Today we visited the Dachau Memorial Site as a group, and it was very moving. Unlike many museums or sites in the US, it is quite stark and leaves it to each visitor to form the picture in their own minds of what had happened there. It is stark in appearance and form, but one always is reminded this is hallowed ground where so many individuals lost their lives. Dachau is a site that forces one to reach into your own mind to try and see how inhumane humans can be sometimes; to find the worst of humankind and yet to read and learn of the great spirit of those who endured this place. So many people from so many backgrounds, faiths and nations suffered together as just humans.
The students had asked questions both before and after, and so many are still not clear about who did what to whom. Dachau was not an extermination camp but a concentration camp where many were killed. The first prisoners were political prisoners -- opponents of National Socialism within Germany. People from all over Europe and from many different backgrounds perished here. I believe this is an important learning opportunity for our students even if it can be difficult.
As one who studies memorials I was intrigued with the various types of memorials and structures throughout the site. I believe it is quite rare to see memorials from so many different faiths at one site together -- Jewish, Protestant, Catholic and Russian Orthodox. There are also plaques given by the 2 US military units who liberated the camp in 1945 -- the Rainbow Division and the 20th Armored Division. The museum contains a stunning wealth of information and photos and it is hard to see it all in a day (although I read through most every plaque and banner.) I have much first-hand information now to share with my future students. Again, what struck me from a memorial standpoint is the sheer starkness of the place and thus the need of the individual visitor to pull the images into one's own mind and to try and grasp the horror and brutality.
