The Creepy & The Strange

[Ludo*1]

Couple of Youtube channels worth checking out if you're into your creepy and strange stuff. Some of it ends up bordering on daft conspiracies that are obviously not real, but some of their content is really interesting too.

The two channels are DangerDolan and Dark5. Dark5's videos are mainly text based, here's a sample:

This video is particularly interesting:

DangerDolan is an Australian guy who talks over his videos but provides decent content too:

[Hillonearth]

I've been to Oradour in France. It's been left as a kind of open-air museum exactly what it would have been like after all its inhabitants were massacred. It's a truly horrific place.

Everywhere you turn in Warsaw there's a memorial to something horrific that happened during WW2. You'd think the Umschlagplatz where they stuck the Jews on the trains would be the worst, but that "honour" goes to Pawiak prison where the Gestapo did their interrogations.

You can just wander about, but there was one particular end of a corridor where every hair on my body seemed to stand on end, and you wouldn't have got me back down there if you'd paid me. Found out from a Pole that that was where the execution cells were.

The same trip, a couple of punters I was over with went overnight to visit Auschwitz, but I felt that was just a bit too much of a holiday in other people's misery - they came back with stories that these days you can buy everything short of a knock-off Hard Rock Cafe Auschwitz t-shirt there, which is just plain wrong. I ended up staying in Warsaw and going to Legia v Gornik Zabrze and still think I got the better end of the deal.

[parsforlife]

When I visited auschwitz I don't remember seeing much commercialism if any from it beyond guided tours.

Can't say I found I particuarly creepy, but I can't say that about many things. I'm glad I went but I certainly viewed it from an historical perspective.

[Hillonearth]

When I visited auschwitz I don't remember seeing much commercialism if any from it beyond guided tours.

Can't say I found I particuarly creepy, but I can't say that about many things. I'm glad I went but I certainly viewed it from an historical perspective.

Not sure if it was at the site itself or the local town (Oswiecem?), but they said there were stalls selling touristy type tat, which considering where it is and what happened there was pretty distasteful.

Did a wee bit of research there and it turns out that although these stalls spring up occasionally opened by chancers the authorities shut them down as soon as they get wind of them, so fair play there I guess.

I'm the proud owner of a "Greetings from Auschwitz" set of postcards they brought back for me. They drew the line at a fridge magnet, which I believe were also available...

[Guest]

When I visited auschwitz I don't remember seeing much commercialism if any from it beyond guided tours.

Can't say I found I particuarly creepy, but I can't say that about many things. I'm glad I went but I certainly viewed it from an historical perspective.

The Auschwitz you (and I) visited is just the camp built to house those who built the much, much larger camp next to it, and even that is practically all rebuilt replicas of what it would've looked like. Nearby is the land where the old Birkenau camp stood, which is essentially a huge big field now. I can't comment on what it's like to walk around, but many people who've visited have commented on how quiet an eery it is.

I had a creepy moment in Berlin, I know it was all in my head but it still freaked the shit out of me. I won't bore folk with the details of how, but on my way to the Sachsenhausen memorial I ended up at a train station a few miles away which was so remote looking and only had trains back every couple of hours. My only other way back was to walk through the path by the trainline, which ended up being a long trek through a forest. The fucking creepiness of this place, as well as knowing how close I was to a former killing factory and the things which may have happened in this forest as a result, scared seven shades of shite out of me.

[Guest]

I'm the proud owner of a "Greetings from Auschwitz" set of postcards they brought back for me. They drew the line at a fridge magnet, which I believe were also available...

This is surely either bullshit, or the cards you got didn't come from Auschwitz. Anyone here who's visited will testify that a postcard with that written on it is not something they'd sell at that place. Fridge magnets too.

[Hillonearth]

This is surely either bullshit, or the cards you got didn't come from Auschwitz. Anyone here who's visited will testify that a postcard with that written on it is not something they'd sell at that place. Fridge magnets too.

As I said in the previous post, I personally didn't go so I'm just going on what I was told and what I was brought back which is a set of maybe a dozen or so postcards in a wee presentation folder. The postcards themselves are cheap stock but reasonably tasteful, but the folder has a message along the lines of "greetings from Auschwitz"

I assume they were locally produced and have lost something in translation. I'd like to think so anyway.

[tongue_tied_danny]

I've never been to Auschwitz, but I've been to Kiev and there was a stall on Andriyivskyy Descent that sold all kinds of WW2 and cold war era paraphernalia, including yellow Jude stars, so I wouldn't be surprised if similar items were on sale in Poland.

[Wardy]

Standing in the gas chamber at Dachau was pretty creepy. They didn't execute as many there as they did at Auschwitz... But still. Very eerie and I felt a bit sick.

[Enigma]

I went on a German exchange to Munich when I was 12. On a sunny Sunday towards the end of the week the cheerful German father asked if there was anything I would like to do. We had been to a Bayern game and been cycling earlier that week, wholesome stuff. His face was a picture when I confidently broke the "don't mention the war" rule and suggested I'd really like to visit Dachau. It was the next station up from where they lived and I think my dad had mentioned it in passing before I went. Nevertheless keen to good hosts I was taken to Dachau. For once the permanent miserable look on my exchange parter was appropriate (he really was a humourless personality vacuum). Miserable stuff, yet utterly fascinating. I don't think I really grasped the enormity or significance of the holocaust at that age until then, I found the stuff about the human experiments unimaginably shocking. The father thanked me though for my macabre suggestion of how to enjoy my last day in Munich, he felt a bit guilty he had never been before despite living so close-by. There was a group of survivors touring when we went which really added to the reality of it all.

[Guest]

That type of thing won't have been available at Auschwitz itself. When I went there all they had merch-wise was a small bookshop, which felt about right. Maybe some chancers in the town itself try to cash in on it, who knows.

Exactly. Tbh though, I wouldn't blame some of the locals for trying to make a few quid from it. That town is a complete ghost town, there's obviously been no effort to renovate the place since the 50's because of its name.

Anyway...I watched some more Dark 5 videos, my word. Even though some of these have a feint whiff of bullshit, the last one gave me full on shivers:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWIP8AzVXi4&list=TLjwQ0B2CIUtl65XEnJehp-UFe_MM-QNAk&src_vid=TWd2k-iqB5k&feature=iv&annotation_id=annotation_707114915

[parsforlife]

The Auschwitz you (and I) visited is just the camp built to house those who built the much, much larger camp next to it, and even that is practically all rebuilt replicas of what it would've looked like. Nearby is the land where the old Birkenau camp stood, which is essentially a huge big field now. I can't comment on what it's like to walk around, but many people who've visited have commented on how quiet an eery it is.

Searches google ... It confirms what i thought which was auchwitz one the basically a labour camp for mainly political prisoners, it was initially built/converted just for this, birkenau wasn't thought of when auchwitz was first built. Gassing of prisoners took place here but wasn't really the purpose of the place. When this site became too small birkenau was built for the same thing but it was still in its initial stages when plans changed to make killing its primary purpose.

The initial camp is much better preserved hence it being the more touristy(that doesn't seem the right word but I'm not sure what to use instead) place. I don't think it too much of it is complete rebuilds. It certainly isn't "as found" but it's mostly the same buildings.

IIRC it was basically abandoned rather than destroyed as it wasn't felt needed due to it being just a labour camp.

Birkenau was mostly destroyed and I think the only complete building is the famous entrance, there are a few rebuilt buildings basically to show what the sleeping sheds toilets etc were like but other than that it as you say, basically a big field with a few bits of concrete foundations being the only other thing. IMO the eeryness of it is because nobody says much, and your just left to take in the scale of the atrociously. That's the purpose birkenau serves, the original camp is quite informative and you get a better impression of how the camps must have been like, but gives no impression of the scale, birkenau shows that. Its pretty huge.

[Guest]

Searches google ... It confirms what i thought which was auchwitz one the basically a labour camp for mainly political prisoners, it was initially built/converted just for this, birkenau wasn't thought of when auchwitz was first built. Gassing of prisoners took place here but wasn't really the purpose of the place. When this site became too small birkenau was built for the same thing but it was still in its initial stages when plans changed to make killing its primary purpose.

The initial camp is much better preserved hence it being the more touristy(that doesn't seem the right word but I'm not sure what to use instead) place. I don't think it too much of it is complete rebuilds. It certainly isn't "as found" but it's mostly the same buildings.

IIRC it was basically abandoned rather than destroyed as it wasn't felt needed due to it being just a labour camp.

Birkenau was mostly destroyed and I think the only complete building is the famous entrance, there are a few rebuilt buildings basically to show what the sleeping sheds toilets etc were like but other than that it as you say, basically a big field with a few bits of concrete foundations being the only other thing. IMO the eeryness of it is because nobody says much, and your just left to take in the scale of the atrociously. That's the purpose birkenau serves, the original camp is quite informative and you get a better impression of how the camps must have been like, but gives no impression of the scale, birkenau shows that. Its pretty huge.

I did find Auschwitz and Sachsenhausen really interesting it has to be said. In the context of time it's still recent history.

One mad thing from Sachsenhausen was seeing how the Russians built a smaller concentration camp on the premises straight after. Unbelievable how often people don't learn lessons from history.

On an unrelated note, that first video game video has led me to other ones, and I came across this. Does anyone remember this? I have a vague recollection of being scared of something on my Gameboy as a small child, it may well have been this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4YYfPjf5tM

Edited August 4, 2014 by Guest

[Cardinal Richelieu]

Posted this before, but it bears repeating. Innocently playing a game called "Granny's Garden" on a BBC Micro in school (wheeled round on a trolley)... if you got a question, this harridan would suddenly appear.

I still have nightmares.

[Venti]

Couple of Youtube channels worth checking out if you're into your creepy and strange stuff. Some of it ends up bordering on daft conspiracies that are obviously not real, but some of their content is really interesting too.

The two channels are DangerDolan and Dark5. Dark5's videos are mainly text based, here's a sample:

This video is particularly interesting:

DangerDolan is an Australian guy who talks over his videos but provides decent content too:

If you like DangerDolan and Dark5

Check out Matt Santoro, 'Seriously Strange' & CreepsMcPasta Plays.

[Old Diamond]

I've never been to Auschwitz, but I've been to Kiev and there was a stall on Andriyivskyy Descent that sold all kinds of WW2 and cold war era paraphernalia, including yellow Jude stars, so I wouldn't be surprised if similar items were on sale in Poland.

Just as an aside, the yellow stars that the Jews were forced to wear was not a new idea, it was invented by that nasty English King, Edward I.

http://www.history.co.uk/biographies/edward-i

[Venti]

[Venti]

[Venti]

[Venti]