thank you

The Nazis were big on propaganda.

It looks so similar to what the Trumps are releasing on film...children eating school-like meals, sitting at lunch tables, playing outside. When we know that many are being kept in kennels, let outside only 1 or 2 hours a day, little ones crying for their mothers and fathers, chaos.

If they took turns it would take a month for each to get a chance...PROPAGANDA!

They recreated one to be used in a pivotal scene in the film, 'The Boy in the Striped Pajamas'. (Very powerful film, and too reminiscent of the obliviousness of the supporters of these actions. Definitely worth a watch, but be forewarned - it has a very strong emotional element.)

I've avoided it so far. I thought it would be emotional for me. I've watched a lot of documentaries and read a lot about Nazi Germany. The hardest thing to watch is the children.

We are not Nazi Germany, but what's happening now gives me insight as to how it happened in Nazi Germany. How easy it is to get a cult-like following to go along with anything. Not so very different from how easy it was to get them to agree to sign away their rights against unchecked government surveillance w/o court approval, with the Patriot Act.

The reality of the space was quite chilling. We were shown portions of the propaganda film as part of the tour. If you can stomach the raw emotions that such a place evokes (and we should all be willing to endure it, lest we forget), it's an experience I would highly recommend.

It isn't nearly as infamous or well-known as Auschwitz, but the misery that took place there is undeniable. It was an odd concentration camp in that the fortress that was used and that we associate with the camp itself was really more of a prison within the town. The town itself was actually the "camp", and the "unruly" quickly found themselves within the fortress. It wasn't a death camp, but it was a hub of death in that its occupants were systematically transported to their dooms.

To truly grasp the nature of the place, however, you have to visit the small museum in the town. In the museum, you'll find the art of the children who lived in the camp. It's absolutely heartbreaking to realize that the majority of them did not survive the purge.

I truly believe if more Americans, and people around the globe in general, took a closer look at the Terezin's of the world, we would be better off for it.

Drancy, France Concentration Camp: In the summer of 1942, Jewish children in France were separated from their parents and held at Drancy concentration camp outside Paris, then shipped by train to Auschwitz. The total no. of children was more than 4,000.



Jewish deportees at Drancy transit camp, France 1942.

Nazi Transit Camps, DRANCY, France:
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/drancy-transit-camp & https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drancy_internment_camp

https://www.vox.com/world/2017/4/21/15358708/marine-le-pen-french-elections-far-right-front-national

I hadn't known about that, before I saw that film. That France rounded up, stole the property of, and warehoused Jews...mostly without any encouragement or assistance from the Germans. They were deported to concentration camps "east," but many died before being deported. I was shocked to learn of that. France, of all places.

Last edited Wed Jun 20, 2018, 12:34 AM - Edit history (1)

I had no idea that oppression of Jews, rampant theft and criminal internment was that widespread and overt in Vichy/Nazi- run France until almost 10 years ago. And I've studied the war, the Holocaust and travelled to France, including the Normandy beaches several times. Next trip includes Lyon which has a noted museum of the period.

In 1969, French filmmaker Marcel Ophuls produced the famous, groundbreaking documentary, "The Sorrow and the Pity" which was held back for years and banned on French TV until 1981! Woody Allen mentioned it in "Annie Hall."

Ophuls 1960s film includes contemporary interviews with regular French citizens who dismissed, or lied about being involved and helping the Resistance; others who truly did serve as brave partisans with the French opposition including foreigners; and also a French aristocrat who was a member of the elite Nazi SS 'Charlemagne Division' of French soldiers who fought with the German Wehrmacht. The count's reason was, 'fear of Bolshevism.' For it's time, the film is quite revealing. Thanks for noting "Sarah's Key," I'll ckeck that out. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sorrow_and_the_Pity





Approx. 10,000 Frenchmen served in the elite SS Charlemagne Regiment with the Nazi Wehrmacht.