On Wednesday morning, my parents, Baylie and I got up at about 4 a.m. and headed back to the airport. (David helped us as far as the train station since I was worried about taking the bus by myself.) We flew on Lufthansa from Milan to Munich, Germany. Flying standby can be very stressful since you only get a seat if the flight isn't full, but we have been lucky with all of our flights so far. We got our seat assignments right away. The European carriers have a little seat belt that hooks onto the parent's seat belt and then wraps around the lap child. Why don't we use those in the U.S.? It seems like such a smart idea.
I don't know what I expected from Germany, but I was pleasantly surprised. Even just flying over, it was so orderly and beautiful. the fields were all plowed and lined out in straight rows. I have never been in such a clean country. The train station was spotless! The homes reminded me a lot of Switzerland. I loved the steep roofs and the window boxes.
We took a train just across from the airport and headed to the Dachau concentration camp. To be honest, I felt guilty that the only thing I was doing in this beautiful country was visiting the very worst part of its history. It seemed unfair. I wish I had more time to see additional sights, but our time in Germany was short and I had always wanted to visit a concentration camp.
Just prior to the trip, I had read Night by Elie Wiesel (thanks Erin) and seen the movie "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas," both of which I highly recommend. I don't think any amount of study could make the horrors of a concentration camp come to life like actually walking the paths those prisoners walked. Even doing that, it was impossible to comprehend. I drove up to the camp in a comfortable bus and had a milkshake and sandwiches at the cafe afterwards. I couldn't hep but think of the irony of there being a cafe on the grounds of the camp.
I am often struck by two things 1) man's ability to be so cruel to his fellow human beings and 2) man's unbelievable desire to survive even in the worst of circumstances. Some of the things that hit me the most at the camp were the railroad tracks that led up to the door, the open grounds where they would hold roll call, the showers/gas chamber and the crematorium. The pictures and stories that were told throughout the museum on the grounds were so sickening. It's hard to imagine how some people can still believe that the holocaust never happened. This experience is something that I am still absorbing. It was something that I was unable to process completely at the time of the visit.
Showers/Gas chamber
Crematorium
Work will make you free.
After our visit to Dachau, we headed to the main train station and took the train to Salzburg. We arrived at our hotel - a Marriott Residence - where we crashed in soft, comfortable beds after taking deliciously warm showers. It was so nice to be in such a comfortable hotel.
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