Oswiecim Then and Now

At least someone is trying to do a decent follow up for a change.
"A harrowing image from 1941 shows the moment the Jewish population of a small town in southern Poland is rounded up by Nazis and sent to their deaths.
Other pictures show flags emblazoned with Swastikas flying from banks and outside churches, while those who stayed in the town recall the 'disgusting glow' on the horizon, and the fear which kept the residents hiding behind closed windows.
Because, while the small town of Oswiecim is now a quiet, rural place, during the Second World War it lay in the shadows of the crematorium at Auschwitz, and death will forever linger in the air of this place.
Today, the buildings which once held such horror have become part of the everyday fabric of the town: annexes of the camp are apartment blocks, there is no sign of the checkpoints, and the Nazi flags are long gone.
But those who lived in the town during the Second World War still remember what it was like to live so close to the Nazi death camp.
Bogumila, who did not give her surname, and grew up in the Polish town, recalled: 'Everyone sat in their homes in silence, windows shut as tightly as possible.
'Of course people knew what was going on. Every now and again, my mother and I would walk toward the camp, and see the disgusting glow on the horizon. Most of them did nothing, because they were scared.'
Bozena Szczepanska, 88, who was just 12 when the Nazis invaded, said: 'It's difficult to forget because the memory of death is all around us, on the streets, in the buildings.
'People were forced out, others including my parents were shot. They were brutal, evil times.'
Before the war, Oswiecim had a population of 12,000, just over 8,000 of whom were Jewish.
By 1945, the entire Jewish population had gone and only 2,000 Poles remained.
Consumed as part of Nazi Germany in 1939, the town was renamed and work began on transforming the local army barracks into the biggest killing machine in history.
By the time it was liberated six years later, an estimated 1.5million people had been exterminated in its gas chambers."
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2928063/Pictures-Oswiecim-Auschwitz-now.html#ixzz3Q2A5Nuwu

 

I am amazed that some residents who were witnesses stayed to this day.

 

I just saw this on the DM..the Dm seems to have the most/best pics on news stories

 

I need to look up more on the history of Oswiecim. I found a book on it a while ago in a library, now or some reason i cannot find it or the title .

I too am very surprised that there are still residents there!

 

Bronk- they're certainly the most consistent with stories about WW2.

 

do you mean knowledge-wise?....they had a lot more/better pics of a big story in my hometown, than the hometown news !!!!

 

No, I just meant the frequency with which they turn up.

 

RT