WWII History And The Lodz Ghetto

On September 1st it’ll be 72 years since the official start of World War II. On September 4th, it’ll be 70 years to the day that the official deportations of Jews to the Lodz Ghetto in Poland started.

That day will also mark the closing of the special exhibition of the Lodz Ghetto (also called Ghetto Litzmannstadt) at the Nazi Documentation Center in Cologne. The entire special exhibit is of photographs taken within the ghetto looking at daily life, before its residents were sent to Auschwitz in 1944.

The building itself is a piece of history in the story of the Third Reich. The EL-DE Haus (located at Appellhofplatz 23-25) was once the HQ of the dreaded Gestapo; and the museum does have permanent exhibits on the history of Nazi Germany.

Just about a month after the Lodz Ghetto Exhibition closes, the Dresden War Museum will open its doors (slated for October 14). There’s no glossy candy-coating the wicked, ugliness of war on these exhibits, which is exactly what the museum plans to accomplish.

According to Der Spiegel, Dresden was the most and least logical place for the museum. It’s also where a number of Neo-Nazis gather every February to mark the city’s destruction date (it was leveled on Feb. 13, 1945 by the Allies).

Neo-Nazi groups also gather every year at the grave of one of Nazi Germany’s most notorious leaders, Rudolf Hess. Well, they did — until recently.

According to Der Spiegel, the town of Wunsiedel was tired of the group coming every year in August to “commemorate” the former Hitler Deputy — well they did until 2005 when the practice was banned.

Still, the folks in the sleepy Upper Franconian town didn’t think that was enough. They cremated his remains and scattered his ashes into the sea, with Hess’ family’s permission, of course.

Looks like it’s the dawn of a new day in Germany, doesn’t it?