by Sara Bonk
There is no easy way to talk about Dachau or anything that deals with this subject. My first reaction upon hearing about any kind of concentration camp is the feeling of my gut sinking to my feet, and my throat constricting from emotion. Today was that and more.
Upon stepping foot on the camp, there is a somber feeling one cannot describe. It must be felt in person and be seen with your own eyes. This is my second time being in a concentration camp and memorial; my first time was at Auschwitz last year while I was visiting Cracow, Poland.
The first photo is of the walk going to the only entrance into the camp where below that photo you will also see the notorious phrase written into the gate - Arbeit Macht Frei (Work Makes You Free). Upon seeing this sign, I knew I was going to be in for a hard, emotionally trying time.
Walking the grounds of the camp as seen from above, was . . . I want to say hard. but it cannot even begin to describe the feelings I had. My mother's side of the family had been in an internment camp before being moved to a detention camp after fleeing Ukraine and Stalin in the 1940s. My great-grandfather was forcefully drafted into the SS at a time when they were desperate for troops. He refused to fight though, and never touched a rifle, thus leading him to become the butcher of draft horses that were killed during battle. My great-grandfather was never proud of his time as an SS troop, and in fact was ashamed of it; so much so that he went so far as to carve out the tattoo of his SS rank and status out of his arm. Knowing that the SS trained their men next to the camp, I felt my heart drop at the thought of him having to train next to a camp like this that held so much suffering with my great-grandma, my grandmother and her brother being held as leverage to make sure he did his job.
The sculpture that is below this description is known as the "International Memorial" to remember those who had died and suffered in this camp. Though meaningful, the sculpture has an inaccuracy to it, as it does not represent the homosexuals, the communist supporters, and the frequently arrested prisoners who also were placed in this camp during the war. It is large, eye-catching and honestly so hard to look at because it depicts the bodies and suffering that the prisoners had endured while here.
We saw the barrack foundations as the ones that used to be there had been torn down due to disrepair, the gas chambers which is debated as to whether they used them or not, and the crematories which were also used as execution rooms. To walk past the places where these men slept, were killed and then burned to remove the evidence was so much that the floodgates opened and I wept a little. It wasn't until I walked into the forest where some shootings took place and where the ashes were discarded that the tears started coming more frequently and I had to step away for a moment, breath, and silently pray for the souls that were so cruelly taken.
After finishing our tour at the crematorium and showers, we all went back to the small cafe that the memorial had and ate some lunch before continuing to Odeonsplatz where we started our History of Nazi Munich tour. The photo underneath is where Hitler would hold many of his speeches and rallies for his party. It is also the place where 4 policemen and 16 people from the national socialist party were killed. A plaque was placed on two of the pillars and was the area where many people would give a "Heil Hitler" as they passed it believing these people had died for the cause of the national socialist party (this is untrue for the policemen), though many people would avoid the area and instead would take a quick route behind this building that is laid with bronze cobblestones to show those who stood up to the party in a subtle way.
Our tour took us through many areas of the city that had significant history with the Nazi party, though this square is known for the parades and marches that Hitler would put on to show the might of his party. While these buildings were originally built in the 1800s by the second king of Bavaria, it was a favorite of Hitler's because of the gorgeous architecture and views it presented.
Today was a learning experience that had us crying, aghast with horror, and perplexed at times with the immense history that this city and the surrounding area has. But this is why we do these tours and learn about history - it helps ensure that our future will not repeat the horrors that our ancestors have seen or even done in the past and to make sure that something like this will never happen again.
Comments
Post a Comment