Today was unlike every day on this trip so far, today we visited the concentration camp, Dachau.
Going into today, I was definitely nervous for the emotions I knew I was about to go through, but also grateful that Pitt is taking us to learn more about the tragedy of the holocaust while in Germany. When we first arrived, the main thing that completely shocked me was the amount of residential neighborhoods and parks that bordered the area. I wonder what it is like for those people to wake up every day and see such a heavy place outside their door.
After we walked through the gates, our amazing guide did a great job explaining how this camp was not a mass death camp, and how all of those were strategically kept out of Germany. He also talked about how before things got as bad as they did, how Hitler brought inspectors through Dachau specifically to get the public criticism away from what he was doing. Although I’ve always known how horrific this time was, I still found myself taken aback at all of the effort that went into treating people so horribly.
Going into the living spaces was incredibly emotional. Seeing the tiny wooden beds, and the photos of extremely underweight and starving men piled up into them was extremely hard to see. I could not even imagine doing that for one day, let alone years. I got very choked up at this point, it is one thing to read about these tragedies, but being in the place where they really occurred just makes it feel so much more real and was incredibly heavy. Our guide also took this time to explain all of the different people imprisoned in Dachau, and the symbols used to identify each one. Although I was aware it was more than just Jewish people in the holocaust, it was shocking to see just how extensive the amount of targeted groups was. After going through the building we then went outside where we could see all of the plots where buildings just like that one had been. After witnessing what went on in just one of those houses, it is incredibly chilling to see the scale of what happened at Dachau, especially when you remember it is far from the biggest camp.
After that we walked through the crematorium which was incredibly difficult to see. Our guide told us how people were tricked until the very end into thinking it was a shower. I cannot even begin to imagine what was going through people’s minds when this was happening to them, and walking through the building where it happened felt incredibly heavy.
Overall, although Dachau was a somber and sad day that had a much different tone from the rest of our trip, I am grateful I was able to see this first hand as I feel it has given me a much deeper understanding of the atrocities of the holocaust and it was a day I will never forget.
