Auschwitz Not long ago, Not far away.

[4Waters]

We decided to go to the Ronald Reagan Library today for the Auschwitz exhibit. This is a must see if you live within driving distance or are going to be driving through, plan on the exhibit taking 3.5-4hrs and more if you want to see the rest of the Library.

We need to not forget this part of history. The pictures and the personal items on display are heart wrenching. The testimonials really get you and in the end as you will see all the survivors want is no hate in this world.

The railcar that took the prisoners to the camps

The Berlin Wall

The back side

One thing I did not know until today is that Auschwitz was the only concentration camp to tattoo their prisoners.

I have told this story before but it's worth telling again, it's short and I wish I would have had more time to talk to him.

When I worked in Agoura Hills we had an assisted living across the 101 from our station that had a lot of Jewish people in it and some of them had their tattoos.

One day we get a call and we get there an it's a gentleman with a strong German accent. We do our assessment and decide he is a BLS transport so off to Los Robles we go.

We get him in the back of the ambulance and I jokingly say "Do your kids hate you" (this was back when people had thick skin) he chuckled and said "No", I said "There are a lot of Jewish people in there" and he said with a sigh,

"I know, these are the kindest people I have ever met, I was a guard at Dachau Concentration Camp and I watched some of these people walk in. I was just a brain washed 17yo kid and these people have taken me in and forgiven me for what I had done, luckily I was just a guard at the gate".

I was taken back, basically speechless, I'm sitting here with a Nazi guard, HOLY SHIT!! We talked a little but I had a job to do, I wish I would have asked him if I could come visit him or at the very least just showed up as I'm sure he would have just enjoyed the company.

 

[havasujeeper]

No shit? I also was there today! A really good exhibit!

 

[WhatExit?]

“Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” Winston Churchill. History never repeats itself. Every single historical moment is distinct from those past. However, we must learn from our mistakes so that we do not run the risk of repeating them.

 

[rivrrts429]

Great post and agree 100%. An incredible time in our history we should never forget. Good job Mom & Dad taking your children who likely won’t be taught the atrocities of WWII.

 

[TimeBandit]

I did not know about the Auschwitz only tattoo thing... my friends dad had a tattoo, he escaped from a train car during transport, from where to where I don't know.

Great guy, built up a nice business by working his ass off.

 

[stephenkatsea]

And those dip shit Dems in congress just said the Repubs do not want our schools to teach about the holocaust. WTF? Where did they get that? Another blatant 100% lie! Total BS

 

[4Waters]

I did not know about the Auschwitz only tattoo thing... my friends dad had a tattoo, he escaped from a train car during transport, from where to where I don't know.

Great guy, built up a nice business by working his ass off.

He was most likely being transferred from Auschwitz to another camp

 

[4Waters]

Great post and agree 100%. An incredible time in our history we should never forget. Good job Mom & Dad taking your children who likely won’t be taught the atrocities of WWII.

Thanks, we do the best we can. Last exhibit we saw was WW2 and before that was Pompeii. The exhibits never disappoint

 

[HALLETT BOY]

How brainwashed those people were back then is exactly what our federal govt is doing to us right now . A great example was listening to and voting for Obama .it has only accelerated since then .

 

[stephenkatsea]

We lived in Camarillo for 20 yrs, just off of Santa Rosa Rd, not far from the Library. We often took our daughters to the Reagan Library. An amazing, always interesting and beautiful place.

 

[RVR SWPR]

View attachment 1213856

We decided to go to the Ronald Reagan Library today for the Auschwitz exhibit. This is a must see if you live within driving distance or are going to be driving through, plan on the exhibit taking 3.5-4hrs and more if you want to see the rest of the Library.

We need to not forget this part of history. The pictures and the personal items on display are heart wrenching. The testimonials really get you and in the end as you will see all the survivors want is no hate in this world.

The railcar that took the prisoners to the camps

View attachment 1213857
View attachment 1213858
View attachment 1213859
View attachment 1213860

The Berlin Wall

View attachment 1213863

The back side

View attachment 1213864


One thing I did not know until today is that Auschwitz was the only concentration camp to tattoo their prisoners.

I have told this story before but it's worth telling again, it's short and I wish I would have had more time to talk to him.

When I worked in Agoura Hills we had an assisted living across the 101 from our station that had a lot of Jewish people in it and some of them had their tattoos.

One day we get a call and we get there an it's a gentleman with a strong German accent. We do our assessment and decide he is a BLS transport so off to Los Robles we go.

We get him in the back of the ambulance and I jokingly say "Do your kids hate you" (this was back when people had thick skin) he chuckled and said "No", I said "There are a lot of Jewish people in there" and he said with a sigh,

"I know, these are the kindest people I have ever met, I was a guard at Dachau Concentration Camp and I watched some of these people walk in. I was just a brain washed 17yo kid and these people have taken me in and forgiven me for what I had done, luckily I was just a guard at the gate".

I was taken back, basically speechless, I'm sitting here with a Nazi guard, HOLY SHIT!! We talked a little but I had a job to do, I wish I would have asked him if I could come visit him or at the very least just showed up as I'm sure he would have just enjoyed the company.

View attachment 1213866

Well Done 4Waters. Seriously Well Done.

 

[McKay]

If you ever make it to Israel Yad Vashem is a worthwhile exhibit that is very worth your time.

I think for a lot of Germans it was a very fine line from toeing the line and going over the cliff to being the Righteous Among the Nations.

 

[RVR SWPR]

We lived in Camarillo for 20 yrs, just off of Santa Rosa Rd, not far from the Library. We often took our daughters to the Reagan Library. An amazing, always interesting and beautiful place.

Was incredible watch that Building go up from Tierra Rejada,especially the airplane section.

 

[4Waters]

No shit? I also was there today! A really good exhibit!

We got there at 2 and just barely finished, we could have used a extra 30-45 min

 

[timstoy]

A dark time in history that should be taught in school so this does not happen again. The Democrats controlling the media and never ending gun control regulations are the start of what happened in Germany under Hitler.

 

[4Waters]

@TimeBandit if you still live in Oak Park you should make some time to go, especially since you personally know someone that was there, do the audio tour

 

[4Waters]

FOR ANYONE WANTING TO GO!!!!!

This exhibit is extremely popular, you will need to purchase your tickets a couple days early on-line and pick a time, I highly suggest you don't choose a time after 2:00 and get there 20 minutes early

 

[stephenkatsea]

There was/is a private office, Reagan family area of the Library upstairs. We were among the very last to receive a guided tour of those private quarters. We felt like we were walking through someone’s very comfortable and friendly home. Recall there was an embroidered throw pillow on one of the sofas. Embroidered on it was ‘A woman is like a tea bag. You never know how strong they are until you put them in some Hot Water’. Our docent told us that pillow was Nancy’s favorite. Another interesting item in that private area was a beautiful long wooden business meeting table. It would have easily sat 12+ people. Right in the middle of that wooden table was a substantial gouge. We asked the docent about it. She smiled and said, ‘Well the Reagan’s want that to remain, just as it is. That’s all I can say about that’. Who knows what caused it? Perhaps a crazy Soviet slamming down his shoe and dragging it across? Just a few days after our visit they stopped providing the tours of the private Reagan family area. We later learned Nancy and staff, with the President’s failing health, began using those areas to conduct communications and their daily work. We were extremely fortunate to receive that amazing tour.

 

[Blackmagic94]

A horrible point in time for mankind. The only bad part is people tend to forgot all the other terrible massacres that took place during ww2 to other groups that don’t get movies or muesems.


How bout Bataan Death March that killed 18,000 plus for going on a walk.

Or the Katyn massacre in Poland when a single soviet NKVD officer, Vasily Blokhin, shot over 7000 polish prisoner in 28 days by himself. Btw that isn’t his total kill count either.

 

[WhatExit?]

The most powerful 120 pages you will ever read (well, except perhaps for the Bible) are contained in this book. If you ever read and have time to read only 120 pages I implore you to read this incredible (TRUE STORY) book...

Born in the town of Sighet, Transylvania, Elie Wiesel was a teenager when he and his family were taken from their home in 1944 to the Auschwitz concentration camp, and then to Buchenwald. Night is the terrifying record of Elie Wiesel's memories of the death of his family, the death of his own innocence, and his despair as a deeply observant Jew confronting the absolute evil of man.

It's $6.27 on Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/Night-Elie-Wiesel/dp/0374500010

 

[4Waters]

The most powerful 120 pages you will ever read (well, except perhaps for the Bible) are contained in this book. If you ever read and have time to read only 120 pages I implore you to read this incredible (TRUE STORY) book...

Born in the town of Sighet, Transylvania, Elie Wiesel was a teenager when he and his family were taken from their home in 1944 to the Auschwitz concentration camp, and then to Buchenwald. Night is the terrifying record of Elie Wiesel's memories of the death of his family, the death of his own innocence, and his despair as a deeply observant Jew confronting the absolute evil of man.

It's $6.27 on Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/Night-Elie-Wiesel/dp/0374500010

My daughter just read that in her AP World History class

 

[WhatExit?]

My daughter just read that in her AP World History class

Borrow it from her - it'll take 2 hours or less to read it

 

[Dunerking]

When I was in Berlin working I’d walk around and I would noticed these brass cobblestones. These were basically markers in recognition of the people that were removed from their homes and where were sent.

 

[Racer56]

@4Waters thank you for posting this. The Regan library is a crown jewel of Socal and puts on the best exhibitions. It's refreshing to see a non anti-semitic post and conversation on this website.

 

[4Waters]

Borrow it from her - it'll take 2 hours or less to read it

It is the school's book, I'll see what she can do, her teacher really likes her and she may be able to get it for a couple days for me.

 

[4Waters]

@4Waters thank you for posting this. The Regan library is a crown jewel of Socal and puts on the best exhibitions. It's refreshing to see a non anti-semitic post and conversation on this website.

You're welcome, hope you and the family can make it to this exhibit. This week is my kids spring break and my daughter will be going back in 2 weeks with school to see the exhibit. Yes a public school will be going to see this.

 

[Flyinbowtie]

One of the rare times I wish I was closer to SoCal. I'd love to see that exhibit.

It does my heart good to read so many of you are actively teaching your children about history, I salute all of you. One of the ways we give them the strength to stand up against lies is to fill their hearts and minds with the truth.

Our next door neighbors were a Jewish family in Long Beach. A son my age and daughter my sisters age. They were great people, and I got a chance to understand their faith a bit. I went to the sons Bar Mitzvah. They were just great people, Dad was a legit rocket scientist, He designed the instrument panel on the X-15. The son, well I new even as a kid he was a bloody genius. He got me into reading..(anyone remember the Tom Swift Jr books?)
He was a MD and worked in cancer research for decades.

What Exit thanks for the book suggestion, it is ordered. I will read it then my 14 year old granddaughter will be assigned to read it, and then we will sit down and talk about it.

Mans inhumanity to man is sometimes hard to believe. Guarding against it in every way possible is critical.

- I am slowly collecting those Tom Swift Jr books for my grandsons. We have 3. "Poppas Library" is a real thing. Getting them hooked on reading is a high priority goal.

 

[WhatExit?]

@4Waters thank you for posting this. The Regan library is a crown jewel of Socal and puts on the best exhibitions. It's refreshing to see a non anti-semitic post and conversation on this website.

So true - thanks for saying it

One of the rare times I wish I was closer to SoCal. I'd love to see that exhibit.

It does my heart good to read so many of you are actively teaching your children about history, I salute all of you. One of the ways we give them the strength to stand up against lies is to fill their hearts and minds with the truth.

Our next door neighbors were a Jewish family in Long Beach. A son my age and daughter my sisters age. They were great people, and I got a chance to understand their faith a bit. I went to the sons Bar Mitzvah. They were just great people, Dad was a legit rocket scientist, He designed the instrument panel on the X-15. The son, well I new even as a kid he was a bloody genius. He got me into reading..(anyone remember the Tom Swift Jr books?)
He was a MD and worked in cancer research for decades.

What Exit thanks for the book suggestion, it is ordered. I will read it then my 14 year old granddaughter will be assigned to read it, and then we will sit down and talk about it.

Mans inhumanity to man is sometimes hard to believe. I don't. Guarding against it in every way possible is critical.

- I am slowly collecting those Tom Swift Jr books for my grandsons. We have 3. "Poppas Library" is a real thing. Getting them hooked on reading is a high priority goal.

Very nice to hear/read. I used to have Tom Swift books

I’d happily pay $6.00 to those interested in buying the book if they’re not convinced it’ll be worth the $ or time

 

[4Waters]

One of the rare times I wish I was closer to SoCal. I'd love to see that exhibit.

It does my heart good to read so many of you are actively teaching your children about history, I salute all of you. One of the ways we give them the strength to stand up against lies is to fill their hearts and minds with the truth.

Our next door neighbors were a Jewish family in Long Beach. A son my age and daughter my sisters age. They were great people, and I got a chance to understand their faith a bit. I went to the sons Bar Mitzvah. They were just great people, Dad was a legit rocket scientist, He designed the instrument panel on the X-15. The son, well I new even as a kid he was a bloody genius. He got me into reading..(anyone remember the Tom Swift Jr books?)
He was a MD and worked in cancer research for decades.

What Exit thanks for the book suggestion, it is ordered. I will read it then my 14 year old granddaughter will be assigned to read it, and then we will sit down and talk about it.

Mans inhumanity to man is sometimes hard to believe. I don't. Guarding against it in every way possible is critical.

- I am slowly collecting those Tom Swift Jr books for my grandsons. We have 3. "Poppas Library" is a real thing. Getting them hooked on reading is a high priority goal.

It's going to be there till at least August but due to it's popularity it may get extended through the end of the year, stay at a hotel near the beach in Ventura, let @Tank know your coming and that will give him an excuse to bbq (he doesn't need an excuse) and enjoy a few days.

 

[Dan Lorenze]

Was incredible watch that Building go up from Tierra Rejada,especially the airplane section.

I could see it from my house up on the hill...

 

[TPC]

"History doesn't repeat itself, but it rhymes" - Historian Chris Mowery.

We're heading there today.
Last time we went to The Pompei exhibit and was it ever amazing.
Ya gotta' get their early, parking fills up fast.

Exhibits are always way better than you expect. They are all good.

 

[Mandelon]

I've been to the Dachau concentration camp. It is open for tourists to view. Pretty damn sobering.

 

[4Waters]

I've been to the Dachau concentration camp. It is open for tourists to view. Pretty damn sobering.

I'll bet, that would be a cool one to visit for me since they is where my patient was stationed

 

[rivermobster]

I may have to go see this...

Auschwitz not long ago not far away

Explore the powerful Auschwitz Exhibition at the Reagan Library, delving into Holocaust history & stories of survival. Buy tickets for a moving experience.

www.reaganfoundation.org

 

[steamin rice]

I've been to the Dachau concentration camp. It is open for tourists to view. Pretty damn sobering.

I was on a business trip in Munich a few years ago and had an open day, so I decided to go see Dachau. I took the train to the Dachau station, then walked the "Path of Remembrance" which follows the same path that prisoners walked from the train station to the concentration camp with some info posted on signs along the way. Going through the concentration camp was much more emotional than I thought it would be. I spent 4-5 hours on my own touring the site, and could have spent more time but I needed to get my train back to Munich. Standing in the gas chambers and the crematorium was very intense.

 

[4Waters]

I may have to go see this...

Auschwitz not long ago not far away

Explore the powerful Auschwitz Exhibition at the Reagan Library, delving into Holocaust history & stories of survival. Buy tickets for a moving experience.

www.reaganfoundation.org

You won't be disappointed post 17

 

[rivermobster]

You won't be disappointed post 17

I saw that. Thank you so much for sharing.

 

[Waterjunky]

Mans inhumanity to man is sometimes hard to believe. Guarding against it in every way possible is critical.

- I am slowly collecting those Tom Swift Jr books for my grandsons. We have 3. "Poppas Library" is a real thing. Getting them hooked on reading is a high priority goal.

Completely agree FBT. I have a seven year old boy. I will have to be teaching him history as so much is now politically corrected. I have been lucky so far, he is a crazy avid reader. Reads anything he can get his hands on. At holiday's and birthdays he is the most excited over books, many are science and history that are designed for middle school / jr high. Regularly he is off rereading them.


My wife did a big holocaust thing in Europe (two weeks worth) with a leadership group. Talked with survivors, toured many places, it was a mind altering experience. It was also shocking how many of the younger people in the group were oblivious and just didn't get it.

 

[Tank]

It's going to be there till at least August but due to it's popularity it may get extended through the end of the year, stay at a hotel near the beach in Ventura, let @Tank know your coming and that will give him an excuse to bbq (he doesn't need an excuse) and enjoy a few days.

Lol. You know the bbq invite is always open.

However, working weekends has put a damper on my social life.


While on the topic I’ve been to museum of tolerance in LA and actually visited Dachau when we were in Germany. The evil in people is unbelievable but what is more appalling is how many people go along with it. Sheeple mentality. Fuckin scary.

 

[kurtis500]

My dads neighbor when I was a teenager was a 13 y/o when he arrived in Aushwitz. The first time I met him he rode up to my car on his bike in a tank top. I saw the numbers on his left forearm and thought that was a crazy place for a tattoo of just numbers.... Then with his accent I got the picture and my dad told me where he was after he left. Later he told us he eats only raw vegeatbles and never eats them cooked. Never did fully explain why but it came from his 3 years in Auschwitz/berkinou. Great guy and super friendly. Of course mom-dad-younger sister and brother were killed.

 

[WhatExit?]

@kurtis500 mentioned Birkenau

Auschwitz Birkenau was the principal and most notorious of the six concentration and extermination camps established by Nazi Germany to implement its Final Solution policy which had as its aim the mass murder of the Jewish people in Europe. Built in Poland under Nazi German occupation initially as a concentration camp for Poles and later for Soviet prisoners of war, it soon became a prison for a number of other nationalities. Between the years 1942-1944 it became the main mass extermination camp where Jews were tortured and killed for their so-called racial origins. In addition to the mass murder of well over a million Jewish men, women and children, and tens of thousands of Polish victims, Auschwitz also served as a camp for the racial murder of thousands of Roma and Sinti and prisoners of several European nationalities.

The Nazi policy of spoliation, degradation and extermination of the Jews was rooted in a racist and anti-Semitic ideology propagated by the Third Reich.

Auschwitz Birkenau was the largest of the concentration camp complexes created by the Nazi German regime and was the one which combined extermination with forced labour. At the centre of a huge landscape of human exploitation and suffering, the remains of the two camps of Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II-Birkenau were inscribed on the World Heritage List as evidence of this inhumane, cruel and methodical effort to deny human dignity to groups considered inferior, leading to their systematic murder. The camps are a vivid testimony to the murderous nature of the anti-Semitic and racist Nazi policy that brought about the annihilation of over one million people in the crematoria, 90% of whom were Jews.

Auschwitz Birkenau <br /><small>German Nazi Concentration and Extermination Camp (1940-1945)</small>

The fortified walls, barbed wire, platforms, barracks, gallows, gas chambers and cremation ovens show the conditions within which the Nazi genocide took place in the former concentration and extermination camp of ...

whc.unesco.org

 

[bk2drvr]

I've enjoyed watching the various Nazi Hunter documentaries and mini series. They were relentless on those war criminals.

 

[Echo Lodge]

It is the school's book, I'll see what she can do, her teacher really likes her and she may be able to get it for a couple days for me.

I found a PDF online....

Wiesel, Elie - Night FULL TEXT.pdf

 

[WhatExit?]

I found a PDF online....

Wiesel, Elie - Night FULL TEXT.pdf

Great find! Thanks

 

[Echo Lodge]

Great find! Thanks

Audio

Elie Wiesel - Night (Night) Audiobook - Goldenaudiobooks

Elie Wiesel – Night (The Night Trilogy, Book 1) Audiobook Book 1: Night (The Night Trilogy) Book 2: Dawn (The Night Trilogy) Book 3: Day Audiobook (The Night Trilogy)… Continue reading "Elie Wiesel – Night (Night) Audiobook"

goldenaudiobook.com

 

[4Waters]

I found a PDF online....

Wiesel, Elie - Night FULL TEXT.pdf

My daughter has it in her backpack so I'm going to read it this weekend

 

[Lumpy]

Surprised no one mentioned this. I know a lot of people here on RDP are still in Occupied California that drive to the river on the 10...absolutely no reason you shouldn't stop here every time, to pay your respects to not only the Executed Jews but also the fallen and Executed Americans of all faiths, race, fought, went behind enemy lines in order to disrupt, disorder and STOP the Nazis from taking away freedom from the world.

General Patton Memorial Museum - Chiriaco Summit

The mission of the General Patton Memorial Museum is to promote peace by honoring the service and sacrifice of America’s veterans.

generalpattonmuseum.com

 

[4Waters]

Surprised no one mentioned this. I know a lot of people here on RDP are still in Occupied California that drive to the river on the 10...absolutely no reason you shouldn't stop here every time, to pay your respects to not only the Executed Jews but also the fallen and Executed Americans of all faiths, race, fought, went behind enemy lines in order to disrupt, disorder and STOP the Nazis from taking away freedom from the world.

General Patton Memorial Museum - Chiriaco Summit

The mission of the General Patton Memorial Museum is to promote peace by honoring the service and sacrifice of America’s veterans.

generalpattonmuseum.com

Have to try to remember this

 

[Lumpy]

Have to try to remember this

Truly is a must see! Don’t normally run the 10 but when ever I do I stop to see it. A bitter/sweet experience for sure…you will walk out humbled and in disbelief.

 

[Racer56]

Surprised no one mentioned this. I know a lot of people here on RDP are still in Occupied California that drive to the river on the 10...absolutely no reason you shouldn't stop here every time, to pay your respects to not only the Executed Jews but also the fallen and Executed Americans of all faiths, race, fought, went behind enemy lines in order to disrupt, disorder and STOP the Nazis from taking away freedom from the world.

General Patton Memorial Museum - Chiriaco Summit

The mission of the General Patton Memorial Museum is to promote peace by honoring the service and sacrifice of America’s veterans.

generalpattonmuseum.com

I took my daughter a couple of weeks ago.