Deleted account rno
Guest
Greg Masters' thread about taking his daughter to Auschwitz spurred me on to post this thread. It may be of some interest to some of you planning a WW11 Places Of Interest type tour in France or Germany.
During my recent Euro trip, I visited the Concentration Camp at Natzweiler Struthof in Alsace. This is near the French/German border in the Strasbourg and Baden Baden areas. It is well worth a visit IMO.
Wikpedia give a short history of the camp here
The camp is built high up in the Vosges mountains and it's difficult to imagine the horrors of camp life when you stand in the Roll Call square and gaze out over the beautiful landsape. The surrounding remnants of camp life and the photos and illustrations in the museum soon remind you of the history of the place.
This is the Main Gate and Guard House
A view of the camp from the Main Gate looking down over the Vosges mountains
The Main Gate and Monument To The Departed
The once-electrified and (presumably) original barbed wire fence
One of the remaining Barracks has been converted into a museum
Vera Leigh
and Diana Rowden
2 British female SOE Operatives who were imprisoned and executed at Natzweiler Struthof...
Roll Call Square and execution area
One of the carts from the stone quarry where the prisoners worked 12 and 14 hour days
The Solitary cells barracks also housing the Cremetorium oven
Recently laid wreaths left beside the oven included one from Hereford
The cell area is cold and very foreboding, even after all these years
A medical table used for medical experiments and for Post Mortem examinations on murdered prisoners
Steep steps where prisoners had a to carry heavy stones as part of punishment regimes
100 metres from the main camp entrance is the Kommandant's villa. Josef Kramer (The infamous Beast Of Belsen) was once the Kommandant at Natzweiler Struthof.
The concrete area on the left of the photo is the now-filled-in swimming pool. It's hard to comprehend the difference in the two standards of living that must have occurred within this short distance 60 odd years ago.
A simple but somehow very fitting memorial is situated just outside the Main Gate. It seemed the most natural thing to do when I stopped there for a couple of minutes on leaving the camp...
This camp is nowhere near as famous/infamous as Auschwitz, Bergen Belsen or Treblinka but it is a truly humbling experience and one that I found incredibly interesting.
During my recent Euro trip, I visited the Concentration Camp at Natzweiler Struthof in Alsace. This is near the French/German border in the Strasbourg and Baden Baden areas. It is well worth a visit IMO.
Wikpedia give a short history of the camp here
The camp is built high up in the Vosges mountains and it's difficult to imagine the horrors of camp life when you stand in the Roll Call square and gaze out over the beautiful landsape. The surrounding remnants of camp life and the photos and illustrations in the museum soon remind you of the history of the place.
This is the Main Gate and Guard House
A view of the camp from the Main Gate looking down over the Vosges mountains
The Main Gate and Monument To The Departed
The once-electrified and (presumably) original barbed wire fence
One of the remaining Barracks has been converted into a museum
Vera Leigh
and Diana Rowden
2 British female SOE Operatives who were imprisoned and executed at Natzweiler Struthof...
Roll Call Square and execution area
One of the carts from the stone quarry where the prisoners worked 12 and 14 hour days
The Solitary cells barracks also housing the Cremetorium oven
Recently laid wreaths left beside the oven included one from Hereford
The cell area is cold and very foreboding, even after all these years
A medical table used for medical experiments and for Post Mortem examinations on murdered prisoners
Steep steps where prisoners had a to carry heavy stones as part of punishment regimes
100 metres from the main camp entrance is the Kommandant's villa. Josef Kramer (The infamous Beast Of Belsen) was once the Kommandant at Natzweiler Struthof.
The concrete area on the left of the photo is the now-filled-in swimming pool. It's hard to comprehend the difference in the two standards of living that must have occurred within this short distance 60 odd years ago.
A simple but somehow very fitting memorial is situated just outside the Main Gate. It seemed the most natural thing to do when I stopped there for a couple of minutes on leaving the camp...
This camp is nowhere near as famous/infamous as Auschwitz, Bergen Belsen or Treblinka but it is a truly humbling experience and one that I found incredibly interesting.
