I have been thinking about how to approach yesterday’s visit to the site of the concentration camp at Dachau. It is hard to be there, in the present day, to see the flocks of tourists, like ourselves, wander the grounds and snap pictures, where such inhumane atrocites were perpetrated with ruthless industrial ferocity by our fellow beings. So I decided to focus on the memorials, that have been enshrined there to honor the prisoners of the camp, which over the time, until it was liberated by the US forces, held over 200,00 inmates, over 43,000 who perished. Of particular note was the Jewish Memorial.
As you walk down into the interior of the memorial, there is an opening in the top, which lets light filter down in to the darkness, which, to me, symbolizes that even in the darkest of times, the light of the human spirit cannot be extinguished.
The railings along the side represent the razor wire fences that surround the camp, a rather innocuous term camp for what went on there.
Along a walls an more recent memorial/reminder, that persecution, genocide and hatred of others is still with us , as depicted by the varied colored glass, representing different groups of people. The most recent in in pink representing the LGBT community.
Probably the most disturbing monument is one that depicts emaciated bodies tangled in barbed wire. At least that my interpretation.
I added this link for more information on Dachau and the Memorials.
On a lighter note, we again dined on wieners and one liter beers last night. The rain has extinguished the heat wave. On our way back, we came across this wonderful group of musicians who were ticket away in an alcove.
A little post Zurich fun with pictures of 2 staples prevalent there. Your guess, as to which comes first!
Davitte Blog 