Trip To Belsen

As promised here are the pictures from my trip to Berlsen Concentration camp, and the surrounding area. Hopefully this will demonstrate to you just how evil mankind really can be. 30,000 Jews were murdered here, along with 60,000 Soviet prisoners of war. Besides these, countless homosexuals, disbaled children, and political prisoners perished too at the hands of the nazi regime. What I learnt truely shocked me.





The first pic marks the entrance to the site, the second was taken inside the small museum on site, it's some actual clothing worn by a Jewish prisoner.





Seen above is the monolith memorial and an inscription from the huge wall that surrounds it.





Wooden cross originally erected in 1946 by survivors and families along with a shot of the interior of the hall of silence. Note Star of David marked out on the floor. This building was very thought-provoking. It was constructed of stainless-steel and had a glass roof, but inside it was deathly silent.







The previous pictures show Anne Frank's Burial, the main Jewish Grave marker and the stones which mark individual family plots.











The original buildings were all but destroyed by the British forces who liberated the camp, for one reason they were riddled with Typhoid, but also because the troops were so sickened by the atrocities they saw, they didn't want to leave any reminders. All that remains now are these Heather covered mass-grave sites which bear the number of dead that lie inside them.

A short walk away form the main camp is the Soviet Prison of War Grave which marks the site of the former prisoner of war camp. If it were possible, these poor souls were treated even worse, often being left throughout the winter months with no protection from the elements. Many thousands died of exposure and hypothermia.











The previous pics are from the soviet grave-site. The fourth one is the grave of a Georgian or Ukranian Woman who became a Guerilla fighter and fought during the Warsaw Uprising, before being captured and interred at Belsen, where she perished.

The final set of pictures I will post are from the military rail station literally 2 mins walk from my brother's house. This station is now used by the NATO forces to load/unload armoured vehicles, and so it is not used for public transport. During the war this is the point where almost all of the prisoners were brought in by train and dropped off before having to walk about 3-4 miles to get to the camp. Anyone who felt out on the way was shot. At the station the original ramp has been preserved and an original box-car used to transport people is displayed. These usually contained 40-60 people, and as you will see (with me as a scale) this must have been horiffic.