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Post by amyrose on Nov 12, 2011 0:50:39 GMT -5
Hello,
I have always had this really strong urge to study WW2 and understand it. Particularly reading about the Holocaust and try and understand the what it was like during that time period. I mean, I read book after book after book about the war that are from different perspectives. But I particularly read books involving the Holocaust. I read Auschwitz, by Kitty Hart last year and I have never been so impacted by a book in my life.
Could it be my unexplainable need to understand that time period is a past life channeling through? And is anybody else out there have the same pushing need to understand what happened during that time period?
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Post by eiszeit on Nov 12, 2011 1:12:37 GMT -5
I've had the same compulsion throughout much of my life, too! It's gotten more prominent in recent years, but I can remember being about five and wanting to read about the war. I don't know how I knew about it - I always assumed I had watched WWII documentaries with my father or something. But my dad emphatically insisted he would never allow me, at five-years-old, to watch a documentary on WWII. Probably for the better that he didn't...
I didn't really outwardly show any interest, though, because I remember feeling like this was something that I could not discuss with my parents. I remember wanting to read Holocaust books in about third grade, but I never told anyone this.
At fifteen, that's when I started to really do my research. Fifteen, I remember I was... well, obsessed (for lack of a better word) with Heinrich Himmler and read everything I could possibly get my hands on that had to do with him. Reinhard Heydrich was a focus on my research, too, but the main focus was Himmler. I never had this obsession with Goebbels or Goering, or even Hitler! It was always focused on Himmler.
I've tried to read books on the Holocaust - both fiction (such as Markus Zusak's "The Book Thief") and non-fiction (such as "The Men with the Pink Triangle" or "Diary of Anne Frank"). But I could never seem to actually be able to read the parts that dealt with the Holocaust itself. I remember skipping over a great chunk of Book Thief, which is a book I intend to reread very soon... without skipping this time. With "Men with the Pink Triangle", I read about three chapters before I literally could not continue with it. It wasn't that it was a bad book. On the contrary! It's very well-written and gripping! Just... emotionally devastating, is all.
I have tried to understand the time period as best as I possibly could... No guarantees I have, but I'm doing my best. It's just... difficult for me, at the moment, to read Holocaust books. That's probably something I need to change, isn't it? :\
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Post by amyrose on Nov 12, 2011 1:31:28 GMT -5
I have tried to understand the time period as best as I possibly could... No guarantees I have, but I'm doing my best. It's just... difficult for me, at the moment, to read Holocaust books. That's probably something I need to change, isn't it? :\ I totally understand how hard it is to read about the Holocaust because sometimes I can't handle my emotions when I read about it sometimes. I'm sure in time you are going to be able to allow yourself to be comfortable with reading about the Holocaust. For me when I really started to get into reading about specifically the Holocaust I was scared/embarrassed about it but gradually I realized that I shouldn't be. I think the victims would want us to remember them. A suggestion I would give is just take baby steps try to read a little bit more each day and eventually you could become comfortable about reading those books. And when you are fully comfortable I highly suggest you read Kitty Hart's Auschwitz, which really brings to life what I was like inside the camps. Kitty was in Auschwitz for 2 years if I remember correctly and she witnessed everything and anything and went on to survive the war and I believe she passed sometime in the 90's. Im sure in time you will be able to read about the Holocaust! Keep hope.  |
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Post by rednight94 on Nov 12, 2011 11:12:36 GMT -5
A scary thing is how in that new film about Auschwitz they interview German teenagers and so many of them do not have any awareness of the Holocaust. I bet that would be the same in most countries. It does make me worry that the lessons could be lost on future generations. I mean, how many people sit and worry about the Boar War, (which is actually where concentration camps started)? It seems as time goes on people forget. That is a worry as we need to hold these lessons and make sure stuff like this does not happen again. Although it did happen in Bosnia and in other places to a lesser extent. And it could happen in the future again. That worries me. Those teenagers were just a few though. I'm certain the majority know more about the war and the Holocaust than the few whom were interviewed. And that movie is horrible. I still have scratch marks on my wall because it put me though so much torment. Watching those scenes was just awful. To amyrose: The war didn't fascinate me as much as the Holocaust, but yes I do have the urge to learn about it. I have since we really started learning about it in school. |
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Iseke
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Post by Iseke on Nov 12, 2011 15:22:57 GMT -5
My grandmother always told me that I needed to learn about WWII. She used to tell me this all the time and I'd always shrug it off, until one day I told her, "Grandma, I don't care about that." Looking back on it I can see that I was really trying to say, "Just let me be a kid for a while longer, I'll remember the war in time." But I did miss the chance to talk about it with my grandfathers before they passed (neither of whom were in my area at the time).
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gwida
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Post by gwida on Nov 13, 2011 3:50:27 GMT -5
I never really felt the urge until I was around 14 years of age. Then everything began to take off from there!  I've always felt like... something would "hit me in the face" (metaphorically speaking) when the time would be "right". Looks like the time has more or less come.  |
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Post by Leutnantzursee on Nov 14, 2011 7:40:08 GMT -5
I grew up so much with those who remembered the war first hand, it almost went over my head, I guess because in the 1970's it wasn't so long since WW2 and there was still an awful lot of furnishings and houses built in that style, especially if you had elderly Aunts! I did have a sense of familiarity with the 30's somehow, maybe the years before war were easier to connect to? But when it came to WW1, I was truly engrossed and tearful, that was one of those REAL soul recognition things, and to this day I can't watch anything on that era and not be reduced to hysterical sobs. I wonder if our perspective and our gender for that matter makes us remember in greater or lesser intensity, and maybe the combatant blocks it all out, while the woman who lost her loved ones, her memories channel more easily - does that make sense?
Looking back, for me, I can see how this unfolded in not so obvious ways, yet in hindsight they are just as powerful as the sort of recall I had over my WW1 life. I've found it almost impossible to watch anything on the Holocaust, because it has to be everyone's worst nightmare, and I think on a collective consciousness level, most human Beings tap into that horror automatically, its like its left a massive etheric scar. I think my PL is tainted by what happened to his sister and that I think is where my 'skeleton dreams' I had as a baby came from. But what I have always had, is a fascination for Germany and Germans, I can recall the way I'd hone in on any German I met as a kid, and surprisingly these events presented themselves despite the fact they all took place in England! To this day, just about every significant person I meet has German ancestry, including myself! I believe we set up 'marker's in a lifetime, so that if we wish and we remember a past life, we have clues all about us. Does anyone else have this marker thing too?
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Post by rednight94 on Nov 14, 2011 9:26:58 GMT -5
I believe we set up 'marker's in a lifetime, so that if we wish and we remember a past life, we have clues all about us. Does anyone else have this marker thing too? I'm not sure if this is what you mean my 'markers,' but last year I was sitting in gym class thinking about the Holocaust and asked to go to the bathroom. The bathroom we use when we're in gym is behind the locker room and connected to the pool, which is open to the public. Well, I walked into the locker room and standing their are two young German men having a conversation (in German of course). Now, that's the last thing you want to hear with a PL life as a Holocaust victim when you were JUST thinking about the Holocaust! I remember I was so nervous I couldn't even use the bathroom. I live in America by the way, so it's not like hearing people speak German is a daily thing. |
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Iseke
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Post by Iseke on Nov 14, 2011 16:47:03 GMT -5
I believe we set up 'marker's in a lifetime, so that if we wish and we remember a past life, we have clues all about us. Does anyone else have this marker thing too? |
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gwida
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Post by gwida on Nov 14, 2011 19:55:03 GMT -5
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Post by eiszeit on Nov 14, 2011 22:21:00 GMT -5
I believe we set up 'marker's in a lifetime, so that if we wish and we remember a past life, we have clues all about us. Does anyone else have this marker thing too? I definitely agree with this! I've had markers all my life, to the point where they become recurring themes of sorts. It's so odd, but so fascinating. |
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Post by Laurasia on Nov 15, 2011 18:22:07 GMT -5
I've also always had a draw to studying the Holocaust (not the war itself mind you), though I was never able to realize that draw was likely past life related until I was in my 20s. I have many books on the Holocaust & camps. And I also was drawn mostly to Heydrich & Himmler on an individual level. I didn't realize that they were my "bosses" in a past life though.
One book that is interesting (though VERY DISTURBING) is called "The Good Old Days". It is a sort of "Nazi scrapbook" of goings-ons from the camps & the Einsatz units which is comprised of "memorabilia" (photos, letters, reports, etc) from some of the Nazis themselves. (I ABSOLUTELY do not recommend it for former victims, unless they are fairly sure that they are ready to read accounts through the perpetrators eyes! There are former Nazis who can't even handle reading it.)
And Gwida, yes you need to either put up smaller versions of those pictures (I believe you can do so with a program like PhotoShop or something similar) or simply post the links to the pictures. I can empathize with your predicament regarding the busride though. Every day that I work (or go into town for that matter) I must drive past a huge paper plant complete with many smoking columns. Some days it isn't too bad, but there are some (like when all of the columns are smoking at full blast) that I can't even bear to look at it.
Sincerely,
Laurasia
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gwida
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Post by gwida on Nov 16, 2011 0:19:16 GMT -5
And Gwida, yes you need to either put up smaller versions of those pictures (I believe you can do so with a program like PhotoShop or something similar) or simply post the links to the pictures. I can empathize with your predicament regarding the busride though. Every day that I work (or go into town for that matter) I must drive past a huge paper plant complete with many smoking columns. Some days it isn't too bad, but there are some (like when all of the columns are smoking at full blast) that I can't even bear to look at it. Sincerely, Laurasia Yeah, I think I'll just put up links to them! It kept pissing me off when I was trying to put them up and in the preview they kept coming up so huge. I just gave up in the end! But god, I hate going past that place because the blimmin' bus ALWAYS has to take the long route up behind the hospital, around the back carpark and finally come rattling down and stopping for the passengers outside of Block 10. Then there's usually the ginormous line of cars leading up to these narrow exits/entrances and a five minute wait at the traffic lights. |
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Post by doctorwhat on Nov 19, 2011 10:20:45 GMT -5
disclaimer: a couple comments may be disturbing to some peopleomg those photos. when i saw the 1st one i immediately thought "crematorium chimney!!!" and the 2nd i was like "oooohhhh....i wonder if some sort of medical thing like experiments goes on in there." weird. and creepy. near where i used to live, there was a state mental hospital that in the 20s and 30s was used to house TB victims, and the 2nd pic reminded me of that. doctors performed experimental things on the patients/inmates too, like electrocution, cold water immersion, etc, to "cure" their TB. but the buildings were set up a certain way, and there was a main building that i'm sure was just a physical plant, but looked like a crematorium with the smoke stack. and once, my husband and i went there a couple years ago to drive around, it was gloomy and freezing cold, and they had the stacks going and i just blurted out "i bet they're burning people in there." my husband looked at me like i was crazy ---------- anyway, onto the topic. i've wanted to learn about ww2 and the Holocaust since i was probably 4 or 5. i was so disappointed in school when we'd get to ww1, skip over ww2, go to Korea, and skip Vietnam and head onto the fall of the USSR. i was always checking out books from the library on the Holocaust, concentration camps, and Nazis. i'd watch movies and documentaries about it. even now when i check the guide on the tv and see something about Nazis or the Holocaust or the 3rd Reich, i HAVE to watch it.
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gwida
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Post by gwida on Nov 20, 2011 23:30:46 GMT -5
Wow, that is creepy. And that chimney is attached to a hospital! :S Apparently the uni I go to now was a mental institution in the... 30's or something. There's this old block by gate one with old, narrow brick chimneys and really nice brickwork. It would give me the creeps to be around the place at night-time though... I think even our elevators are haunted! I shall see if I am able to take pictures of some of the buildings next time I go in to uni... |
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I've always felt like... something would "hit me in the face" (metaphorically speaking) when the time would be "right". Looks like the time has more or less come. 
