All,
Following on from today’s lesson, for prep I would like you to do the following.
Explore the following BBC web pages below.
- This news report (here).
- This account of the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz II-Birkenau (here).
- The audio slideshow from the Auschwitz Museum explaining the problems of preserving the ageing and crumbling 191-hectare site, with limited funds (here).
- Two experts on Auschwitz arguing for and against the idea that the former Nazi death camp should be allowed to crumble away (here)
- Here Patrick Ney describes “tourist” behaviour when he visited Auschwitz in 2012.
Then post which view you agree with more (and why) below. One perfect paragraph please. A possible start to your paragraph might be…
I believe that Auschwitz should be allowed to crumble / be maintained because…
Develop your answer with evidence and connectives. Exemplar contrasting posts from Mr Padrick and Mr Towl are shown below. Please note, for your post to appear, I will need to approve it – so don’t worry it is does not show up straight away.
Mr Kydd.
Mr Padrick:
I do not think Auschwitz should be actively preserved once the last survivor of that horror dies, largely because of the inherent decay of memory. The memory of an event can only belong to the person who experienced the event. No one, no matter how close to that person, how familiar with the event – not even someone who was there at the same event – can possess the same memory. Memory by nature is fluid and, as time progresses, becomes increasingly questionable. At the death of the person with the actual memory, only story and anecdote remain. The memories retained by preserving Auschwitz are becoming increasingly tenuous with each passing year; they will decline in number with each survivor’s death, and the buildings will inevitably become just another historical landmark of decreasing meaning with the further passage of time: another Omaha Beach, Vimy Ridge, Gettysburg, Hastings or Marathon. Without the actual memories of the survivors to keep its horror ‘alive’, in time Auschwitz will become little more than a sort of ghoulish curiosity at which tourists on 3, 6, 9 or even 12-hour tours may attempt an approximation of what it must have been like, have a chance to look behind closed doors and experience the dread of what they might ‘see’.
Auschwitz, once the last survivor dies, can no longer hold direct memories and will thus become a shell. I think after the final survivor has finally attained whatever peace their death delivers, the camp should be allowed to crumbling slowly into dust and nothingness – the only fitting conclusion once the active memory of the horrors has gone.
Mr Towl:
There are still those who deny the holocaust and, after all those who survived the camps are gone, there will still be holocaust deniers. Look at the story two posts below this article. One in twenty Britons do not think that the Holocaust happened. Auschwitz should remain as a stark reminder of what ordinary people were able to do to other ordinary people.
I think on balance that the camps should not be repaired as they decay. People should stop visiting them as they pay no respect and the lack of courtesy is often absolutely dreadful. Although, some people may disagree and say that they should save the camps, and leave it as it is for a reminder to what happened to those who died in the holocaust.
I think Auschwitz should be maintained until the last survivor dies. Once the last holocaust survivor is gone I think it should be left for nature to reclaim. Otherwise Auschwitz will just be seen as a tourist attraction and will loose its purpose of helping survivors tell the tale. German death camps were not built to last 80+ years, the materials used to build them are now old and unreliable. Too much money is wasted trying to maintain Auschwitz, so why spend more money maintaining Auschwitz when there are no survivors of the holocaust left.
I believe Auschwitz should be left to fade away because it has been almost eighty years since the camps were built and they were not built to last this long. They were built to last a few years, only until the war was over. The respect, for the camp’s purpose and those who lost their lives, has been lost and many treat it as a tourist attraction that they go to for a day of enjoyment. I believe it should be maintained until the last Holocaust survivor dies, as modern society’s understanding of the Holocaust is already being lost. If it is maintained, it will cost a lot of money to stop something from crumbling that future generations won’t fully understand.
I believe that Auschwitz should be maintained to serve as a reminder to the whole world, for years to come, of the disastrous genocide that occurred between 1939-45. Each year at least 1 million people pass through the iconic Auschwitz gate – is it not important to maintain the camp to teach people of the lasting damage caused by the Holocaust? So I think that we should continue to pay for the upkeep of this stark reminder, but it should be changed as little as possible.
I believe that Auschwitz should stay in its place until the last survivor dies. However there are people in the world that even with Auschwitz don’t believe that the holocaust even took place and we know for a fact that this isn’t true and that Auschwitz was in fact a death camp for all those innocent Jews that were murdered.When the last survivor dies the camp should be knocked down and instead maybe a museum or an area that is just kept with nothing on it and in it should be a statue of the last survivor. This leads me on to say that I don’t think it should be build on for any other us as it wouldnt be respectful so I think what ever takes Auschwitz place should have some meaning towards it.
I personally believe that when the last survivor dies the camp should be destroyed and in its place with the money that would have been used restoring it we build a statue and have stones with flat tops engraved with facts that you may find in a museum they would be placed in a circle around the statue of people who attended Auschwitz in there striped working uniform. In my opinion this would be better than spending millions refurbishing a building that may not even be treated well by the public. Some may say that the holocaust did not happen even when Auschwitz is standing this will not change anyone’s opinion who believes that it did happen if it where to be knocked down.
MF
I believe that when the last survivor of the Holocaust dies the concentration camp famously known as Auschwitz a remaining artefact that still stands and many people visit every year. Most people unfortunately treat it with disrespect and this reflects a disrespectfully on the last remaining survivors. What I think should happen to Auschwitz is it should get turned in to a memorial although some may say it already is, it’s not treated right so I think that it should be closed off to the public and should be left to be a reminder of the horrific events that took place there so they don’t happen again and it could be like a lesson for us. It is slowly crumbling down and we are spending too much money of it we are slowly re building it and that takes away the meaning so what should happen is it should be left untouched and left to crumble.
I think that Auschwitz should be maintained by the Polish government. It will be a reminder and a monument of all the People that died in the tragic events of the Holocaust. As my dad say do we brush everything with a bad representation under the carpet or do we keep it as a monument of all the lives that were lost.
I believe that Auscwitz should be maintained. This is because of all the dreadful actions that were targeted at the Jews. It should be for people to realise how aweful it really was there and see it for themselves. Auschwitz should be maintained because of all the Jews who died there, the history behind Auschwitz and for people and family members to visit.On the other hand visitors who treat it disrisecfuly or know they will treat it disrespectfully should not have the right to visit because they will not have the right respect for those who lost their lives through pure inoscence.
I think that Auschwitz should be maintained as it serves as an important reminder of the tragedy that was the Holocaust. Although there are issues with keeping it maintained such as funding people treating it as an attraction, and the fact that it just wasn’t built to last anywhere near the length of time that it has, I believe that letting it crumble would be letting an important reminder of what happened go to waste especially considering the dwindling numbers of Holocaust survivors and rising numbers of people who don’t even believe that the Holocaust happened. In addition, if it is let to die then future generations will not be able to experience where the horrors of the Holocaust that they are taught about took place. Moreover, over 1 million pass through the gates of Auschwitz every year allowing them to experience the place where all the horrors happened and although these tourists may not be treating Auschwitz, and the Jews that dies there with the respect that they deserved these are all problems that can be solved.
I believe that Auschwitz should be allowed to be maintained because we should remember what happened to all the people it affected and to help prevent maybe the next “holocaust”. If the camp was left their it would be a tourist attraction too all those who visit it and wont take it seriously as explained in the video we watched. The idea about having it left to decay after the last survivor dies is a good idea as they are the only people to have true memories from the place and it would convey a good message to the people visiting about the way it will be remembered.
I believe that Auschwitz should not be maintained after the last holocaust survivor dies. This is because what happened was a horror, and no one who wasn’t there to witness this terror, should be able to claim that memory as theirs. No one who doesn’t truly appreciate the horror and the pain of this event should be allowed to step foot in the camp Auschwitz; and the only people who can comprehend even a little of the amount of pain of this attempted genocide, are the survivors themselves. This tragedy is only meaningful to the survivors, no one else should state that the camp Auschwitz means a lot to them. Only the survivors should keep this as their memory and as soon as the last survivor dies, so should this monstrosity of a camp.
I believe, hopefully, with many others that we should keep Auschwitz standing after the last survivor dies. Why should we keep such a terrible place where millions, most likely more, lost their lives? Because as horrible as Auschwitz is, the future generations have to know what humans can do to another. And we owe it to the survivors of Auschwitz to show what was done, at that place, to their families and friends. People need to know how extreme the world can be. And my final point is that for many victims of Auschwitz, this would be there final resting place and to the literal millions who died at this place it should left up for their memories to be alive and not forgotten, especially how they were killed in cold-blood.
I believe Auschwitz should not be maintained after the last survivor dies. This is because whilst it is wise to remember just how cruel the human race can be, we should not keep holding on to what they have done. As I believe, the more we try to maintain it the more they have won over us. Germany may have lost the war but if we are still remembering their actions and maintaining what they have built, have they won over us? Furthermore once the last survivor dies it should be allowed to die with them, we collectively have not survived this and so I don’t believe we are in any position to maintain a building that has killed millions. I am not saying we are forgetting the countless lives that had been stolen, but I am saying the more we maintain it the more we are forgetting what this place meant to the people that have survived it. Lastly I do not think we have rights to go in and take pictures and walk around like it is some tourist attraction, it is a place of: blood, sweat and tears. I believe we are disgracing it more by maintaining it, then we would be letting it go and fall into the past with its people. Those are the reasons why I think Auschwitz should not be maintained.
I believe that Auschwitz should be left for nature to reclaim once all the survivors of the holocaust are dead because there is no living memory of that place and its a massive safety hazard to people who visit, after all it wasn’t made to last 10 years let alone 60+ years. Also people who help to conserve it are finding it increasingly hard because of the weather conditions and they cant afford it. People ma argue that is should be conserved because it shows what happened but after the last survivor is gone, its just a old building and then the ruins could represent it. After all, the money could be used for many other things instead of to conserve such a horrible place. The next generations won’t realise what everyone felt at the time because they are exposed to all of this early in life so it won’t impact them as much, or at all. Already there are people who are disrespecting the site and not taking into consideration of the innocent Jews who were killed there.
I believe that Auschwitz should not only stay in its place after the last survivors pass away I feel as if it should stay in its place after they are all gone. Although many people don’t like the thought of it being there it would not only be a reminder it would be proof. Many people these days don’t believe that the terrible events actually took place so not only by tearing down Auschwitz will they be removing memorable history they will also be giving in to the ideas of the people that don’t believe. If Auschwitz was to be torn down it makes it much easier for people to forget what happened, with Auschwitz being there it is a constant reminder of the atrocities that took place.
I think that the Auschwitz should be kept as it is after the last survivor dies because it can remind you off all the people that have survived and been put in the death camps. We can think about them and if it is removed then the camps will be forgotten and all the survivors and the people which die will all be forgotten. also I think if it is destroyed then you will not be able to go there and experience first hand what the people went through and people will not be able to learn about it more.