Today I went with the Sandemans New Europe Tour to Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp Memorial Tour. This is the Free Tour company I have mentioned from Munich and yesterday here in Berlin. They actually started out here 3 years ago and have made a STRONG presence since then and are in other cities like Amsterdam, London and Paris. Check them out if you are coming to Europe at http://www.neweuropetours.eu/ . It REALLY is worth checking out. They work on tips, but I recommend 8-12 Euros per person, depending on your budget and gratitude. Today.s tour was 14 Euro up front, along with paying for the 1 hour train ride to get there and back. I think the actual touring of the concentration camp was ok, nothing special, but the guide and her information was what made it worth it. You can go out there and do an audio tour, but it takes longer and would probably just bore me. Again, I won.t go into the history lesson, but I will say that there is a difference between the concentration camps and execution/holocaust camps. Although MANY people were killed or died in the concentration camps, they were supposed to be work detail prisons. But along the way people were killed for fun, demonstration, suicide, attempt to escape, stopping a work detail, looking at someone wrong, you name it. And beyond what I thought before coming to Germany, it wasn.t just Jews that were killed but many other groups. Basically anyone that posed a threat to the Nazi party whether they be political, social or homosexual. It didn.t matter, only that you were not part of their "party" and beliefs.
Tonight I plan on painting the town, and getting up really late. I haven.t made it to breakfast this week.....! Today I just was sleeping really well, and lovin it! Tonight I plan on finding the answer to my "research" question from a few weeks ago. I.ll let you all know what the answer is soon enough! Ciao.
Tonight I plan on painting the town, and getting up really late. I haven.t made it to breakfast this week.....! Today I just was sleeping really well, and lovin it! Tonight I plan on finding the answer to my "research" question from a few weeks ago. I.ll let you all know what the answer is soon enough! Ciao.
This was the entrance to the courtyard where the prisoners were brought to begin being beat down by the guards. This is also where the large heavy machine gun was positioned so that it could look down the rows of barracks to watch for prisoners escaping. The gun was never fired.
Originally designed for 150 prisoners, these buildings would house up to 400 during the heyday of the early 1940.s
The wall constructed shows where the barracks began. You can see the outline depicting the shape of each, fanned out so the guards could look down from above. This is where roll call was performed each morning and evening. If there was a miscount, they would start over again. The longest time it took for this was 15 hours, with many people dieing because of falling over from exhaustion, then shot.
Originally designed for 150 prisoners, these buildings would house up to 400 during the heyday of the early 1940.sThe wall constructed shows where the barracks began. You can see the outline depicting the shape of each, fanned out so the guards could look down from above. This is where roll call was performed each morning and evening. If there was a miscount, they would start over again. The longest time it took for this was 15 hours, with many people dieing because of falling over from exhaustion, then shot.
2 comments:
History has always been brutal, everywhere, but certainly worse than we'll ever know there from the Nazi regime. Sad. Dad and I visited Dachau some years ago, so it is interesting to get your perspective. We are mighty blessed, all the way around...Privens' luggage is still lost and may not be found:-( Ours arrived safely to our room...miss ya...xoxo
Hope you didn't spend all your euros during your "research." Boys will be boys. :)
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