I Visited Auschwitz Two Days Ago

by Sea Breeze 16 Replies latest jw friends

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  Sea Breeze

  Auschwitz Concentration Camp in Poland may not seem like a very happy vacation spot to visit. But, if you have a home, a family and your freedom - you will be far less likely to take these things for granted after visiting.

  
  

  We made the sobering decision to make the 2.5 hr. drive to see this place where 1.1 million people were lied to, tricked & coerced into traveling to - only to meet their end.

  
  

  Previously, I viewed a Watchtower as a structure to protect people from an invading enemy. Like so many things, there is another meaning of the word. A Watchtower can also be used to prevent people from escaping.

  
  

  Standing there looking at the vastness of this camp with its system of Watchtowers, I was flabberghasted that I had never made this connection before - until this moment.

  
  

  
  
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  Sea Breeze

  Every 18 meters, there was a new watchtower. We walked over 5 miles to complete the tour. It was a very elaborate and methodical system of death. During the tour, I was constantly reminded of the intricate system of lies the Watchtower corporation has perpetrated on their victims.
  
  Like Auschwitz, the system was designed to keep people in bondage, not protect from enemies. Blessings to EVERYONE who made it out!
  
  Enjoy your freedom.
  
  
  
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  Sea Breeze

  
  
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  dropoffyourkeylee

  Wow, I'll definitely go when I get the chance. Envious of your experience and insight
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  Nikolaus

  We visited the memorial site last year. Definitely a place to see with your own eyes while it was too tight a schedule for my taste to get all the crowd through the tour. I also watched The Zone of Interest this year.

  While the memorial site was our main destination, I found Krakòw nice from a touristic point of view. We also visited the salt mine,
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  enoughisenough

  and to think if Rutherford had not been determined to "poke the bear" , many JWs would never have suffered such fate.
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  Sea Breeze

  This exhibit reminded me of the "go bags" the Watchtower made everyone prepare. They knew all along that the suitcases would never be needed.

  
  
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  Nikolaus

  I do not like connecting these things that stand on their own with these irrelevant WT actions.
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  ukpimo

  Agreed Nikolaus,

  I believe making a "parody" out of the most evil and brutal war crime in history and making a parallel with Watchtower shows lack of respect for the actual historical event as well as remembering those who died trying to end such an evil regime.

  Watchtower is evil, but Nazism was a greater evil. Don't go there to compare the two. That is where I would firmly disagree with this post. The reason why jws suffered was because the organization at the time made them vulnerable to government, introducing the idea of religious neutrality and also the belief that government is essentially an agent of the Devil. Jws don't intentionally torture its members. However due to the elder and disfellowshipping arrangements, harassment easily runs rife in the organization, hidden away from Circuit Overseers and the branches around the world, so when they do receive letters of criticism they naturally believe that they come from "spiritually weak" men or apostates. Little does the Governing Body realise they have no control of its own machine which is run by elders and their wives essentially, and that is the major difference between jws and Nazism: JWs follow orders but always re-interpret them for their own localities, whereas the Nazis obeyed Hitler 100% and never dared deviate from their orders no matter where they were.
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  enoughisenough

  ukpimo, you should research how the WT tried to solidify with Hitler and when that didn't work out to suit them, they "poked the bear". https://jwfacts.com/watchtower/hitler-nazi.php