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1. Nymphenburg November 2011 ...

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This pretty unexciting building is where I was born. Fate would have it I visited a fire station exactly opposite. Back after 42 years, the original birthing clinic is gone, and all that remains are my parents’ memories – and a Facebook group of people born there. Truly amazing :)

Less excited than I thought I’d be but nonetheless… I always tell people I was born in Glostrup, not Copenhagen, so there you are.

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There is a long list of WW2 must-sees, such as Arnhem, Eben-Emael, The Dams, countless more, and Auschwitz is at the very top. I was fortunate enough to pass by Krakow and Auschwitz on the way back from Warzsawa recently, and pay a visit to the camps. As usual, I do wish I had more time; on the other hand, I am glad that I was able to be there at all.

I am still struggling as to which angle to approach the visit. Nothing I will write here and now will come even close to the amount and intensity of impressions experienced there. It was a cold and misty Saturday morning, about -5°C. Being early, the whole place was pretty much empty, and the lifting mists enveloped the whole place in an eerie light, which I can’t be thankful enough for. It made one thing “easier”, important to me: to try and immerse in what life and particularly death, must have been like then.

Now, a few days later, I am still trying to sort through all feelings and emotions experienced. I am thankful and glad to have been privileged to “experience” the place , in particular with the given light conditions and peacefulness.

I am afraid I will have to focus on a very few issues, although I really would like to dwell on so many of them. Perhaps the objective issues first to serve as a frame for the story. Even though I had read about the camp, the real thing does come as a surprise – in particular, Auschwitz I, the original camp, is nothing like I had imagined. Instead of being somewhere totally remote, it is nowadays in the middle of an industrial settlement. But as soon as you go through the infamous “Arbeit macht frei” gate, you are thrown back many many years.

It’s not the dwellings, but the ubiquitous signs that really do give you an impression of how much Death was present at this place.

If you did the wrong thing, you died. If you did nothing, you died. If your guard was in a bad mood, you died. Anything, really, you died. Period. out. Over. Roll call. one person missing? Your fault or not, you died. You tried to escape? Your entire family would be brought to Auschwitz.

If this all was bad enough, a visit to block 11 must be one of the most intense trips into the killing mind of mankind. This, for instance, was the courtyard where thousands and thousands were shot.

Block 11 is to the right, where inmates were incarcerated, tortured, suffocated, starved to death, beaten, and much more. This is taken from a room where you would be undressed, and led to the shooting wall with a Schussfang, a contraption that would catch bullets and ricochets.

Incidentally one of the wraths outside had been laid down by German President Christian Wullf two days ago, commemorating the liberation of the camp January 27, 1945.

There’s so much more to Auschwitz I that can’t be shown here, it saddens me. The medical experiments, the barracks, watchtowers, the crematorium including the very first gas chamber, but to name a few.

If Auschwitz I was a glimpse to the past, Auschwitz II – Birkenau, located a five minutes’ drive away, would blow you away so much, it is hard to grasp. All the films, documentaries, pictures, tales, they would come together here. Auschwitz Birkenau is so vast, it sends shivers down your spine, again and again.

Standing on the Judenrampe, where trains would arrive, I tried to feel what it was like then. Families who survived the transport would be separated right here and there. Women, children, or anyone seen unfit to work, to one side. And off to the gas chambers. Undress for showers, they were told. Here is where hundreds of thousands of women, children, weak, feeble, politically uncorrect, and others went down the stairs, minutes away from their deaths.

Whereas in Ausschwitz I, death is ubiquitous, in Auschwitz II – Birkenau it is the industrial scale of mass murder that is so awe-inspiring – in every possible negative sense. Of all impressions that I took in, this one was probably the most helpful in even remotely understanding the psyche behind the Endlösung:

Ludwig Posener was lazy at work, did not comply with the order to work “faster” and therefore was sentenced to 5 days in the “standing cell”, a 1,5 square meter hell with four inmates. So tight, you could not move, sit, or do anything, and where hundreds, or probably more thousands, would die of unimaginable pains.

This “Meldung”, extrapolated, helps understand why it all happened. Take enough goons, give them power, and it will happen. And they will feel great, god-like, exerting the power their little minds is craving for.

My personal opinion? No grudge against the Germans. I am pretty sure it will not happen here again. I live in Germany and I love it. But it is not about Nationalities. I think it is in the nature of humanity. Since WW2, take for instance the Soviet Gulag system, Cambodia and its killing fields, the Rwandan genocide of even the events of Srebrenica not so far awas from here and not so long ago. It is my opinion that all these deeds are all based on the same “thing”.

Still, it is so hard to grasp, and I probably never will fully understand what went through the minds of the organisers, or, thankfully, not experience the torments of the victims. I do think, though, that what happened here and in other places must be ever present in people’s minds. It is probably the only way to prevent this from happening again – and, even more, to be thankful for the quality and safety of life we experience in Western Europe today. Actually, being able to pop in on a Saturday morning, snap a few pictures, and leave again, is probably the most remote thing possible from the happenings there during the War.

I am glad I made it here. I hope, one, day, my children will make it too.

The rest of the pictures to be found here.

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Another one crossed off the list: after the Bridge at Arnhem, I’ve finally managed to pay a visit to the Edersee Talsperre of Dambusters fame, or Operation Chastise at it is known. This still leaves a few WW2 places I want to visit, such as the Normandy beaches, Bastogne, El Alamein and Guadalcanal to name a few.

Like at Arnhem, I get a little chill as I try to imagine what it was like then – the sound of Lancasters skimming the ridges and dropping their loads. Here’s a little sim of what it looked like out of the cockpit:

With the difference that the bombing actually took place at night. Looking at the steep hills and embankments around the lake, I can’t helü but admire the flying skills of the RAF crews. This is of course omitting the tragedy that struck people living below the dam, who lost their lives or possessions in the aftermath. Also, more than 50 aviators were killed in an operation that actually only achieved a psychological effect rather than economic or strategic, as originally intended.

It’s actually amazing you can see where the dam was repaired following the damage:

The spot is not only discoloured, it is also missing whatever these holes are good for.

Just to imagine what it looked like with a hole in it:

Anyway, beyond all the war stuff, the entire area is pretty much amazingly beautiful, there is a national park attached and loads and loads of tourists, which is much more nice than chucking bombs on top of each other.

In terms of psychological effect and folklore, bless Carling Black Label:

and

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Carlton’s “Big Beer Ad” is fraught with desperation for the lack of ideas. Let’s throw in a lot of people, some bollockey text, and Carmina Burana is never wrong, is it? Right. I love it.

The Guinness’ “anticipation” ist absolutely perfect, nothing more to be said:

Good creative beer ads? Plenty, less so in Germany, but good thing the world is big!

Looking through YouTube, I might just declare Stella my favourite beer ad maker. This one’s great:

This is not beer, but it’s got Leslie Nielsen in it :)

…and so on. Just a few thoughts on a warm SUMMER day!

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This one is in Moreton in Marsh, home of Fire Services College. It is great to be back in the UK.

Apart from that I’d love to link to hipstamatic and the pictures on Flickr, but on the iPhone this is no small task. What a great App – not sure about the resolution, but it looks like a worthy replacement to the Lomo.

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First and foremost, I was deployed to Haiti as a member of @fire, following the earthquake. We went there as a USAR team. This will problably qualify as the most extreme experience of my life, in many respects. Im am glad and thankful I could be part of the relief effort.

This is our team ready to go at Munich airport.

Going to Haiti was like going to a black  hole. We did not know what to expect. It was like a movie unfolding. This is the building where I finally realised we were there:

There are about 15 dead people in this picture, just only out of sight. It was smelly and hot. We were there for three intense days. The most stressful thing? Not the dead, or the destruction. Rather, for 10 days, not knowing what was about to happen for the next hour. We finally got home courtesy of the Belgian Air Force. (Picture Set)

Haiti was plus 30+ degrees Celsius. The week after that, I was in Warsaw, Poland. Minus 25 °C in the daytime, that is a temperature difference of almost 60 °C. We spent most of those two days indoors. It’s a shame, because I was really glad to finally be in that city – I’ll have to take a closer look another time.

Station 1, Warsaw.

Last week was all Heavy Rescue: first, three days with “grand master” Jimmy, of raddning.se, in Knivsta, north of Stockholm. Two days Bus Lift, and one day Truck extrication using a deformed, brand spanking new Scania truck. It was outside, cold, but it sure as hell beats any office job.

Finally, my very own Big Lift. This time, a situation to strike fear in the hearts of the participants :)

..and these are only the facts. Emotionally, it’s been a roller coaster ride, but that is boring. On with it.

Sets on Flickr: Haiti,  Warsaw, Heavy Rescue Sweden,   Big Lift

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Normally we use the ferry between Rostock and Gedser as it offers a direct route from Munich to our holiday home in Denmark. This time, we had to take the long route up through Jutland and Fyn. And, believe it or not, in the past month I’ve been over this bridge seven times. Well it’s well worth it in many senses, also because it is simply breathtaking.

Incidentally, with a clearance of 65 metres, it won’t fit the Queen Mary 2 (72 metres).

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