Germany is rich with very old history and fairly new history. I am sure many of us are aware of its WWII history. We all know about the horrible treatment that was given to the jews at that time. There are still some concentration camps that are open for exhibits and memorials.
If you go to school in germany all are required to visit one. It was a very sobering experience for me, it seemed fitting that it was a foggy and drizzly morning. The above picture is the gate into the camp, you can't see from this picture but on the gate of the door it says: "Jedem Das Seine" when translated literally means " To each his own". Which is a odd in its own way seeing where its at. Also the clock stays at 3:15, which is the time that the US army arrived and the prisoners where liberated.
Buchenwald was one of first and largest on German soil and those that died were from starvation and disease, because of the conditions they were exposed to. Although this was not an extermination camp, it was estimated that over 56,000 people died while imprisoned here.
I think what really brought things into more of a reality for me, were seeing faces and pictures attached to all these victims. Reading and learning about it in history I had a sense of what what happened but I really had no idea until I was here. It was more then numbers and facts that I was reading about but seeing faces and letters from the people that were here, that really puts a true reality to what happened here. I was also amazed at the strength of the human spirit as well and the strength to live for many of the survivors. When reading about the liberation and how incredibly happy, relieved, and grateful they were to see and receive food and medical supplies from the US troops.
No comments:
Post a Comment