Trip to Germany: Sachsenhausen (Day 10)

Germany Trip Day 10: This day I explored the dark and difficult parts of German history. In the morning I went to Sachsenhausen concentration camp. This camp was built in 1936 and served as a prototype for other Nazi camps. The Nazis imprisoned 200,000 people here, and tens of thousands died here. After WWII, the Soviets retained this site as a prison until it became a memorial site in 1961.

It was a cooler day, but I think I mostly felt chills by being in such a lonely and evil place. There weren't too many people at the site that day, either, which made the experience seem even more introspective and lonely. The complex is very big and it wasn't difficult to imagine the area filled with prisoners from eighteen different countries. It was a humbling and poignant experience. I was most horrified by the "Station Z" extermination area, as well as an exhibit about the brothel which was set up using female prisoners. I hope this history never repeats itself. 

The presence of the prisoners who suffered here was especially palpable to me in a few places of the complex. One display had an especially threadbare prison uniform with a purple triangle, which indicated the prisoner was a Jehovah's Witness (the reason for incarceration). I also felt a connection to the prisoners who worked in the kitchen cellar, washing and peeling vegetables. Some paintings have been left on the wall of the cellar, including a humorous vegetable scene (1945-50) that was painted by animation artist Hans Fisher-Köchen when he was an inmate of the Soviet special camp.

One particular part of the site I found interesting and disturbing was the Soviet memorial in the center with the sculpture "Liberation" (1961) by Rene Graetz. According to the audio guide, this rescued prisoners in this sculpture were modified to seem less emaciated than the actual prisoners who were rescued. This was done because it was thought that the Russian efforts would seem more ennobling and heroic if they were rescuing visually-appealing people who looked like they were worthy of rescue.

After Sachsenhausen, I went back to Berlin. When I was at the Brandenburg Gate, I thought of Ronald Regan's famous speech in front of the gate, in which he said, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" (Also, side note: I learned that the Brandenburg Gate design is influenced by the Propylaea in Athens.) 

I walked to the Reichstag and then continued on to the Holocaust Memorial with its Field of Stelae. In the memorial museum, I was really impacted by the few extant letters which imprisoned or about-to-be-imprisoned Jews were able to send to their family members. These people suffered so much! 

I then visited the Topography of Terror exhibit which is placed along a good portion of the remaining Berlin Wall. This outdoor exhibit explained the rise of Hitler's power, WWII, and the impact of the Nazis on the people of Berlin. While standing in the shadow of the Berlin Wall, I couldn't help but read the exhibition text and think about how much the people of Berlin suffered (especially those in East Berlin) in the decades which followed WWII. Now having been in Berlin, I have a much better understanding of the Cold War and the political tension between the US and Soviets.