Berlin II - Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp
I was never a brilliant student when it came to history, but i remember when i first learnt about second world war. Suddendly all of my attention went to the teacher, i listened carefully all of his words and even got my best grade on that subject. I went home and i watched "Life is Beautiful". I read Anne Frank's Diary and i felt so connected in a way i can't even explain... The point is, i became very interested in this period of time in history, i don't even have any connections when it comes to family or religion, i just want to learn more and more about it!
With this being said, it makes more sense when i say i knew that one of the things i wanted to do in Berlin was to visit a concentraton camp. And so i did, in a beautiful sunny day. Joined a tour, took the train and off we went! I even got the chance to make a friend on the way, her name is Amanda and she has the most beautiful love story in her family, about her grandparents in the second world war time.
Between the train station and the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp is a ten minute walk, and the city is just beautiful! Quite and very colorful so it's a lovely walk to do. The camp is located in the backyard of a charming neighborhood, with small cute houses. I was enjoying it so much i almost forgot where i was going. And then it hit me... Maybe this was what people tought back then? Maybe they saw all of those cute houses and tought they were safe? That everything was going to be ok? My heart broke... The tour guide explained how the houses and the neighborhood were meant to be pretty to make the prisioners feel that way... To make them think they were in a good place. I felt a shiver down my spine and i begun to absorb the seriousness of that day.
Call me crazy but, later on that day, in the end of the tour i decided to stay a little longer so i could see more of the camp at my own time, at my own thoughts and prayers... I said goodbye to my recent friend Amanda, we changed numbers so we could meet again in Berlin while we were there. "Nice to meet you!", "You too!" and then she went. And i felt the most strange feeling, immediately i thought about the young children, women and men that also made friends in that camp one day and also wondered if they were ever going to see them again...
Visiting a concentration camp is not the most joyful day you'll have, but if you ever get the chance to do it, i advise you so. It will make you value your life, your family, your friends, your freedom. The world as we know it and the things we take for granted in life. Here are the photos i took that day, not too edited, not too artistic, just as it is. I hope you enjoy!
Sachsenhausen was established in 1936 and it was the first camp to be built.
the clock is painted. It sets 11:07 to commemorate the exact time the Soviets arrived and liberated the camp in 1945.
work sets you free.
"neutral zone" also known as the area where the guards could kill immediately without any reason or explanation.
many prisioners saw this as a way of suicide.
breakfast area to have a small piece of bread and a dark water which the guards called "coffe".
"toilets" and "showers" for more than 400 people at the same time.
some drawings made by the prisioners that worked in the kitchen. the guards thought it was funny, i think it's a cry for help.
the architecture behind the gas chambers. the prisioners were told they were going to a "doctor examination".
"it's not a german problem, it's a human problem."
