Where to fly to visit auschwitz
A Warning to Those Visiting Auschwitz
i first went to auschwitz beer canal
concentration camp in 2012
and as somebody who had read a lot about
the history of that place and had
watched a lot of documentaries
it was something that i was dreading but
i was also in a kind of way looking
forward to
to go to a place where the absolute
worst things that humans have ever done
to other humans
was an honor but unfortunately my
abiding memory
of visiting that place isn't actually
what had happened it was the behavior of
the people that were there
as we walked into the crematorium at
auschwitz
one a couple that were in the group that
i was in
decided that it would be a good moment
to start kissing each other
when we walked into one of the barracks
where shoes
of the jewish victims at auschwitz
concentration camp
were displayed our guide asked us not to
take any photos
and not take any photos of the shoes or
the human hair
or the suitcases because these are after
all the possessions of people who've
been murdered
and the first thing every single tourist
that was in my group did was whip out
their phone
and take a photo and unfortunately
to my undying shame i said nothing
i did nothing i stood there disgusted
and angry
more angry even at their behavior than
what i was actually witnessing
because it was so horrible to see the
way that people coming to this place
this terrible place treated it almost as
if it was like an amusement park
so in recent months when news reports
have shown how people have been
ticking off their bucket list by
visiting the house from auschwitz
concentration camp
uh taking happy jolly selfies people
from all sorts of different countries
regardless of where they're from
you know you just feel absolutely sick
to the stomach
i went to auschwitz recently to record a
film about a polish priest
who sacrificed his life for that of a
stranger
and unfortunately on that visit as well
spending two days at that camp
i saw exactly the same behaviour as it's
in on my first visit
and you know what if you can't behave
in the right way when you go to
auschwitz concentration camp
or any other place with a mass
extermination of the nazi germans during
the second world war took place
don't go if you can't treat that place
with respect
if you can't focus all of your energy
and your effort
on the victims the people who are
tortured and murdered in the most
bestial way
then don't go if you don't have the
empathy to understand what happened at
these places
you don't deserve to go there it is not
a holiday it is not a special treat
and it certainly is not ticking
something off your bucket list it's your
obligation as a human
to the human race
[Music]
so
you
