So much hatred!

And then there was Auschwitz!

I was going to write about something else.

Then I heard that this day was the day in 1945, when Russian Forces came upon and liberated surviving inmates of this Concentration Camp.

To explain the atrocities with which Nazi Germany operated this and several other camps of like nature, is almost impossible.

The brutal statistics of Auschwitz can be summarized as follows:

Approximate total number of prisoners brought there over the years of its existence: 1,300,000

Survivors 200,000 which allows the conclusion that in this Camp alone some 1,100,000 were put to death in a variety of ways.

Most were gassed and incinerated, many were shot, beaten to death, and allowed to die through starvation.

The bestial nature of those in charge was shown during the “Wannsee Conference”, where, among other issues, the expensive manner of execution by shooting, was replaced by the cheaper method of Gassing and Incineration. This conference was, however, mostly concerned with the cooperation of varying Nazi institutions, so that the extermination of Jews and other “unproductive” members of Society could be done efficiently.

At the recent memorial celebration of the date of liberation of this Camp, and as a comment about rising antisemitism, Germany's President Steinmeier said: “The evil ghosts present themselves today in new clothing.”

When persons out of their abysmal ignorance or out of deliberate denial

refer derogatorily about “Die Juden”

Bertstravels

feels a profound sense of astonished sorrow.