Judgment at Nuremberg
2003 05 12 | journal
There are things that make me angry, or ill, or frustrated, or shocked, but there are very few things that can make me turn away with such abject feelings of nausea that hours later I can still feel it in the pit of my stomach and crawling up my throat like a snake.
I was watching Judgment at Nuremberg tonight, which in and of itself is a very interesting film regarding the war crimes trials held in regards to the atrocities committed by the Nazis during World War II. It's something I'd suggest everyone see at some time or other. Schindler's List, though good, doesn't really touch on the horror of that time, and I don't guess anything would but actual footage of what was going on in the concentration camps coupled with descriptions of other committed atrocities.
And that's what makes my skin crawl, that footage ... and what that footage means.
During the film they show some of the footage taken by the British when they entered the camps at the cessation of hostilities. I've seen them before, but... if you haven't seen them, there is no way I can describe them to you, no way to put into words what appears in the films.
It's more than sickening, more than shocking, more than horrific, more than inconceivable or unbelievable. There is no word nor phrase adequate. Reading details in a history book won't give you a true picture of it. It's something you have to see for yourself.
I have to turn away from it. It's a rare thing that can make me do that. A rare thing... yet things like it continue to happen everyday.