Auschwitz shoe

[HARRY THE MOLE]

It isn't uncommon for such items to lie undiscovered for so long. I recall back in 1970 walking through the woods on the Verdun battlefields. And as I looked up into the trees, I could see bits of leather equipment and even helmets hooked on the branches high above. It was later explained to me that as the trees grew, they dragged the relics of war upwards with them. Even now after all these years, much can be found lying on the surface. It is an offence in french law to remove anything though.

[Larry C]

I can support Harrys post as I have seen this myself,, not with Military items,, but near my job and out in the middle of a field was an old tree..with nothing else around it,, and I have found bits of old glass and a couple of rusted hinges at the foot of the tree. There must of been a structure there at one time as the tree grew so did the earth move upward.

[CARL]

The site at Birkenau is massive. For those who have not visited the area, then you are unable to understand just how big the place is. Guided tours take you along the length of railway, that leads to the main gas chambers and crematoria complex. The only areas that visitors see on tours, are the well trodden paths, a couple of the blocks that have been reconstructed for the museum visitors and other points of interest. The area where I was when I found this artifact, is far away from the tourist route. I have attached several images, which cover most of the BII camp, to show in part at least, the great scale of the scene. Hundreds of blocks, spread over a vast area have been left since the clean up operations many years ago. I very much doubt any kind of trap was set by the authorities. The staff at the museum have a very difficult job, and constantly battle the elements to preserve one of the most important sites of the era, so I doubt that they have the opportunity to play games such as those suggested. Only two years ago, an elderly Jewish couple were arrested at a Polish airport, trying to leave the country with artifacts that they found whilst walking around the camp. They claimed that they were going to take the items to Yad Vashem in Israel, but they were I believe, still punished. This alone is enough evidence to suggest that many, many items are still there, the sheer scale of Birkenau leads one to believe this. I have also seen various items of cutlery etc, and not through the want of looking, but simply by walking in areas that are not frequented by the visiting public. Even at much smaller camps, artifacts can still be uncovered, so the vastness of the Auschwitz-Birkenau complex should hold no surprises. As stated in my original post, I have made several visits, and spent countless hours there. During one such visit we made, we arrived as the gates were being opened, and left when it was almost dark. We still haven't seen everything. Should anybody here have visited, and ventured to the Kanada area of the camp, then you would have noticed the glass sheeting that covers one or more of the former warehouse barracks, and notably, what is left on top of them by visitors. Countless items including spoons etc, are regularly placed there by visitors who have found them whilst walking around the camp. How sad that this thread, which I created to share such a powerful, emotive and thought provoking moment with you all, should find those who wish to find conspiracy theories everywhere.

Regards,

Carl

[sandgroper]

Those last two pics in the snow are truly haunting images Carl. Murder and slavery on an industrial scale, just incomprehensible.

[CARL]

Those last two pics in the snow are truly haunting images Carl. Murder and slavery on an industrial scale, just incomprehensible.

They are indeed Dave. They were taken during my first visit to the site. I knew that I would return, as to study such a vast area is simply not possible in one day alone, so I decided that my first experience of the camp should be in the middle of winter. I was questioned, by a member of our small party among others, as to why I would choose such a harsh environment? Basically, I didn't want my first impression of Auschwitz to be with a background of summer, so the end of January it was. The temperature was -20c, and the added wind chill made it much worse. In one of my files, I have an image of the wind blowing the snow off the roof of the barracks, and I always shiver when I look at it. I remember standing in one of the former barracks, myself and the guide were describing the conditions and clothing worn by the prisoners, as the listening visitors stood shaking from the cold, even though they were all dressed in modern winter clothing. The average lifespan of the inmates was just a few months. In those conditions, even that short period of time seems long. Incomprehensible, exactly as you said it.

Regards,

Carl

[sandgroper]

Mate, I must say If I were to ever visit these places I would choose to see them in the cold like this, the atmosphere in a place like this is only something that I can imagine, it wouldn't do the victims justice to experience these places in the most pleasant of weather conditions. The suffering these poor people went through, parents watching helpless as young children ended their little lives in such a cruel environment, old people whose last days were spent in these conditions at the hands of the bastards that could treat another human being like this, if it weren't so well documented and these sites no longer existed you simply would not believe it could have taken place. I'm going to give my daughter an extra tight hug before putting her to bed, something many of the inmates here had taken from them.

Dave.

[Woolgar]

Those last images make my blood run cold! You can almost see the ghosts !


Nick

[TrondK]

The humans has always been very talented in performing sadistic acts against eachother. I once saw a airphoto of some hellholes in Russia, socalled gulags. It was another evil place, only on another location.

We have a horrible history, and we who lives today cant imagine how it must have been for the poor humans in these evil camps.


We see some powerful photos in this thread!

[Gunny Hartmann]

It's a huge camp, including the crematoria it's roughly a square kilometre in area, i was there for about 3 hours and barely scratched the suface, there were massive areas i didn't get to see.
BTW great photos thank you for sharing.

[Cadillac]

I have not been able to go yet. My wife has been and said it is the most sad place she has ever been. I can only imagine. I have been to the holocaust museum in Washington DC and, even at 16 at the time, walked out in tears. My aunt married a man from Israel who's parents survived the internment camps (I am unsure of which one they were in). I have only ever met them once unfortunately. For me, I will never be able to collect German or holocaust memorabilia from the war because it is just too sad for me. When they say a picture is worth a thousand words, they vastly underestimate it for pictures like these.