The rock beds represent the former barracks that have been destroyed.

We took a train to Dachau to visit the museum of the first concentration camp today, and I will preface this post by saying it’s going to be very hard to describe. The weather was absolutely beautiful, which almost made it even more sickening. The sky was a vibrant blue and the sun was bright and warm. But there was still a chill in the air. We entered through a gate with the wrought iron promise of “arbeit macht frei” which translates to “work makes free.”

Our guide, Arnoud, said a question that he gets from a lot of groups is “Am I allowed to take pictures?” “No,” he answered. “ You have to take pictures. You have to show the world what happened.”

The original barracks had been dismantled and a mock one was rebuilt to exact replica for viewing, but everything else was authentic. Including the Krematorium. We entered through the disinfecting rooms where they surrenders all of their personal possesions and their human dignity. From there we went into the holding room, where they were told they we’re going to be able to shower.

There was a museum with stories of survivors and of those who weren’t so lucky. I found a man from Poland who shared my last name who died in 1940, Thomas Szypulski. I’ll have to ask my grandfather about it.

Jewish Memorial

Usually when my alarm is set for 5 a.m., I know something exciting is going to happen. Today’s agenda definitely didn’t let me down. The early rise led us to ZDF, Germany’s public broadcasting network, for their morning talk show: Morgen Magazin. We actually got to sit in the audience on the set of a live broadcast! It was laid out like a cafe, which was a really versatile set and offered such a casual and personal atmosphere for interaction on screen. Speaking of casual, the female anchor was in jeans and tennis shoes! It started off with a music segment featuring the artist Alina Süggeler of Frida Gold. I loved her sound and actually got a copy of their album to check out. The show topics included Angelina Jolie’s double mastectomy, commentary on The Great Gatsby and a “prank” type segment on men’s pole dancing becoming a future Olympic sport. My kind of program, even though, apparently, the audience watching at 9 a.m. has an average age of 59.

After the show, we met with the male anchor Wulf Schmiese, who was absolutely wonderful and painted a detailed picture of ZDF’s role in Germany’s media platform: to inform the people and keep them interested in important topics. Even though the ones I described in the examples above don’t seem all that crucial to a functioning democracy, he explained why they are important as well with what I thought was quite a beautiful metaphor. He compared ZDF’s morning broadcast to a salad. The meat is the talk about politics and interviews with politicians, but it has to have a little bit of color, carrots and papers, to add that extra flavor.

I was very pleased to hear that he chose journalism for the same reason I did, a vast array of interests. He was really into politics, but didn’t want to be a politician. Really loves sports, but didn’t want to be a professional athlete. Interested in movies, but don’t want to become an actor. Journalism is perfect in that you can talk about what you love and never be bored. He also made a joke about journalists and their “arrogance,” saying that they take one shower and they are an expert on water, which I thought was not only hilarious, but so true! The advice he had for us was to “be critical in a good mood,” which is an excellent perspective for journalism and life in general. Be curious. Doubt. Ask questions. But never be rude about it.

Hallo! I’m Richelle Szypulski, a recent grad of Point Park with degrees in Multimedia and Mass Communications. And I’m still not used to saying that. I went on the trip to Italy last May and it was such a life changing experience that I knew I had to sign up for round two. Last year, I stayed an extra week with a friend that lives in Munich and I’m really looking forward to returning and experiencing Berlin, as well.

The visits I’m most excited for are Freie Universitat and Axel Springer, because I would really like to study abroad for my Masters Degree and would definitely consider Germany as an option. Culturally, I can’t wait to see the art on the Berlin Wall and the East Side Gallery and the architecture in Berlin, which seems super contemporary, but without skyscrapers.