Day 7
Today we went to Dachau. It was one of those days where the sun is shinning and the birds are singing, which was at odds to the gravity of where we were. Dachau is a concentration camp that was used during the 40s.
We took the S-bahn and a bus to get there. At first, the town seems very quaint and pleasant. It would be hard to imagine that a concentration camp was ever there. To get to the entrance of Dachau you walk down this path with bright green trees. It interesting how you imagine things to be, in this instance I imagine everything to be dead and no life because of the horrors of what happened in that small location. Despite this, life moves on and plants grow and the birds sing.
Entrance to the camp
The entrance to the camp is this massive stone archway with a wrought iron gate. In the door the words: Arbeit Macht Frei, which means, “Labor makes you free.” The camp is barren, except for the trees lining the road, the one main building and two of the barracks that are reproductions. To be honest the camp reminded me of the Hunger Game set, and in all seriousness it was simply depressing walking on gravel where so many were starved and most likely died on.
Arnoud acted as tour guide and showed us the camp. One of the scariest moments was when he took us through the crematorium. Arnoud took us through as if it was then, we walked through each room – there aren’t words to describe what it felt like. Even years later there is a solemnness that incases the camp. Arnoud said two things that stuck with me during the tour. The first was at the beginning. Being a journalistic group, one of us asked if it was allowed to take pictures. He responded that you MUST take picture. This way you can spread the message. The second was from a statue that stated “Denket Daran wie wir Hier Starben,” which he translated to “Remember how we died here.” By the time we left Dachau, it was a heavy feeling.
The rest day was free time. I decided to forgo crutches and wheelchair for Dachau and probably over did it a bit. So I used the wheelchair for the rest of the day, since tomorrow we are going to Austria! (I’m going to use crutches tomorrow). I went with a group who were going shopping. I really wanted to see the Glockenspiel ring at 5 p.m. so I joined along a.k.a they all took turns pushing me in the wheelchair, which I’m beyond grateful that they included me.
Today was a powerful day filled many emotions and hopefully tomorrow in Austria will be a lighter day.
Carson
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