Europe is
probably regarded as the party/fun continent. Its history thou is marred by
bloodshed and inhumane acts, from the time of Napoleon to the more recent World
War 2. While my recent trip to Europe was fun-filled, I was brought right back
to reality when I visited Dachau Concentration Camp.
Very brief
history
Dachau,
located just outside Munich, Germany, was the first concentration camp built
and opened for “political prisoners” during World War 2. This concentration
camp served as a prototype for all other camps around Europe. Dachau, so to
say, was the master template for all the other camps.
The Camp
As captives
walk thru the main gate at Dachau, the phrase “Arbeit macht frei” greets them.
The phrase basically means labour brings you freedom or work sets you free. The
captives were made to do various physical labor around the camp if they were to
live. The captives were underfed and tortured physically and well it goes
without saying, being in a concentration camp was more than enough of a mental
torture.
The camp
had various sections to it.
T The
main building: cells for captives, kitchen, interrogation room. The building is
very dimly lit, with hardly any sunlight that comes in. It feels as if it is the
living place of the dead, literally a dungeon.
-
T The
Cremation chamber: An area where dead bodies were first brought and then
cremated. The chamber had some photos of its time and all one could see was
mangled bodies thrown in a pit and then carried out into “burners” or
“furnaces”.
- The
Gas chamber: Although the gas chamber in this specific concentration camp was
never used, it was however tested and declared operational. The captives were
lured in to it by advertising these as showers.
The
Feelings
As I walked
thru the main building, I had Goosebumps. It felt that as if life had been
sucked out of it; A place where nothing “lived”, perhaps evil's residence if it
may be called that. I tried to imagine the life that would have been in the
camp during WW2, but the very thought scared me and I was standing frozen
inside. Yes at that point, life was sucked out of me.
It was said
that captives would intentionally run towards the fence so that the guards at
the watch tower would shoot them and end their misery. However, the guards only
shot them in places such that they won’t die, simply to torture them more and
increase their pain. I could not fathom as to how miserable it must have been that
the captives would want to end their life happily!
I was very
surprised that the organization running the “tourist” part of the concentration
camp kept on calling the captives “prisoners”. Yes they were prisoners for
Nazis, but they were captives in everyone else’s eyes (hence I call them
captives everywhere in my blog)!!
It has
taken me 20 odd days to write this blog, as I was coming to terms with my
emotions about the camp and the inhumane acts, and I can still not express my
feelings fully (still trying to come to terms with what I saw). My heart goes
out to everyone who suffered during the WW.
My blog is entitled Random Thoughts, but for once, this is not random........
My blog is entitled Random Thoughts, but for once, this is not random........
