Ecperience a WW2 POW Camp

[Spitfire]

Absurd!
It reminds me of the movie (can't remember the name now) where Yul Brynner plays a robot gunslinger.
At least in the beginning of the movie where our two "heroes" are alloved to fool around like they feel like. Nothing is really going to happen to them - and they know it.

Don't count me in.

 

[Carlisle Blues]

^^

 

[Dudleydoright]

I'm sure that there was something similar in the UK about 20 odd years ago but it wasn't meant to be a faithfull re-creation of teh actual experience. More an old Army camp with a few mock guards and the chance to try to escape. Don't know what happened to that as I never heard of it after.

I personally am not that comfortable with the concept of a realistic camp experience as there are still plenty of innocent people in camps around the world. How about going to Somalia or Bjurma and breaking the law for a REAL taste of feeling helpless and having no hope ?

What next ? 'Experience Your Own Auschwitz' ? Leaves a bit of a bad taste i my mouth.

Dave

 

[Edward]

Seems pretty expensive for an experience in Poland.
Is it a kooky executive gift for someone doing research for a movie?

Just visiting Auschwitz' exhibits for an afternoon is emotional enough...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aushwitz

Mmmn. Part of me would find this a fascinating experience to be involved in... It reminds me, a touch, of the British TV series Bad Lad's Army from a few years ago, which featured, if memory serves, some late-teen kids who were a touch delinquent being put through the experience of a recreation of National Service training. I think this would make an interesting TV show too. There is a danger of it being a touch bad taste, though oddly enough my gut reaction is that the Polish might do it quite well. I've been to Auschwitz - a dreadful place, I don't think I've ever had the creeps worse anywhere else - and I felt that the Polish government has put it together very well, with a great deal of sensitivity. I'd definitely rule out the Concentration Camp Experience, but maybe the POW experience might serve a purpose in helping some of the more gung-ho WW2 enthusiasts realise just how unpleasant an experience it really was, how probably very few of them felt like heroes, but rather that they were doing some nasty stuff that had to be done but wasn't fun, how it wasn't all Steve Macqueen on a motorbike...... and on. I think a scaled-down version would be an excellent 'living history' learning experience for older schoolkids.

 

[lostinperiphery]

this doesn't sit right with me either. To turn such horrific events into a pretend tourist attraction. Events that would haunt many Americans for the rest of our lives, turned into a game of cowboys and indians? not for me.

 

[Spitfire]

...and the list goes on:

"OMAHA BEACH"
Roll around in waves of blood, womit and loose limbs, while we shoot at you. An experience for life!

"THE ARDENNE EXPERIENCE"
Try to sleep in a frozen mudhole, while explosives cut down large trees all around you. bags of fun...

"THE FEW"
Get strapped in a plane after 28 hours of no sleep - then we set fire to thing. Try to get out - or die laughing...

This list could go on forever - hopefully it does not!

 

[Lone_Ranger]

Only in America would someone pay $3,500 plus airfare to spend a week in a mock POW camp. [huh]

If I was going to spend that much, flying a MiG sounds a lot better. As long as I get to wear a helmet that says "Maverick," in Russian.

http://www.flymig.com/packages/special.offer.htm

 

[kampkatz]

I'm with Lone Ranger on pursuing an exhilarating experience that could actually be fun and usefully educational.

 

[Carlisle Blues]

I'm with Lone Ranger on pursuing an exhilarating experience that could actually be fun and usefully educational.

Fun, if you have never had anything that even hinted of such an experience, I understand that.

Educational??? It appears to be as totally contrived as any spurious reality program.

 

[Lone_Ranger]

Fun, if you have never had anything that even hinted of such an experience, I understand that.

Educational??? It appears to be as totally contrived as any spurious reality program.

Carslile, I've have a pilot's license, though never flown a Sopwith Camel, let alone a jet fighter. Still. An hour in a Su-27 "Flanker," would be a blast. Even if you have to wait until you land, for vodka and caviar.

Since the fall of The Wall, Russians have discovered the benefits of capitalism. Maybe out of necessity?

I believe they are so hard up for cash, they have discovered a way to get required flying time, by taking decadent westerners, up for joy rides. Heck, they sold a trip to the Mir Space Station, to a "wealthy US businessman." They are so hard up they'll even take US Greenbacks, as bad as they are doing these days.

You know what they say, "No bucks. No Buck Rogers!"

 

[Carlisle Blues]

Carslile, I've have a pilot's license, though never flown a Sopwith Camel, let alone a jet fighter. Still. An hour in a Su-27 "Flanker," would be a blast. Even if you have to wait until you land, for vodka and caviar.

Since the fall of The Wall, Russians have discovered the benefits of capitalism. Maybe out of necessity?

I believe they are so hard up for cash, they have discovered a way to get required flying time, by taking decadent westerners, up for joy rides. Heck, they sold a trip to the Mir Space Station, to a "wealthy US businessman." They are so hard up they'll even take US Greenbacks, as bad as they are doing these days.

You know what they say, "No bucks. No Buck Rogers!"

Yes you have experience as a pilot. Also, you have an eye for what is the truth. My whole point had to do with the "educational" value. The experience may have some fact based aspects, but, it is a controlled environment. Therefore, to my eye, a contrivance, maybe great fun to some, but, little actual education value.

 

[Smithy]

...and the list goes on:

"OMAHA BEACH"
Roll around in waves of blood, womit and loose limbs, while we shoot at you. An experience for life!

"THE ARDENNE EXPERIENCE"
Try to sleep in a frozen mudhole, while explosives cut down large trees all around you. bags of fun...

"THE FEW"
Get strapped in a plane after 28 hours of no sleep - then we set fire to thing. Try to get out - or die laughing...

This list could go on forever - hopefully it does not!

You've hit the nail on the head Søren. This idea is in very,very poor taste and as you say, what next?

 

[Miss Neecerie]

^^

fftopic:


This is a fabulous film. Seriously one of my -all- time favorites...I was most obsessed with it as a kid.

 

[Lone_Ranger]

Yes you have experience as a pilot. Also, you have an eye for what is the truth. My whole point had to do with the "educational" value. The experience may have some fact based aspects, but, it is a controlled environment. Therefore, to my eye, a contrivance, maybe great fun to some, but, little actual education value.

Ahhhh. Got ya. I never said it would be educational. Just that it would be a blast! lol Then again. You never know when air combat maneuvering, and a quick refresher on Dicta Boelke may come in handy.

 

[Carlisle Blues]

Ahhhh. Got ya. I never said it would be educational. Just that it would be a blast! lol Then again. You never know when air combat maneuvering, and a quick refresher on Dicta Boelke may come in handy.

I am glad. I was not being critical......life is too short!!!!!

 

[Chas]

Are there beatings by the guards and starvation?

What's next? A Burma Railroad Re-creation complete with sadistic guards, beriberi, dysentry and malaria?

Some people need to get real jobs.

 

[kampkatz]

I am glad. I was not being critical......life is too short!!!!!

As a pilot myself, any exposure to a new aircraft is educational. Getting a close up of systems and experiencing flight in a jet fighter would be something any aviator would benefit from. Learning something new about aviation is certainly an education.

 

[Carlisle Blues]

As a pilot myself, any exposure to a new aircraft is educational. Getting a close up of systems and experiencing flight in a jet fighter would be something any aviator would benefit from. Learning something new about aviation is certainly an education.

Of course it is......I was referring to the nonsensical fake prison camp.

 

[kampkatz]

Of course it is......I was referring to the nonsensical fake prison camp.

Sorry. Apparently I hadn't read your original comments carefully enough and I misinterpreted them.

 

[Jedburgh]

It reminds me of the STanford Prison Experiment, which was ended after six days because the guards were becoming sadistic and the prisoners were mentally breaking down.

http://www.prisonexp.org/

You couldn't pay me to experience a WWII POW camp.

This came to mind before I reached your post. Like some here, I attended Level C SERE amongst others but in that setting, it was training and for educational purposes. Mini "SERE" type courses have been around for years but I have always questioned the validity of such courses considering the classified nature of much of the material which can not be shared (if they even know it). Additionally, legitimate US SERE courses have strict oversight from JPRA http://www.jpra.jfcom.mil/ and although you may be placed in "stressful" situations, you are being watched and looked after.

I find this Warsaw experience to be more than a bit disturbing and seriously question the motives of such a course or even wanting to attend. Being a POW is not a corporate retreat or a vacation. With that said, this course will not show what it is truly like to be a POW but I guess an attendee can talk smack about how they were a "POW".

If you have $3500 to burn, donate it to the Holocaust Museum http://www.ushmm.org/

Jed