I recently had the opportunity to visit some good old friends in Krakow, Poland, which is an amzing city and even UNESCO world heritage site. Yet, the main arguement for me to visit other than seeing my friends was going to the KZ Ausschwitz, which is only a good hours drive from Krakow by Bus.
Ausschwitz was not only any Nazi concentration camp, but the biggest extermination camp of all. It became a symbol for genocide, terror and the Holocaust. Between 1.1 and 1.5 Million people were killed there. While 90% of them were Jews, there was besides others also a high percentage of Roma, gays and other political opponents.
This all seems incredible and impossible to ever happen again. However, is it really impossible?
Over the last year we have experienced drastic changes in attitudes and politics all over the world. European countries closing their borders or voting to leave the EU to keep foreigners out, right winged parties gaining power and the USA just electing a person as their leader, who openly discriminated different ethnicities, gays and women. Agression against “outsiders” have increased, with a whole religion again under general suspicion.
Ausschwitz could and should tell us that NOTHING is impossible, which makes it so much more important to visit sites like it in troubled times like our present.
What are your thoughts on the current political developments in Europe and around the world? I would love to discuss them with you in the comments section. Let´s be careful not to let anything even slightly similar to the mass extermination during the 3rd Reich ever happen again!
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