Can I tell a story?
It might be kinda long but I think that it's worth it.
Like a typical college student I worked as a waitress. One of the people I met working was a WWII soldier in the 65th infantry. He ordered dessert to go and always smiled and was my favorite person to wait on. One day he was reading a hand bound book about the work the 65th division did in the war and we chatted about his role, he casually mentioned that he'd even helped free a concentration camp and of course my interest was 100% engaged. I could interact in the conversation somewhat!
Mauthausen.
He helped free Mauthausen.
What are the chances that he freed the one camp I'd been to?
After reading the 261st regimental journals and personal testimony and hearing stories returning to Mauthausen was an entirely different experience. The previous trip I remember being completely immersed in the silence and death of the place but I was honored to have the memories and firsthand accounts of the salvation as well this time to temper the atrocity. Not that what happened was any different, or walking the stairs was any less heartbreaking, but it was a perspective not many people can approach the site with.
We often overlook our history and soon we won't have any WWII vets left to overlook. The oral history they can convey is a limited quantity and I feel so lucky to have shared in it.
I don't have much to say about the photos... they are a smattering of the famous points of the camp: the cliffs which lead to the quarry, the stairs (a then and now photo), and a memorial for the 65th infantry division. We walked the three miles from the train to the top of the large hill where the camp is situated- it's a gorgeous landscape. Sometimes it's hard to believe that something so awful could be surrounded by something so lovely.
One last photo, this one is from the DC Holocaust Museum.
Don't skip it if you're in the area.
Of the day this is the photo that has stuck with me from that entire experience. I don't have another concrete vision of that day, this one is seared into my mind so fully.
I really apprecieate that you shared this. I got a little bit of a chill while reading and now have tears glossing over my eyes. That man, and all the men from WWII, is a hero. You got to meet and listen to a hero, that is a special treasure.
ReplyDelete