Today, waking up in the morning felt completely different. It was a very serious visit to one of the most infamous work-camps in Germany, Dachau. We had talked about the visit the day before we left Germany, and heard about how heavy the visit was for the Plus3 Germany students in the years prior.

The day started off normally with a traditional breakfast at an 8:00am wake-up call. I wasn’t too sure what to expect when we got there, but I prepared myself for a very emotional visit. Rolling up to the outskirts of Dachau on our 30-minute bus ride, I was surprised at how beautiful the city surrounding were, compared to the dark history that the town was most infamously known for. I first noticed there were tons of english-speaking tourists like us, as well as other German tourists from other parts of the country.

The mood of the place was very monotone, and it felt quiet and peaceful around the entire camp. From what Dr. Feick had explained, many Germans were quick to feel regretful and were horrified by the occurrences which had happened only a little less than half a century ago.

One of the first things upon approach to the gate, I had seen the words pasted on top, “ARBEIT MACHT FREI” – which literally translates to “work sets you free”. We had learned how deceptive the SS were, and how they lied to Germans and government officials about the horrors within the camp. As we travelled further within the camp, we learned how overcrowded the camp was, containing about 6,500 prisoners all at one time. The living conditions were awful, as prisoners were tortured in several ways, although they were innocent. It seemed as if there was no rhyme or reason for the madness, and it was really sad to think about how someone could do something like this to any person for any reason at all.

Trekking deeper into the camp, the part which hit me the hardest was the crematorium. We learned that this camp in specific was more fitted to a labor camp, rather than the sole purpose of extermination, which camps like Auschwitz were famous for. The crematorium was in the back, hidden from where the majority of the camp was located. Our tour guide told us how the SS hid the crematorium from the rest of the prisoners, to hide the fact that most would perish in the near days, months, or years. We got the opportunity to walk inside, and it was a very powerful moment for me.

I usually love learning about history, especially WW2, but I was profoundly disgusted by what I saw. I learned that when the prisoners were taken to the crematorium, they were lied to and told they were going to take showers. To cover this horrific lie, there were signs pointing to the gas chambers in the room prior, where the prisoners were told to take their clothes and belongings off.

We ended the trip with a museum tour, where there were several pictures and videos about the chronological order of events. It was interesting, but I had enough history for the day, and it felt like everyone was burnt out from the horror that Dachau was. We finished our schedule for the day around 1, and took the bus back to hotel Ibis.

To cheer everyone up, we took a big group to another Döner kebab restaurant, where we satisfyingly devoured our gyros and sandwiches, while reflecting on the trip and our last 4 days in Germany. After dinner, it was time to go work on our presentations and blogs.

I’m sorry about the sad post today, but it felt like we needed to go experience Dachau in person to personally reflect on the events which we had learned about for many years in school. Tomorrow will be better! See you in Ulm!