today wasn't like any of our other days in berlin. we took a train an hour north of berlin to visit what used to be sachsenhausen concentration camp. the first thing you see as you enter the nazi camp are wrought iron gates bearing the words "arbeit macht frei" - words that, since world war II, form a well-known german phrase that roughly translates as "work liberates".
the nazi camp was opened in 1936, intended as a model camp for the hundreds of others that would pop up across german-occupied europe between 1933-1945. of the 200,00 people who were imprisoned at sachsenhausen during world war II, the majority were political prisoners. others included jews, homosexuals, sinti (gypsies) and criminals. every individual was identified as per a number and coloured triangle stitched to their striped prison uniform. the triangle colour was determined by status: communists & political prisoners sported red triangles, jews wore yellow, homosexuals - pink, etc. this concept of stripping a person of their individuality and personality didn't sit at all well with me, and is just another reflection of the abuse of power the nazi's showed towards prisoners whose crime (for the vast majority) was simply being themselves. eeueh.
sachsenhausen was originally only intended as a "work camp" - but then in 1942, gas chambers and cremation ovens were constructed in a section of the camp that the nazi's ironically named "station z", as it would be last "station" or "stop" in the prisoner's life. section z was incredibly disturbing to see.
post world war II, sachsenhausen (renamed "special camp no. 7") was used by the soviet union as a prison for their undesirables. again political prisoners, this time it was those who were anti-communist or who were not following the imposed communist regime who were imprisoned. it's ironic to note that during this time, nazi's who had once controlled sachsenhausen were now prisoners of special camp no. 7. what goes around comes around?
it's difficult to explain the emotions that ran through me during my visit at sachsenhausen. despite an attempt to prepare myself mentally for what would be waiting within the barbed-wire walls, the experience was very chilling. it felt all too surreal to be walking on the same ground as hundred's of thousands of prisoners, and there was a definite incomprehensible emptiness when thinking about all the unspeakable horrors that occurred right there, a mere seventy years prior.
however, it was a very awakening experience, and by the end i was able to piece together all the fractions of world war II history that i've learnt over the years. in my opinion, it takes an experience like this to really comprehend what happened - it's one thing to read about it, but to actually be there where it all happened is something completely different.
it wasn't a fun day, but it was definitely one i will never forget.
auf wiedersehen,
S.
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| extermination pit, where prisoner's were shot & hanged |
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| station z |
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| original ovens |
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| nazi propaganda - "this war is a jewish war" |
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| the site of three mass graves |
