yes

Yes. Just to try to remember and feel the terror, and the dreadful event that occured there. Just to feel the vicarious experience of them. It was a main death camp in the Holocaust.

No. Too intense for me.

no, it's too painful.

Yes, and I have. It was an extremely surreal experience and really, really creepy. It's amazing the emotion you feel just come up out of nowhere when you stand next to execution walls, crematoriums and piles and piles of hair, glasses, luggage etc. It really freaks you out when you think that each one of those things once belonged to somebody. I recommend going if you happen to be swinging by Poland.

I would if only to try and understand what it must have been like.

I have been to Dachau. It was -20deg and snowing...everything was grey and sad. I couldn't watch the introductory film. It was too heartbreaking. Nor could I visit the gas chambers (even though I know that the Dachau ones weren't used). I just stood in the snow outside and felt my heart falling...I don't know how anyone survived, but I have such utmost respect for those who did. I also visited Anne Frank's hiding place in Amsterdam. I cried there, as I looked at the pictures of the movie stars on the walls. What a terrible terrible thing...to take the lives of innocent people...and yet it still goes on...I doubt humans have learnt a thing.

No..It is a place of horror, as is any place of that nature, and I don't think I could take it. To actually SEE where these unbelievable acts of cruelty took place is something I have no desire to do. Man's inhumanity to his fellow man and his capacity for evil is sometimes beyond my comprehension.

Yes. I would hate it and feel overwhelmed, but if I had the chance, I would consider it my duty as a human to go, to witness, to mourn and honor the dead, and to bring the story to others.

I did! It was really breath taking just thinking about everything!

There is a trip to Auschwitz in october that my school is runing. If I wanted to go, i could have gone. But I declined, because of the thought of the awful things that happened there

Yes, I would go and I intend to go. I don't want to forget how the seeds of genocide are planted and the twisted way they grow, and the poison that it bears. Auschwitz is what happens when a group of people are vilified out of fear and ignorance, and the skeletons of the death camps should always remind us of the price. This is a lesson of history we could really learn something from right now.

Yes. Even though it's sad, it's part of our history. (Are you offering a ticket :-) )

I've been there twice and i LOVED it...there was so much emotion there...just seeing the places they had to stay and the places they died, It was just so surreal. I mean there was this one part of a camp (i cant remember if it was Auschwitz or another one) that the door was completely sealed...no one was allowed to even go near it. I guess something PRETTY bad happened there. I remember seeing these boxes that they kept the women in. they were smaller than child coffins they they stuck 3-4 women in. It was so disturbing yet moving. Ive never seen that much pain in one place. It really just done something to me that i cant explain. Thats why i went back the second time. And after reading some of the books on concentration camps you really get this picture of what happened. Its really hard to believe what happened there but i believe EVERYONE need to see them. It really has something that i cant explain but everyone will feel something..

Yes I would. It would make what happened there more real to me.

Since I'm a sensitive, I doubt I would want to visit. I don't think they make enough salt, candles, or incense to clear the negativity away and my spells are powerful, but nothing could wipe the effect of that place away.

I would, yeah. I don't know how I'd feel - that's one reason I would!

Some of my ancestors died there and one day i want to go there and see where it all happened even though its hard for me to fo to the holocaust museum its just something that i feel that i need to do

Yes, because I love to learn and I gain nothing by protecting myself from the truth of humanity's cruelty.

nooooooo!!!!!! it wud make me 2 sad! :( <tear><tear>

I went last year, there were 7 blokes on a drinking holiday in Krakow and we decided to take some time out and visit. One of the most surreal experiences ever, not one of us spoke throughout our time there, just totally dumbstruck by the evil of it all. I found areas like the "death block" (the area where the medical experiments and shootings took place) particularly harrowing but it was only when we visited Birkenau that we understood the vast loss of life and clinical evil planning involved.

I don't know, its probably my responsibility to go - however I don't know what good it will do. I always tell people that learning about the Holocaust as a moment in history is wrong, you need to delve deeper and understand. You need to ask yourself why and how these things came to pass. You have to learn the lessons - that is whats important. I already have a good education on this subject, perhaps better than most - visiting Auschwitz would probably give me nightmares and I would prefer to spend my money on a trip to Israel with my family.

Yes to silently pay my respects to the souls that were singled out by someone else besides God to have their life cut short.

Teaching about the camps has a strong emphasis in germany, or at least it did till 10 years ago. All my german friends have a strong sense of responsibility. They don't feel responsible for the actions, I think that would crush anyone. They are taught to be responsible so that it can be avoided again in the future. We went over to east germany and towards poland not long after the iron curtain came down. It was creepy on many fronts but the worst and most moving was the trip to Buchenwald, the forced labour camp near Weimar. In comparison to Auschwitz (1.1 to 4.1 million deaths - depending on which version of history you find most accurate) the death toll was far smaller as it was a labour camp rather than an annihilation camp. Although such a comparison is ridiculous considering its known death toll was over 33,000. I don't know anyone who has visited a death/labour camp monument that hasn't been changed by it. How could you be unmoved? Another moving experience was the first world war museum at Flanders. War is so wrong.

well i just learned about that in school and probely not it was 2 harsh!!

I did, it gave me the chills...

Yes I would. One must be mentally and spiritually ready to make such a journey though, in order to process the incredible rush of feelings that one would certainly experience. Indeed, we must never forget what man has done, and indeed, continues to do to his neighbors. The closest thing that I have experienced is a visit to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum at 100 Raoul Wallenberg Place, SW Washington, DC Here is the link: http://www.ushmm.org/ It is one of the finest museums in America. Very tastefully done, considering such subject matter. A very moving experience, sublime.

TO be honest there's something I find a bit distasteful about the idea of having a day out in a death camp. In general I feel a bit uncomfortable about the idea of this kind of tourism-of-suffering - I've heard people say they go "for the emotional experience" to "feel what it might have been like" and frankly that makes me feel slightly nauseous in the same way as rich western students who go out to the slums of India and come back harping on about how "humbling" it was. You can talk all you like about how it's a"humbling, emotional but necessary experience" but like f*** does it give you any kind of insight into how it would be to actually be in a concentration camp. You don't know, and you can't know, and going there doesn't get you any closer to it. It was a horror that few of us can even come close to imagining, and I think it's a little bit disrepectful to imagine that we ever could. We can and should learn about the holocaust, we can appreciate and try to understand it, we can hope it never happens again - but I don't see how going there helps.

Probably.

YesI would, I think it is the most hideous thing that ever took place. Hitler was a sick individual that wanted things his way or else. These wonderful humans did nothing to deserve what happened to them and they deserve us to remember what did happened less it ever happens again. The Jewish people are very important to us as a nation and as a people. They have giving us so much and what do some people do, they spit on them and say what Hitler did never exsisted, shame on them. Such individuals need to grow a heart not hate. Remember Christians the Jewish people gave us our Jesus.

yes i did 4 yr ago its so sad the place was kept extremly well and very informative i went with my brother and we are scottish not jewish

I'm providing this answer because my comments would not post to lady fuschia's response and I really felt I had to reply. If one goes to Auschwitz for the reasons she stated, no, perhaps it would be better not to visit. Not in a million years would I presume to know what these people suffered. How could one ever truly hope to understand? So how does a visit help, why is it so important? To pay respects and bear witness to the millions who perished in one of the greatest tragedies the world has ever seen. To play a small part in carrying forth the message that indeed it did happen. To help tell the tale. This is more important than ever since the last generation of direct witnesses is dying off. If it deepens the capacity for humanity and sympathy, so much the better. And you know what, even the people who went for the reasons lady fuschia stated SHOULD go. Would it be better if they didn't? Can an education of this magnitude ever truly go to waste?! Don't be afraid to go, for whatever reason. My visit will always stay with me. I could never regret going, no matter what my true "motives" were for the visit. Some things are just important. Period.

Yes I would. When I was in Amsterdam I went to Ann Franks annex it was a bit weird knowing what went on there so many years ago in her diary, except they won't let you up to the attic.

Yes I would ,and it is very remiss of me that i have visited Germany and Poland many times and have never visited any of the sites of the Concentration camps. It is to my shame that i have not.

I don't know that I want to visit this place. I have read about what transpired there, as well as have seen film clips on PBS tv.

Yes

Yes, I would. I know that it would be an overwhelming place to visit, however, I have always carried a deep hurt in my heart for millions. When I watch pictures on television, or read a book or a newspaper report about that horrible time by one of the world's most evil beings, I can't prevent moments of tears. Can you imagine how many tears were wept during the years and days that Auschwitz and the other horrible places of torture in Hitler's days? The tears of children torn from their loving parents' arms and carried to death or physical abuse and experimentation are tears that I just cannot place my heartfelt thoughts upon those precious little ones. You know, nobody has ever been able to write a book about the little ones---nobody was there who cared about what they had seen, heard, done---I wonder what kind of HELL they have found on the other side of the life that they were living then. Evil, not 'following orders' drove them to do what they did and simply walk away. There is a good and kind Catholic man in Seattle, Dominic, who carries great sadness about the horror of the holocause (also how America's early government exploited and murdered so many of the inhabitants, the citizens of what is now the 48 states) so he has constructed Gospodor Monument Park on Interstate I-5 that will last over 100 years and its purpose if to always remind people about attempted genocide at those 2 times in his life (The holocaust and to the 1927 date when America's Indians received citizenship for the 5th time.) The site is halfway between Portland, Oregon and Seattle Washington---near Chehalis, adjacent to the freeway. Other people as 'leaders' have forgotten the holocaust since 1945 and created their own holocaust: example Idy Amin who story of unkown murders were committed in Africa while Europe and the Americas did nothing and The United Nations did nothing. Cambodia was another holocaust. Other holocausts have also happened since 1945. In Auschwitz there is one building where the most horrorible torture was committed by the Nazi's. Probably a visitor can still hear the screams, feel the tears, see the torturers and the torturing, if their spirit is free and in turn. But who would want to hear or see or feel what happened there? Could we handle the sounds that were heard there? NO, No, No. How oh how did some of the prisoners survive? I don't understand, but i do understand that their experiences must never be forgotten and our present generation must get in touce with that horror by visiting Auschwich and hearing or reading the information and the cries. Yes I would visit there and, YES I would be strongly touched at thE depth of my heart for all who entered there in the 1930'S 1940'S.

Yes. I already visited the camp in Dachau. Maybe it was not such an horror as Auschwitz, but it was just a few km from Munich. We should not close our eyes.

YES I WOULD! To remember the many thousands who died there I would place flowers in that WW2 graveyard to honor ALL DEAD...

... been there, done that ... toured most of Europe back in the 60s.

Yes. Not because I believe what happened was right, rather that I like to visit historic places.

I've been there, strange cold empty place. It makes laughing painful and awkward for days afterwards.

yes i think it would be interesting

No - while I recognize its significance I choose not to subject myself to that.

Yes I would as the place holds some sort of morbid fascination for me.

No. I've been a similar place, and it was all sunny and it looked a little like a camp I went to for the summer, but it was the cold kind of sunshine. The "shower room" was a dark, underground, cramped little room. The way it looked even felt like somewhere thousands of people had died. This was enough. I didn't need to look any more.

No I visited Regensberg and it turned my stomach to be there. I also visited the Ann Frank house in Amsterdam - I was never able to watch any movie or read any book containing Holocaust scenes or themes after that.... Places like Auschwitz etc require more 'moral fibre' to fully appreciate what value they can have for us as a lesson in how depraved any human can become given the correct circumstances for depracity to arise than I obviously have. I left in tears - and the heck with any 'professionalism' I thought I was bring to it (as A history teacher) I am however glad I went - in a very profound way I was 'humanised' by the experience. What had preciously been an 'event in history' was made into a REAL event for me. It humbled me, scared me and made me determined to look at people first, 'events' second.

Yes.

Yes. I think I'd like that. I heard they recently added the word "German" in the name of the camp, because visitors were getting the idea it was a Polish concentration camp.

Yes,they say the countryside in that area is beautiful,with mountains and woods.

Yes. I would go visit Auschwitz.

Yes. I would go and cry... and probably be emotionally torn to bits. I visited Bonaire, an island in the carribbean that is owned by the Netherlands. Once upon a time, the island was used as an internment camp... The military base, which was on the other side of the island, and the camp itself, had a very haunted feeling about them... The air just seemed... heavy... it was a powerful feeling.

Yes it would probably feel a little creepy but yeah I would!

yes i would coz i love history , yes it would be sad but from a historical perspective it would be good , i want to go but my friends ( non historians ) dont have a clue where it is and think iam making it up .

the question is innocent and curious, how i read the question is if there was a guided tour of hell would you go? in answer to your query "no i would not"

Probably not. I have very little intrest in history. And something as horific and tragic as the Holocaust does not inspire me to see parts of it up close.

No need. I believe the atrocities. It would only serve to increase a disdain for humanity. I need to see more good things.

I would. Even though the mood would be horrible, I would still go. I would want to see how the prisoners lived during their time during the Holocaust. I've had my taste of Auschwitz by visiting the Holocaust museum which had a great impact on my life. I saw life differently, and it made me appreciate life more. It was creepy but very interesting.

Yes I would. In fact I visited Dachau Germany a few years ago. It was very emotional, and a learned a lot. It is always good to experience true history. I came away from the visit with a new awareness of how the concentration camp victims suffered. An awareness that you can't find in history books. It also showed me substantive proof of what the Nazis did and refutes the holocaust deniers.

yes hitler had a good thing going.lol

No. I know of the horrors..I don't need to 'entertain' myself by seeing the place.

of course!!! i remember learning about the holocaust a few years ago and i was thinking in my head how in the world could someone do that kind of stuff to other human beings? i know that i probably wont be able to go see it but i would love to go there and pray and remember all the innocent people that died there.

aren't there reports that spirits live there?

No, I don't think so. I don't think I could handle being in the actual place where such horrors took place. Just thinking of the things which happened there, and other camps, makes me ill and fills me with a profound sadness. The level of cruelty inflicted is almost incomprehensible.

i heard that birds dont go there, its all in eerie silence. spooky.

It would be an overwhelming experience, but it would be the right thing to do, after studying it in History and analysing pictures, it's a disgusting thought of what they had to go through, but it would be the humane thiung to do, to go and acknowledge what happened, because it DID happen, no matter what anybody thinks, Jews have faced a lot of anguish over the centuries, but the Holocaust has to be one of the worst, it would almost be a duty to those who died and suffered there, for them to see we do acknowledge what happened, and to pay tribute to them.

YES! I have a Jewish relative that was at Auschwitz. She was visiting there recently and the guide made a comment which she corrected. He asked her if she was imprisoned at Auschwitz, and she said yes. She was the only Jewish person in the group. Everyone else was very warm to her and the guide asked her to stay after the tour. He took her to the office and looked up her name and gave her copies of her original paperwork (she was just a child) and also copies from her mother, and other family members, most of which died there. It is the only example of their writing that she has. They have asked her to return often (they offered to pay her way, but she refused) for ceremonies that they have. Although she did not want to visit the first time, the experience helped heal some of he memories By visiting Auschwitz and the other camps, I pray that this help to stop similar atrocities from happening again.

I would and I have, been to Dachau aswell.

Yes. I would like to see for myself.

Ignorance. They are uneducated. They have no knowledge of history so they don't understand how or why things like the Holocaust happened.

No. There are better theme parks closer to home. And they don't require that I believe the way they want me to.

nope..what a terrible place

I would if I traveled to Poland. Seeing a memorial of mass extinction of a people will cause a powerful and emotional experience.

I have. It was an extremely intense and emotional experience. My husband is Jewish, and he refused to go, so I went by myself. I'm glad I did, but it was very, very difficult.

Maybe. I don't know. My great-uncle died there. Poor guy got drunk and fell off his guard tower.

no!!!!..would be such a depressing place

I visited Auschwitz and Buchenwald.

Sure! Free trip to Poland. Why not? *** But if I had the CHOICE in spending MY money to visit Auschwitz or any other place, of course Auschwitz would NOT be my first choice.

no no I couldn't give a shit about anything in German