OT: Ray Allen & the Holocaust

[huskyd]

UConn's own Ray Allen visited the Auschwitz death camp in Poland in 2017, something he had wanted to do for a long time. He penned an essay about that journey, which you can read here:
Why I Went to Auschwitz | By Ray Allen
And there's a follow-up interview that Allen did with PBS:

Allen is an extraordinary person in many ways. This is just one more example.

 

[cohenzone]

UConn's own Ray Allen visited the Auschwitz death camp in Poland in 2017, something he had wanted to do for a long time. He penned an essay about that journey, which you can read here:
Why I Went to Auschwitz | By Ray Allen
And there's a follow-up interview that Allen did with PBS:

Allen is an extraordinary person in many ways. This is just one more example.

I’m going to Poland this summer if things work out and Auschwitz is on the itinerary. I’ve been to Dachau which has been sanitized of some of the bleakness, for example except for one barrack, only the foundation slabs remain giving the place much more of an open setting. Interestingly, the memorial structure built st Dachau is a tribute to the Auschwitz victims. The current right wing government in Poland is trying to water down any history that Poles collaborated with the Nazis in murdering Jews. My maternal grandmother was from near Warsaw and luckily was out of Europe about 35 years before Hitler she had three brothers who also emigrated, but I learned that she also had a sister who did not and the family belief is that whomever in her family lived into the Nazi era were murdered by the Nazis.

And yes, there is a lot to admire about Ray Allen

 

[LasVegasYank]

I went on a tour of Dachau when I was stationed in Bavaria from September of 1966 through April of 1968.

The busload of GI's I was with was a jocular bunch, mostly guys from my company and others from our battalion. A fun bunch until we drove into the camp and got off the bus. It was like a dark cloud descended on us and there were few words spoken during the remainder of the visit.

The first stop was the administration building which displayed relics from the camp along with many photographs of the camp's residents. The most gruesome thing I saw there were the lampshades made of human skin.

The barracks were all gone, just concrete slabs where they once stood.

A memorial had just begun construction on the far side of the camp.

Then came the ovens which sent a chill through us mainly because, even after 20 years, you could still smell the death.

The ride back was even quieter.

 

[Bronx23]

I’m going to Poland this summer if things work out and Auschwitz is on the itinerary. I’ve been to Dachau which has been sanitized of some of the bleakness, for example except for one barrack, only the foundation slabs remain giving the place much more of an open setting. Interestingly, the memorial structure built st Dachau is a tribute to the Auschwitz victims. The current right wing government in Poland is trying to water down any history that Poles collaborated with the Nazis in murdering Jews. My maternal grandmother was from near Warsaw and luckily was out of Europe about 35 years before Hitler she had three brothers who also emigrated, but I learned that she also had a sister who did not and the family belief is that whomever in her family lived into the Nazi era were murdered by the Nazis.

And yes, there is a lot to admire about Ray Allen

Just listened to the NPR interview with Ray Allen and all in all he makes it pretty simple! It's about how we treat each other regardless of ones religion or color of their skin.
Especially in our country and world today we need to focus on the good, brave people who fight back against any injustice, and also call out those falling short.
Bronx23

 

[BigBird]

I am now a Ray Allen fan for life. He truly gets it, and is unafraid to hold all us to a high standard.

 

[eebmg]

When I saw the title thread, I first thought "Oh no. A Holocaust denier". So happy I was completely mistaken.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Ray is one of those people I hold on tight to. Bad English but I hope you get it.

 

[cohenzone]

I went on a tour of Dachau when I was stationed in Bavaria from September of 1966 through April of 1968.

The busload of GI's I was with was a jocular bunch, mostly guys from my company and others from our battalion. A fun bunch until we drove into the camp and got off the bus. It was like a dark cloud descended on us and there were few words spoken during the remainder of the visit.

The first stop was the administration building which displayed relics from the camp along with many photographs of the camp's residents. The most gruesome thing I saw there were the lampshades made of human skin.

The barracks were all gone, just concrete slabs where they once stood.

A memorial had just begun construction on the far side of the camp.

Then came the ovens which sent a chill through us mainly because, even after 20 years, you could still smell the death.

The ride back was even quieter.

What creeped me out was we took the train from Munich to Dachau, a route that led so many to the gas chambers. In the big-hearted Nazi way, Dachau was a labor camp. not a pure death camp like Auschwitz. They just worked you to death and apparently the work sites that were satellites to Dachau were even more brutal. The fact that the locals claimed they didn't know what was going on inside is very hard to believe because the camp is very close to the town center.

There are two memorial structures at Dachau, one Catholic and the other Jewish, so I don't know which was being constructed when you were there. I was there about 7 years ago. As I mentioned, the Jewish memorial is a tribute to Auschwitz victims. It has a slope with down to the ground with a ramp on it and turns a corner into a cavern. It symbolizes the arrival by train, down the ramp and then into the death chamber.

 

[LasVegasYank]

<<There are two memorial structures at Dachau, one Catholic and the other Jewish, so I don't know which was being constructed when you were there.>>

It was a construction zone within the camp so the guide didn't take us over there. If they mentioned the specific population being memorialized, that escapes me. I will never forget the experience, however.

 

[GregP]

When I saw the title thread, I first thought "Oh no. A Holocaust denier". So happy I was completely mistaken.

How anyone can be, “A Holocaust denier” is beyond my comprehension. My father was with the 82nd 504th. What he saw and the pictures I have tell a very different story. Till his dying day he would wake up at night screaming and crying. He had respect for the German soldier after his time in Italy, but after getting to Germany his hate for the German soldier was beyond words but his hate of the German officers was astronomically greater. My hat is off to Ray Allen I wish others to see through his eyes, what a beautiful world this would be.

 

[bags27]

Simply astonishing self-awareness and mental clarity. I guess we call that...wisdom.

 

[SVCBeercats]

UConn's own Ray Allen visited the Auschwitz death camp in Poland in 2017, something he had wanted to do for a long time. He penned an essay about that journey, which you can read here:
Why I Went to Auschwitz | By Ray Allen And there's a follow-up interview that Allen did with PBS: Allen is an extraordinary person in many ways. This is just one more example.

Thank you for posting this.

 

[Golden Husky]

Ray Allen is a mensch.

 

[Ozimoto]

Well written and thought provoking.

 

[SallyH]

I was watching a program on IDDiscovery network called Deadly Sins about a man who went crazy and threatened to kill his second wife's first husband who was engaged to Ray Allen's mother. The program mentioned that even Ray Allen got a death threat and had to hire personal security.

 

[01Neaggrad02]

6 million Jews... but there were countless others who lost their lives during the Holocaust.

Documenting Numbers of Victims of the Holocaust and Nazi Persecution