[fiestarry]

Indeed a tragedy that goes beyond belief. The sheer brutality of man comes to the fore when unbridled power is usurped. However, without diluting the suffering in the Holocaust, I must mention that it is not without precedence. The places, the perpetrators, the victims, the scale, the brutality and the methods may be different but it has happened hundreds of times before and several times after in recorded human history.
In many cases, the victims were not considered significant enough to be given such recognition. In many cases, the perpetrators of the crime still have enough clout to suppress the reawakening of the memories of such dastardly acts.

Humans have a wonderful track record in inhuman actions. Whether or not they were punished or their crimes brought into public knowledge depends on which side of the conflict they ended up in. One member has mentioned it was fortunate that his forefathers had not faced such brutality ... it is only that the crimes have not been published. Not were the criminals brought to book.

Each and every invader of India slaughtered men, women and children till their own soldiers cried enough. The plunder, rape and bestial acts are chronicled in many Namas but it is in our very nature to ignore it in order to seem liberal. Millions of Indian women and children were carried away in chains to Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkey, Persia and other Arab lands for sale in public auctions as slaves and to fill the harems and brothels. It would indeed be an interesting study of the DNA of the people of the Middle East.

The massacres by the Portuguese in Goa of people, babies and elderly not exempt, is extremely well documented in their own hand. In fact Lisbon has most of the documents intact. Too bad no Indian wants to visit that part of history. The entire demographics of Goa changed with the mass exodus of the population that didn't convert to Christianity. The original native Goans live in many other states since then.

The British were no slackers in horrific crimes; they did their very best and publicly hanged each and every revolutionary; someone who was fighting for his own freedom and land. They displaced millions of Indians from their native lands and forcibly transported them to South East Asia, Mauritius, Africa, the West Indies etc for work as indentured labour which was a euphemism for slaves. The brutality of the British Army in suppressing the 1857 uprising is unimaginable. The British deprived the Indian population of access to foodgrains and were the direct cause of the death of several million people in Bengal. Well chronicled but no one cares to read about it or empathise. The Jallianwala massacre is treated by the British as a minor incident. Has the Queen publicly apologised for that and other atrocities during Colonial rule in India? But she has had to in some other countries which are not as accomodating.

Apart from the massacres by the ruling and invading Sultans and Nawabs in several centuries of Islamic rule in India, we had the unbelievable atrocities committed during the Moplah rebellion against the Hindus of Kerala and during the Direct Action Day in Calcutta against the Hindus of Bengal.

In other lands, the North and South American continents were populated by indigenous people who have been wiped off the face of the Earth. Similarly in Australia.The great American army burnt thousands of Vietnamese women and children with their napalm attacks and aerial bombings; the My Lai massacre by the US army is another forgotten episode.

The list of such crimes against mankind by other members of the same species is unending. While they are accurate in pin pointing the Nazi crimes, the rest of Europe finds it convenient to forget their own excesses in the countries of their occupation. The Belgian Congo, the apartheid regimes, the slave trades for several centuries are a few examples. Unfortunately, we don't have memorials built for all those victims and no one today sheds a tear or pauses for a moment in their lives in remembrance or regret!

I understand that I have hijacked the thread a bit, but thought that we should remember what our ancestors have been through too.

[peterjim13]

They way you wrote it was so engaging that i felt this more like a documentary and as someone said - we could walk along with you. Hope we get to read more write ups like this from you - loved the structure and language. Cheers

Reading through was quite an experience, as it took me to some place for a while - and it still chills my spine. Appreciate the way the Germans have retained it to tell them about their forefathers, and the physical and mental agony they have been through. This monument longer it stays - would help the people to walk hand in hand with others in the country and outside the country as well !

[highway_star]

I had been to Dachau last year and found an Indian connection.


In the crematorium room there is a plaque




It is dedicated to four women who were killed there. One of them was Noor Inayat Khan. You can read her story here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noor_Inayat_Khan


A closer look at the plaque. Note the Indian flag among others at the top.

[sandeepmohan]

Originally Posted by JoshMachine

The SS were brilliant when it came to administration and record keeping in general, but alas, this diligence was almost always put to inhuman causes.

Film Director Quentin Tarantino portrays this aspect to perfection in his 2009 film Inglourious Basterds. He put the right guy as the SS leader too. Colonel Hans Landa of the SS (Actor Christoph Waltz). The actor being Austrian probably helps bring out the true colors of what the SS were all about. Structure & Order in what they do and at the other extreme, show no mercy.

I have never been much of a book reader, as a result of which, my knowledge of the world's history is not so great. Your visit to the Dachau Concentration Camp does remind me of two other films that portray the extremities of this era in Germany. 1. Life is Beautiful. 2. The Boy in the stripped Pajamas. If you are a parent, you are going to have a hard time watching these films, especially the latter. The second film covers a lot more of the hell that took place in these concentration camps. Very disturbing and tragic. You have detailed your experience so well that it reminds me of what I saw in these films. I don't want to watch them again nor should anyone be made to suffer in such ways. God only knows what is happening in North Korea.

[JoshMachine]

Originally Posted by PratikPatel

Thank you for sharing your experience. It brought back some unpleasant memories, but none the less they are part of my experience of Germany. I was planning to visit Auschwitz but frankly lost my nerve after visiting the 'Topography of Terror' museum in Berlin. The exhibit move me to tears. All I could think was 'how can man do this to fellow man'.
My best friend who was with me asked me if I wanted to take some pictures with the exhibits. I just could not bring myself to take any pictures. It felt like I would be dishonouring the victims by taking pictures of myself with the exhibits. As we left the museum I told my friend 'Thank god we were not born in this country, I don't think we could have lived with a legacy like this'.

Thanks Pratik, for sharing your views.
When I visited the camp site, I could see around that some folks were in a selfie mode. But then, the exhibition wardens reminded them of the courtesy to be followed and sanity prevailed.

Originally Posted by am1m

The reality seems to be that as a species we continue to be susceptible to leadership that appeals to our basic tribal instincts, our "us versus them" mentality, and will always try to pit communities against each other to gain power.
The important thing is that we continue to remember past atrocities and remain vigilant that they don't occur again. And (heaven-forbid) if they do take place, most of us will have the courage to help those being targeted.

Very rightly put across, am1m. Thank you.

Thanks to the OP for posting.

Thanks.

Originally Posted by fiestarry

Indeed a tragedy that goes beyond belief.
I understand that I have hijacked the thread a bit, but thought that we should remember what our ancestors have been through too.

I don't think that there is any hijacking here, fiestarry. In fact, thanks for sharing your views.
The subject is such that it's very natural that all of us are putting forth so many varied perspectives and feelings.

Originally Posted by peterjim13

They way you wrote it was so engaging that i felt this more like a documentary and as someone said - we could walk along with you. Hope we get to read more write ups like this from you - loved the structure and language. Cheers

Thanks peterjim. Appreciate the kind words.

Reading through was quite an experience, as it took me to some place for a while - and it still chills my spine. Appreciate the way the Germans have retained it to tell them about their forefathers, and the physical and mental agony they have been through. This monument longer it stays - would help the people to walk hand in hand with others in the country and outside the country as well !

On this, I fully agree. Thanks for your views.

Originally Posted by highway_star

I had been to Dachau last year and found an Indian connection.
In the crematorium room there is a plaque
It is dedicated to four women who were killed there. One of them was Noor Inayat Khan.

Yes, I came across this plaque. Thanks a lot for mentioning here.

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan

Film Director Quentin Tarantino portrays this aspect to perfection in his 2009 film Inglourious Basterds. He put the right guy as the SS leader too. Colonel Hans Landa of the SS (Actor Christoph Waltz). The actor being Austrian probably helps bring out the true colors of what the SS were all about. Structure & Order in what they do and at the other extreme, show no mercy.

Yes, I have watched the movie. Thanks for bringing out the point. This character played by Christoph Waltz is a near-perfect rendition of how a high ranking SS officer used to "carry" himself back in those days.

Your visit to the Dachau Concentration Camp does remind me of two other films that portray the extremities of this era in Germany. 1. Life is Beautiful. 2. The Boy in the stripped Pajamas. If you are a parent, you are going to have a hard time watching these films, especially the latter. The second film covers a lot more of the hell that took place in these concentration camps. Very disturbing and tragic. You have detailed your experience so well that it reminds me of what I saw in these films

I have heard about the second film that you mentioned. Probably, I will give it a shot, with the understanding that it may bring back some more ghosts from the camp visit.

[JoshMachine]

For those who are keen to follow the subject of the concentration camp, maybe you could do so by watching the movie "The Photographer of Mauthausen".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqXBQcO_Qa8

It is a 2018 Spanish biography drama historical film starring Mario Casas, Macarena Gómez and Alain Hernández.The film tells the history of the photographer Francisco Boix during his life in the Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp complex, a forced labor category camp.

Review by NYTimes.

I have also watched this movie recently, and the script/story is quite close in terms of recounting the horrors as experienced by the inmates at the Dachau camp.

[Sanjeev911]

Originally Posted by JoshMachine

Epilogue


When I was in Munich, I would have spent about 3 hours or so at the Dachau Camp Memorial Site. But these few hours have triggered a plethora of many emotions and feelings that have moved me, and am sure, will continue to do so in the time to come.
....
As I walked around the camp site, I could notice memorials/chapels of different religions built all around the camp, most probably because the detainees were from so many countries and of different religious faiths.

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I paid a visit there in 2016, & I could feel the chills down my spine. The word Irony meant so much at the memorial site. On one side you had the beautiful German landscape, on the orher side you had the brutality of the concentration camp. The visit to the execution chamber was a horrific one & I had to leave in the middle of it because I could take it no more. The torture of the general public by the Nazis is a brutal reminder of how not to treat fellow humans, & how blessed we are to not have lived during the Nazi period!!

Thank You for the wonderful compilation!