20 June 2015

Historical Amnesia and Memorabilia around... (Ladyzhyn - 2414 km)

(Ladyzhyn, 18.06.2015 - 20.06.2015) It's frustrating, but I think we have no choice but to accept that when it comes to the crimes committed during the Holocaust by Nazi Germany and its Romanian allies in Transnistria and beyond, it's all water under the bridge; in this particular case the water of the Bug River, which delimitated the Romanian from the German sphere of control during World War II.





Perfect natural landscapes hiding the atrocities, which happened here, as per my 2014 posting "The Stone Quarry on the Bug River at 8 Miles from N 48°40' E 29°15' and 54 Miles from Uman"  or Christian Herrmann's June 2015 posting "In Transnistria" . From Marion Tauschwitz's biography on Selma Merbaum we learn that even Selma, despite her horrible situation, had an eye for the natural idyll (Marion's posting dated 14.08.2014).





No monument, no plate, literally nothing in remembrance of the victims, among them so many Jews from Bukovina and Czernowitz! From Ladyzhyn I continued driving west to Vapniarca and yet again, apart from natural beauty, nothing whatsoever is reminiscent of the Vapniarca Camp, which was one of the main articles of accusation during the First Trial Against the War Criminals in Front of the Romanian People's Tribunal in May 1945.



No knowledge of historical circumstances, but just a sensitive metal detecting device is needed, to discover memorabilia from World War II such as a SS helmet or a double rifle both made by Krupp steel. A., a most sympathetic young man from a small village near Ladyzhyn is quite rightly proud of his dig.





Nature is recapturing terrain, people fall into historical amnesia, what are we to do? I don't know, but at least I'm keeping on pointing to Holocaust survivor's testimonies:

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