Today we visited the first concentration camp during the 12 year Nazi rule, Dachu. At first, I was preparing myself for a really heart wrenching day, but surprisingly I was cool, calm and collected...for the most part. The documentary is what really got to me, and seeing the graphic images of the events that occurred in the camp. Even more so, however, when I was looking around the museum by myself for a while, I came across an interesting part that I did not expect to see.
In the main section of the museum, there were two panels displaying the music and the poetry of the camp. The music was a little emotional for me, because the Nazi party would try to use music as a form of mockery and insults towards the prisoners, and I think music is something that can be really sacred and important to someone. But what really made me burst out into tears and gasp was the poetry panel. One of the displays read "In the camp I made a meaningful discovery: No power exists in the world that is capable of destroying humans as spiritual beings". After reading that, I cried out in hope, that even know there are terrible people in the world, who do horrible things, mankind will still believe and not lose their sense of happiness. That is one of the things I tell myself all the time, even after every heart break, do not give up on love. And to see that in such a LARGER scale, really impacted me.
I totally feel you on the "preparing yourself" for this camp part. I also thought that I was going to be like crying throughout the whole tour, but really at the end, I realized it wasn't as intense simply because it was a memorial. But still, it was very eye opening, and I feel like I learned so much more than what I already knew. So I'm really happy we got to go there.
ReplyDeleteI was surprised at how angry I was while going through the museum. I was sad of course too, but visiting Dachau actually made me more determined than anything. We can all help bear witness to the memorial, and share our experiences. The more we talk about it, hopefully the less likely it is to happen again.
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