Obama Buchenwald Visit Planned For June: Spiegel

President Obama will visit Buchenwald concentration camp in Dresden this summer, Spiegel Online is reporting.

Barack Obama's planned trip to Germany in June is not going to be an official state visit. German diplomatic sources told SPIEGEL ONLINE that the US president is planning a private trip in which he will go on a personal search to places of importance for his family history.

President Obama's great-uncle, Charlie Payne, served in the 89th Infantry Division during World War II and took part in the camp's liberation in 1945.

Last memorial day, Obama mistakenly told a New Mexico crowd his great uncle had participated in the liberation of Auschwitz.

"I had a uncle who was one of the, who was part of the first American troops to go into Auschwitz and liberate the concentration camps... And the story in my family is that when he came home, he just went into the attic, and he didn't leave the house for six months. All right? Now, obviously something had affected him deeply, but at the time, there just weren't the kinds of facilities to help somebody work through that kind of pain.'"

As part of the Europe trip, the president is also set to participate in the commemoration the 65th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy in France on June 6, as well as attend a Group of Eight summit in Italy.

Comments

[HazeOfHistory]

03:03 PM on 05/12/2009

Buchenwald is indeed on the outskirts of WEIMAR, not Dresden. However, Weimar/Buchenwald is in fact roughly 125 miles due WEST of Dresden. Simple fact-checking would help here. Sheesh.

[Derek Martin]

01:36 PM on 05/11/2009

Buchenwald is outside of Wiemar, hundreds of miles west of Dresden.

[Texas4Obama]

02:15 AM on 05/08/2009

President Obama is also supposed to be going to Israel and The West Bank in June.

[Coinyer101]

02:51 AM on 05/07/2009

Try to learn something about why we should prosecute torturers in our own front yard while yer there!

[AirForce Vet]

06:38 PM on 05/06/2009

Why is he visiting Buchenwald? I’m giving our POTUS benefit of the doubt on this matter, but in his lessons to be learned experience, I hope that he really understands the ramifications of torture. Also, a lesson to be learned is that for Germany to look forward they had to cease and desist in torture and had to rectify the past behavior. The rectification process was not with a pass, just looking forward; we will not do it again, the lie and deny mentality, or exonerations. It was through major trails at Nuremberg and other German cities, with the US at the forefront, leading these trials. These were serious matters and serious judgments were issued in the rectification process. If we took those matters seriously then, when it came to others, then we must take it seriously when it comes to our home front. Germany accepted the consequences of its leaders, can we? I see hypocrisy knocking at the door when we are at the forefront of rectifying others evil deeds and then we fail to rectify our own evil deeds. No man or woman is above the law. No position or status is above the law. If they are, then throw away your judicial system.

[Texas4Obama]

02:11 AM on 05/08/2009

Buchenwald because - as the article said:

Barack Obama's planned trip to Germany in June is not going to be an official state visit. German diplomatic sources told SPIEGEL ONLINE that the US president is planning a private trip in which he will go on a personal search to places of importance for his family history.

President Obama's great-uncle, Charlie Payne, served in the 89th Infantry Division during World War II and took part in the camp's liberation in 1945.

[mdzend]

05:48 PM on 05/06/2009

Michelle must have a cute little outfit that she thinks will be just perfect with a concentration camp backdrop - otherwise why would he be going? Since torture appears to be O.K. by him it certainly can't be that he has empathy for the Holocaust victims.

[Texas4Obama]

02:12 AM on 05/08/2009

No one has said that Michelle will be going.

[Coinyer101]

05:38 PM on 05/06/2009

why not a visit to bagram, or g'mo, or abu graib, or any of the other 'rendition' sites? why not a tour of any Prison in the US? We do lead the world in incarcerations, and I hear many prisons and jails are overcrowded. I wonder what kind of things happen to people in our prison camps, here and around the world. oh, nevermind....,

[WTF1956]

05:30 PM on 05/06/2009

I sure hope he's not picking up pointers for his opposition in this country.

[AdamX]

05:13 PM on 05/06/2009

My father visited there too - for 3 1/2 years. Liberated by the third army. He was the ONLY survivor of the family, including his sister, mother, father, aunts, uncles and cousins with the same name.

I don't think it is necessary to criticize Obama for this - I, for one, appreciate it. It does not mean that I agree with all his policies, or lack thereof, regarding Israel and "Palestein", etc.

My grandfather on my mother's side was a Jewish Palestinian - came to the states quite some time before Israel became a state.

Those survivors of the concentration camps believed very strongly in Israel. Why? Obvious! Someplace to go where they would NEVER be persecuted, at least not by their own government.

Many will be quick to now call Israel a persecutor. How friendly do you want to be with "neighbors" that continually bomb your neighborhoods, blow up busses with your children in them, etc. We need to stop being so shallow, and look at the big picture! "Palestinians" have gone through their plight (and still are), but we should not be too quick to judge.

How did Israel end up with extra territory? They were attacked! They won. They will give it back when they can feel confident that they will not be attacked again. They MUST be recognized by the surrounding countries and states, that they are legitimate, and have the right to exist. Short of that, and you are not likely to see peace any

[Nancy VanTwistern]

05:47 PM on 05/06/2009

Adam....Did the United States 'give back land' they won in battle??? Think about all of the various name changes of lands in Europe since the middle ages..........The Palestinians were offered a great deal when Clinton was in office. All Isreal wanted left 'open' was a narrow strip of land (10%) between the Golin Heights and Israeli land so that their citizens would be safe from firing from across the border. Also, I believe that Gaza was given back to Egypt after the war. The Palestinians are now living there. This was requested after school girls visiting the area were shot at quite awhile ago. How would we feel here in the United States if Canada sent rockets/missles or whatever across into the US of A? I do believe that Israel should stop building in the contested areas...and I know that some settlers have done harm to some Palestinians. It just seems as if there are too many human bombs trying to cross the border as well as mortors and missles. I don't know if any concessions from Israel will ever change that. Perhaps that is why Israel continues to monitor those border areas.

[Politihal]

04:41 PM on 05/06/2009

O please! As he throws Israel under the bus.

Halli Casser-Jayne

[tel8034]

05:09 PM on 05/06/2009

After what we saw recently during the war in the Gaza Strip, and the unwillingness of the Israelis to even come to the table, maybe it's time to rethink the soft glove approach, and the blind eye the Israelis have enjoyed from the USA for years.

Yes they are allies, and yes the USA has always backed them (because of the strong and effective lobbying efforts from the Jewish community), but there has to be accountability for their actions.

It takes 2 to tango, and 2 to fight ............... And it's time we take a closer look at the actions of Israel over the years and their role in the ongoing conflict ............ I'm sure that they are not 100% innocent.

[Nancy VanTwistern]

05:51 PM on 05/06/2009

tel....have you any suggestions about the missles/mortors being shot across the border into Israel....have they ever stopped? What about those Palestinians who strap on bombs and cross the borders? Do you really think that if Palestinians have their own state/country that these actions will not be continued? As you said, ....IT TAKES TWO TO TANGO!! and electing a terrorists organization to lead them didn't help the Palestinian peoples cause either....think on that for awhile. Have your forgotten all the money sent to the Palestinians during Arafats time....it was to be used to help the Palestinian people..........what happened to it?

[YankinCanada]

05:10 PM on 05/06/2009

just make it it backs up too.

[Marcospinelli]

04:39 PM on 05/06/2009

Uh oh. This is just the news I expected, timed to be released just when the Democratic base has had it with Obama because of his DOJ's report to do nothing about the Bush-Cheney torture program.

I can hear the Obamabots now, "That's when he'll go after Bush and Cheney for torture! After he see the Nazi atrocities, and how it can happen when good men do nothing, he'll raise his fist and shout, 'NEVER AGAIN!'"

No, Obamabots, it's just another attempt by Obama to quell dissent and stifle criticism of him, to get the subject changed in the headlines.

[Nancy VanTwistern]

05:53 PM on 05/06/2009

HO HUM....METHINKS THE POSTER IS A REPUBLICAN!! What did Bush ever do to aid the conflict between Israel and Palestinians??????? Not to much as I recall..................

[Marcospinelli]

06:18 AM on 05/14/2009

You shouldn't try to think so much. You're not good at it.

Try doing some research before you open mouth and insert foot. Lifelong Democrat, longer than you've probably been alive.

Here's a clue that will get you far: Blind faith and trust in an elected official is dangerous, as the last eight years should have taught you. A Democrat can be (and many of us are) not thrilled with what Obama's been doing. It doesn't make us Republicans (horrors!). It also doesn't make us enemies of our fellow Democrats.

Obama ran implying he would govern more liberally than his record suggested. His record was very thin, so it's easy to see how Democrats, particularly his most ardent supporters, think and proclaim him to be a liberal. He's not liberal, as I knew before the election from his FISA vote and careful examination of his speeches. The question remains just how "moderate" Obama is. He promised transparency and openness, and he's back-tracked on just about every promise he made to get elected.

The more that Obamabots give him a pass, the farther right Obama will go. He already concedes on liberals' positions before negotiations with Republicans begin, so from where I'm sitting, it's Obamabots who are our most immediate problem.

[annieR]

04:38 PM on 05/06/2009

An important thing to remember about the Nazi concentration camps is that not only six million Jews died there, but also untold numbers of other minorities. No doubt, this fact is not lost on President Obama, and his visit will be a tribute to gypsies, the mentally ill, physically disabled, and others whom the Nazis slaughtered.

[AdamX]

05:04 PM on 05/06/2009

Yes - you are correct. It is likely more millions were killed - for example, almost all the Gypsies were exterminated.

[sandpiper1]

05:47 PM on 05/06/2009

Thank you annieR for reminding me of that fact. I had forgotten.

[jollyelle]

04:35 PM on 05/06/2009

Gee, maybe he could visit Gaza??? Or have we forgotten???

Past victims have become the new victimizers.

[Nancy VanTwistern]

05:57 PM on 05/06/2009

I guess jolly didn't know that Obama has approved the immigration of some Palestinians. Read about it at www.thefederalregister.com/d.p/2009-02-04-E9-2488 It's a pity that so many post when they know not the full story............