Dachau

Well, today I did something that I've wanted to do for a long time, and that was visit a former Nazi concentration camp. It was amazing, but more on that later.

Last night, I grabbed a quick dinner and eventually met a group of about 5 guys from London who have been travelling through Spain and France. They had all gone to boarding school for 5 years together, and were bonding again after their first year out of high school. We had a very lively discussion of American politics, driving and alcohol laws, and yes, even global warming. Although the conversation got heated, we left on a good note and I hope I'll meet up with them again tonight.

This morning, I afforded myself the luxury of sleeping in a little, since my tour to Dachau began at the late hour of 10AM. The tour I joined was one provided by a company that does free walking tours in many large cities around Europe while offering more specialized and less free tours of other places. So, after paying my euro, I set off with the group of about 25 people to the camp, which lies about 30 minutes outside of Munich by train.

Our guide was named Rickey, and he was from a tiny town in Canada and had done this tour 92 times in the past year and this was his last. He was very talented and entertaining, and he knew a lot about the memorial and the camp.

Dachau, unlike Auschwitz, was not a death camp, but rather a labor camp. It had the longest history of all the camps, as it began in 1933 when Hitler came to power and closed only when the Americans liberated it in 1945. Originally, it housed political prisoners, but over its history it expanded to include criminals, foreigners, and religious prisoners. At the camp, they would essentially work the prisoners doing tasks that either helped the Nazi war effort or were designed only to drain the prisoners until they had no more strength. Then, they would be shipped off to the death camps.

During their stays, prisoners were subject to arbitrary torture, beatings, and even execution. Walking around it and hearing about its grotesque history really made an impact, and I now have a personal exposure to this era in history.

The complex itself houses a museum and the buildings in the camp as well as various artistic memorials and numerous religious chapels and monuments. One of these memorials artistically presents the words "Never Again" in five languages- definitely a good ideal to be put in the mind of a visitor.

Overall, it was a great day, one that was full of reflection and thought. I only wish that everyone could have an experience like me and come to grips with the dark possibilities of the human soul. Even today, there are people like the president of Iran who flatly deny the holocaust and continually voice violently antisemitic words. It's the duty of the free world to keep that kind of madness in check.

One thing that I didn't much enjoy about the tour was when our guide equated the Patriot Act with the laws that gave Hitler his absolute power to commit genocide. He also grouped the United States in with Russia and China when talking about modern concentration camps, citing Guantanamo Bay. This irritated me, both because what he asserted was not truthful, and because equating the US with Nazi Germany, when we were largely responsible for its downfall, is really not a very polite or kind thing to do. But maybe that's just me, because the other Americans on the tour didn't seem bothered.

So that was my day at a concentration camp. It was very interesting, and I'm glad I did it. I am not glad, though, that I can't upload pictures on this computer. Sorry!

Tomorrow is more Munich sightseeing and then Switzerland!