Germany 2008, Dachau 1945: Never Again
I’m sitting in the Frankfurt Airport (4:30 AM Eastern Time) waiting for my flight to board. I have been in Germany since February 23. It was a combo work/leisure vacation as I spent a lot of time catching up on work-related projects and emails.Â
I first traveled through Germany 20 years ago when I was a sophomore in college. It was one of those “New Day, New City” tours with my former high school’s Senior Trip. Twenty years ago, we were in WEST Germany… and I remember the country being much more “cold” than now.Â
The past few days I have found the German people extremely friendly, very open and much more happy than I recall in late 1980s. I guess the fall of Communism has something to do with that, no?
********
Yesterday, John and I spent most of the day at the Dachau Concentration Camp outside Munich. Needless to say, it is a day that I will remember for the rest of my life. And yet, I only witnessed the sanitized shell of the hell that was systemized at that first Hitler death camp.  Every student across the globe should be made to spend a day at Dachau before they graduate high school.
New prisoners had to walk through the gates of Dachau which read “Through Work Brings Freedom.” Another of Hitler’s lies of propaganda.
The rest of the photos are self-explanatory.
I choked up when I saw this plaque and the video scenes of the US Army liberating the near-dead camp survivors on April 29, 1945.  It is no wonder we call them “The Greatest Generation.”
I will post more pictures of the trip this week as well.
For now, guten tag…. and hello America, here I come!
-Bruce (GayPatriot)
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I would translate Arbeit Macht Frei as "Work makes one free". What I find most horrible about that particular slogan is that it took a kernel of truth - the virtue and value of hard work - and made a death sentence from it.
Comment by ILoveCapitalism — March 3, 2008 @ 11:20 am - March 3, 2008
Thanks for posting this, Bruce. I haven’t made it to see the actual camps yet, but a trip to the US Holocaust Memorial left me choked up. Sick folks the Nazis. At any rate, have a safe trip home!Â
Comment by John — March 3, 2008 @ 11:41 am - March 3, 2008
Dear Bruce,
Thank YOU for posting these pics and sharing your experience. I agree… ALL High School Seniors should have to spend a day at a Concentration Camp.
My son, who is 15, just finished an acting roll he had locally, in an 8 week run of "The Diary Of Anne Frank". While it was in production we had the fortunate experience to have Gerda Weissmann Klien come and speak one afternoon to a "Pre-Performance" audience.
It was very moving to listen to her speach and then watch the Anne Frank story played out.
My Father was a part of 20th Armored Division 7th U.S. Army Troops that is mentioned in that plaque. Thank You for the picture. I’ve heard about it, but never have seen it.
Daddy never would talk AT ALL about being there….. Mother knew very little about it, but I have his awards and paperwork that tells me what part of the service he was in.
All Daddy ever said, was that NO Human should have been treated like "They" Treated those people!
Thank You again for sharing. I hope to make the trip in a year or two, and see it first hand.
Blessings to you both.
Allen
Comment by Allen — March 3, 2008 @ 12:11 pm - March 3, 2008
When I was in high school, my sophomore history teacher/football coach took a few days toward the end of the year to show documentaries on WWII. Mostly, though, there were films on the Holocaust. I remember that was really the first time I understood Auschwitz, Buchenwald, Dachau etc. We didn’t have the museums that we have today.
As usual, it’s one thing to read about it, another to hear a lecture about it and even more impressionable to see it. Wouldn’t it be something if there were a non-profit or something put together to take school children to these places and other locations which, good or bad, shaped who we are as people? At the very least, all schools should have videos of such subjects on hand.
On Holocaust deniers: Frankly I don’t get it. Germany doesn’t deny it happened, so there you are. If Germany, as a whole, did deny it, then I might see where they had a leg to stand on. Besides, en total, I think it’s waaaayyyyy too elaborate to be a hoax. Too many people involved.
Comment by ThatGayConservative — March 3, 2008 @ 2:58 pm - March 3, 2008
At last, something we all agree on.
I haven’t toured the camps. I think it might be too much for me. I have been through the Anne Frank house in Amsterdam which I would highly recommend.
Because we all agree on this, I am hoping that we can band together to stand against genocide anywhere in the world. If all the people in the world put social and economic pressure on the countries that allow (or are responsible for) the slaughter of people for ethnic, religious or any other reasons, we might not end it but we could come very close.
Comment by Houndentenor — March 3, 2008 @ 3:16 pm - March 3, 2008
#5: The truth is that we can "stand" against genocide all we want but it will continue. Sanctions? How did that work out in Iraq? How’s it going in Darfur?Â
Stopping genocide takes action - often brutal and messy.
When the Nazis (and Imperial Japan) were finally stopped, it wasn’t gaseous platitudes and wishful thinking that did it. It was Allied blood and treasure, in unimaginable portions, that did it. It was brutality beyond the ability of most of us to imagine.
Today’s West would not be up to the task. We’re too busy surrendering to the ideologies that hold genocide as some sort of holy mission. Our oil supplies are too important; too many countries profit by doing business with tyrants (all while calling the US "imperialist").
Comment by Robert — March 3, 2008 @ 3:30 pm - March 3, 2008
I doubt it, Houndentenor; after all, of the two Democrat Party frontrunners, one openly states that we should not have acted to effectively end Saddam Hussein’s genocide, and the other now states she was misled and would now have voted to allow it to continue, just as it did under her husband.
Comment by North Dallas Thirty — March 3, 2008 @ 4:16 pm - March 3, 2008
#7
Not to mention that these are the same type of folks who loved "Uncle Joe" Stalin, enabled Pol Pot, love Castro, Chavez etc. And let’s not forget Guevara, the Shah, Arafat etc.
I highly doubt those on the left actually give a damn about genocide, unless it’s fashionable to oppose it. Besides, in a perfect world, where would Brngelina and Madonna get their African kids to match their black shoes?
Comment by ThatGayConservative — March 3, 2008 @ 6:26 pm - March 3, 2008
Well since we have done absolutely nothing about Rwanda or Darfur, I don’t think either party can brag too much on that front. As for Iraq, it should be noted that those atrocities occurred before the first Gulf War. I had hoped not to politicize this because I think this is a basic human rights issue and one that we all agree on. I do think that Bush and Rice are concerned about Darfur and Burma. I would just like to see it a higher priority. (And I hope that Rice is doing things behind the scenes that just aren’t on the radar, which would be appropriate. I think that is entirely likely.)
Again, I offer an olive branch and get my hand bit. Oh well, I tried. I care VERY much about this issue and I am not going to excuse the failure of the Clinton administration to do anything at all about Rwanda. There is no excuse, just as there is no excuse for Bush’s inaction with regards to Sudan. (note I am not talking only about military action which could very likely make the situation worse but diplomatic pressure in cooperation with the other world leaders. I think the government would cave if everyone agreed not to buy their oil until the genocide was stopped. Of course the real problem in that regard is China, not the US. )
And again I do not speak for anyone but myself but Bush deserves credit for concern and action with regards to Africa, especially the ongoing AIDS crisis there. I don’t have much good to say about Bush but he has not only been concerned but followed through with funding to help the continent. I will agree with those who say he does not get enough credit for that. (Note: it is covered in the media even if it is not as prominent as one would like. I didn’t have to dig too hard to find stories about this.)
Comment by Houndentenor — March 4, 2008 @ 3:48 pm - March 4, 2008
As for Iraq, it should be noted that those atrocities occurred before the first Gulf War.
Houndentenor, I hate to break this to you, but that is EMPHATICALLY not the case.
And that’s just one example — not to mention others.
As Robert points out, people who are willing to carry out wholesale slaughter of others based on their race, religion, or whatnot are not going to be stopped by what amount to nasty letters to the editor coming from the UN, which has a long and proud history of publicly condemning that for which it is privately receiving billions of dollars in kickbacks. It requires action. Rwanda and Somalia proved that.
Comment by North Dallas Thirty — March 4, 2008 @ 5:54 pm - March 4, 2008
#5 - And I have yet to hear anyone condemn Iran for summary executions of homosexuals by hanging them in the village square.
For those of you who want a first-hand account of Dachau by a survivor, please read Elie Wiesel’s book "Night."Â I highly recommend it.
Regards,
Peter H.
Comment by Peter Hughes — March 4, 2008 @ 7:40 pm - March 4, 2008