Somber reflections

Today was all about Sauchsenhausen, a former concentration facility. I don’t like to call them camps because that seems like part of the euphemism implying it was fun like summer camp.

This place was exceedingly well done— tasteful and respectfully concerning a very difficult topic and period in time. The audio tour alone has four hours of content. Then there is all of the content in the buildings and exhibits. This was way more comprehensive than my trip to Dachau on 1993.

This entry is very difficult to write because I see so many similarities to some events occurring the in United States currently. It’s understandable, almost, how people were or claimed they were not aware of what was going on. But then there was the continuous, massive clouds of ashes covering the nearby town and the financial rewards some were reaping from the existence of the facility that are harder to dismiss.

In comparaison to other prisons and detainment facilities from WWII, this one was on a smaller scale. About 200,000 prisoners were here and tens of thousands killed not millions. However, it was mostly political prisoners, including Stalin’s son were held here, and the brutality was extreme. It also operated from 1936 until the war’s end in 1945, only to be repurposed by the Soviets for more prisoners and killing.

One of the reasons it did not get larger was due to its design. The architect thought and equilateral triangle the best shape with the main guard tower at the apex with the best view of the entire place. It was also from there that roll call was supervised and prisoners observed during the day. Those deemed to not be doing their work correctly or appearing vulnerable, were tortured, sometime to death.

I have always wondered how people can be so cruel to other people. I believe now that it is due to certain sectors of the population, in this case—Jews, Romanish, Santi, LBGTQ, etc being devalued as somehow less than human. Or in the case of the killing of George Floyd, well he had a rap sheet and he used drugs. Then some can justify his death due to passing a counterfeit bill either knowingly or not.

But where is the redemption story? People are told to get their lives together and some do, but we never let them move on from their past in society.

And then there is the construct of race. Several Years ago, I read a book The history of white people, by Nell Irvin Painter. It’s a fascinating, well researched book that helps one understand how the concept of race began, and how it has been perpetrated.

It seemed appropriate that it was a miserable, rotten, no good day—overcast and rainy. One could feel how cold the prisoners must have been when they were told to clear the snow in the courtyard with their bare hands. Or how they huddle to stay warm In the barracks with cots stacked three high and no blankets. That anyone survived was a miracle.

I think this day put both Amy and I in a bad mood We bickered and split up once the train got back to Berlin. I went back to the room to warm up and then ventured out to an authentic German reastaurant. Amy went to a book store and grabbed a piece of pizza.