On Tuesday, we visited the memorial site at the Dachau concentration camp. The branch of the railroad that took supplies to the site has been paved over into a walking path with memorial signs describing some of the crimes that were committed at Dachau.
We followed this route to get to the camp, passing through urban and suburban areas. It was a very weird contrast: on your left, a row of houses, with a swing-set complete with blond-headed child playing on it; on your right, photos of cattle cars piled with corpses. Germany definitely did not shirk from its responsibility to the memory of the prisoners of Dachau.
The site itself was very emotional. It's quite abstract to study European history in Canada just due to distance alone. Additionally, we found that schools in Canada taught the history of the war very dispassionately. For example, the use of "terrorist" when describing the SS would probably not be used in a Canadian high school textbook, despite its accuracy. Here, it was to be heard in the first minutes of a film summarizing the camp's lifetime. Despite this and conspicuous omissions or glossing over of crimes that the Allied soldiers committed upon discovering the camp the museum was extraordinarily comprehensive and well laid-out.
2 comments:
I'm glad you guys made it there. When Dave and I went, we had planned to spend an hour or so there but once we got reading, couldn't stop and spent the entire day there. It was bloody cold with a nasty wind that just added to the humbling the place brought to your heart.
I you had a chance to check out a beer hall or two while you're there even if you're not going for the beer, the atmosphere is definitely worth it. If you missed them, Dave and I did find a couple tucked away in Vienna.
I remember talking to Barbara Taube about the war one time and she said she remembered in school when they taught about Germany's role in WWII it really made you squirm in your seat with the shame and horror that as a people they committed these crimes and very few spoke out against them. Mom
Post a Comment