise. In addition, the biggest question is having learned about the concentration camps, why didn't the Allies bomb the tracks to the camps? Of course, the lame answer is they would have rebuilt them. I don't buy that answer for a second.

That was only second to the fact that there was a huge Nazi movement in our country funded by the leading oligarchs of the time: Ford, Harriman, Carnegie, Bush, Kennedy, etc. Look up the subject of the Eugenics movement in the US and how we actually began the Nazi movement and had scientists hear with bogus science working with Mengele and others. Also check on the forced sterilization here and the Supreme ruling Buck vs. Bell that legitimized sterilization. All out of the Eugenics movement.

And Stalin was just about to embark on another pogram in Russia after war sending all the Jews there to concentration camps because of Golda Meir's reception upon her visit. See the doctors plot in Russia. Only thing that stopped it was Stalin dying.