Monday, July 21, 2014

Dachau: Concentration Camp Memorial Site

I won't go heavy on words for this post; the pictures speak greater words.  This was my third trip to Dachau; I visited before at age 4 and age 17.  While I was reluctant to "anniversary" this excursion for a third time, it is still a moving place to visit.  What happened there is virtually incomprehensible to me, as with what happened with the Holocaust in general.  I wish we had the time to explore the city of Dachau, in contrast to what I've seen at the camp, but we did not during this trip.  The memorial site is free of charge to visit, and it was good to see so many school groups touring so its memory will never be forgotten.  All Bavarian schoolchildren must visit a concentration camp site during their education.  I think the last words I leave with this post are: Never Forget.
Camp Entrance

"Work Makes You Free"

International Memorial

Camp Grounds


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4 comments:

  1. Dachau is one of the places that I can clearly remember visiting five years ago. Its something I'm so glad I did, but I'm not sure I could ever do it again. It made my heart hurt so much.

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  2. I can totally feel you. On this trip, I actually considered backing out of Dachau, but my whole family was there because my sister was too young to remember (she was age 1 when we went as a family, I went back without them in high school) so I decided to go with them for solidarity. It's interesting, the first time I went I couldn't hold a camera... the second time, I had a film camera and took two photos because the place scared me so much, and this third time I snapped a few that will last me a long while.


    I don't plan to go back unless it is to take my children and educate them.

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  3. Just thinking about the pain and suffering that happened here tears my heart up. I think that keeping the concentration camps open to the public is a reminder to all of us to never let any of that happen again--but I think I would be crying my eyes out the entire time.

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  4. I was definitely mentally prepared after going at age 17, so I think that helped. The photos that are on display in the museum are jarring and you don't want to believe they're real.

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