I haven't written in a while because I've been on a school trip to Europe with the students. We started at Paris and then went to Lucerne in Switzerland, through Liechtenstein to Innsbruck in Austria and finally on to Munich.The final day in Munich we visited Dachau and it was this visit which marked us the most. We had decided to take the students there because we wanted them to see first hand man's inhumanity to man. In Canada we have never really had any first hand experience with that kind of systematic cruelty and barbarity and the students only read about it in their history books. Now they were able to witness it first hand and were able to get a feeling about what it was. How did the students take it? Well if their silence and thoughtfulness after the visit are any indication, it really hit home. I hope that it is a lesson they will carry with them for the rest of their lives.
I consider myself to be a pragmatic, down to earth type of person, not much given to flights of fancy, but that day I admit I felt something tangible as I walked through the camp and the crematoria. It was a beautiful sunny day but there was a pall of darkness that seemed to hover over the camp. As I walked I could feel the miasma of human misery that permeated the atmosphere and I know in my heart that it will never be lifted as long as human memory remains. What also stuck me was the fact that this could have also happened here in Canada. Given the right circumstances of anarchy and a charismatic leader we could have also succumbed to the dark side. It was a very chilling realization, let me tell you. All that is needed for evil to take root is for a good man to shut his eyes.
Here are a couple of photos.
I consider myself to be a pragmatic, down to earth type of person, not much given to flights of fancy, but that day I admit I felt something tangible as I walked through the camp and the crematoria. It was a beautiful sunny day but there was a pall of darkness that seemed to hover over the camp. As I walked I could feel the miasma of human misery that permeated the atmosphere and I know in my heart that it will never be lifted as long as human memory remains. What also stuck me was the fact that this could have also happened here in Canada. Given the right circumstances of anarchy and a charismatic leader we could have also succumbed to the dark side. It was a very chilling realization, let me tell you. All that is needed for evil to take root is for a good man to shut his eyes.
Here are a couple of photos.
Dachau 1933-1945
7 comments:
Those photos made me feel literally heavy in the pit of my stomach. It must have been very powerful visiting with the students. They are our legacy. They are our future. They need to hold history in the palm of their hands.
I think I would visit if I were there, but I'm not sure. I know I would cry tough the whole thing.
In 2002 we visited the Holocaust Memorial Museum in D.C. Then a few years later we saw a photo exhibit in Dallas. I honestly don't think I could handle actually being on site. My hope is that people don't think evil like this is something old and in the past. Women are being stoned in some countries today for going to the store without a male family escort. And women who have been raped are murdered by their own families for being impure. As long as this sort of thing is ignored, we are all evil.
On a lighter note, welcome back and please share some more stories and photos.
I visited Dachau many years ago. I found it traumatizing despite how much the site had been sanitized. In one respect I'm glad I went, but at another level I would have gladly missed it.
Deb: I am in complete agreement with you. If we do not show them history, how will they know not to repeat it. That is why we teachers felt it was imperative that they should visit the camp even though we knew it would not be a fun experience.
Citizen: I can understand that, as I said I'm not given to flights of fancy but there were places there where I had a lump in my throat.
Geewits: Every year we visit Washington with our grade 8 students and the Holocaust museum is and will always be on the agenda. They must learn so it will never be repeated. My generation has not been able to stop the evil but maybe the younger generation will succeed where we failed.
Ian: No matter how much they sanitize it, they'll never be able to clean the stain from the site. It is as if the human misery had permeated every square inch.
I've never been to one of the camps. I think I'd go if I had the opportunity. Just because even though I wouldn't want to go, I think it's important to see this.
Mr. Jazz went to Dachau and I'm not sure he'd go back with me.
I've never been to one of the camps. I think I'd go if I had the opportunity. Just because even though I wouldn't want to go, I think it's important to see this.
Mr. Jazz went to Dachau and I'm not sure he'd go back with me.
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