History has many scars where men have done terrible deeds. Mao in China, Stalin in Russia, colonialism, apartheid, slavery, Hitler in Europe, the list goes on and on. With modern technology and large populations, these tragedies grow vastly in size. On this trip we had the opportunity to wrestle with one of these tragedies: the Holocaust.
Before we visited Sachsenhausen, we visited the Holocaust Museum. The Holocaust Museum does a fantastic job recording the history of all the events before, during, and shortly after WWII. They back everything up with letters and eyewitness testimony. Now, during my reflections on my visit, I recall feeling not as impacted by this history. I was wondering why they included all this history that most should hopefully already know. I wondered why they did not just display visceral stories and pictures that would leave people with disgust and indignation. I know that these parts of the exhibits always impacted me the most – the parts that made me never want to let this happen again. However, upon further thought, I realized that some people do not even believe that the Holocaust happened. These museum must include the history. They do not include it because it evokes reactions or feelings, they include it because people need to know that what happened is fact – that these things did happen not 80 or so years ago. They include the history as overwhelming and undeniable evidence to satisfy the burden of proof that comes with any historical statement.
All this being said, the Holocaust Museum’s stories, letters, audio clips, and videos that told the stories of individuals impacted me the most. I was overwhelmed by the sheer number of people who’s stories I heard. 6 million is a large number, as we all know, but it has more impact when you see name after name after name of those murdered by the Nazi party. This was also my main reaction at Sachsenhausen. I understood that concentration camps were large and held lots of people, but you don’t realize how many people until you step foot in one. I was blown away by how massive it was. When I saw how far it extended, I was genuinely sick to my stomach. It is the best way to put into perspective the massive scale killing and torture that the Nazis put into place. Not only that, but to step into the places where people were tortured, starved, tested on, killed, dissected, and cremated makes me sick to my stomach even now as I recall it to write here. This camp was in the middle of this small town. People lived right next door to the camp. People could probably see into the camp from their second story windows. People could probably smell the burning flesh. This is something that chilled me to the bone.
The Jewish Museum that a few of us visited after class one evening provided an alternate form of experiencing the Holocaust, but this museum left one with a bit of hope at the end. The museum is designed itself as a piece of art. You start in a quaint, old, baroque style building, which forces you to enter into the basement of a large building hidden behind the facade of the baroque building. This building has a crooked path, signifying the troubled past of Jews in Germany. The only windows that show light are shaped like scars in the cold steel exterior. The exhibit forces you to enter the basement and see the history of the Holocaust before you continue to the rest of the building to see the further exhibits on the history of the Jews – but in the end you must once again travel through the basement. In the basement, there are no colors, only black and white. The floor is angled and there are no right angles. This disorients you, making you uneasy. There are three paths. The path of Escape, the path of the Holocaust, and the path of Continuity. The path of Continuity passes through the other two paths and continues onward – showing the continued history of Jews in Germany. The path of the Holocaust ends in a dark room – and the only light you can see at the top is through a hole that you might think only a soul can fit through. The path of Escape leads to a garden, but the plants and prosperity seem out of reach, and the road is uneven and unsteady. This museum uses your sense to tell the story, not your mind and eyes reading text. I really cannot put it into words, and I feel as if I would ruin it if I did. It is truly something to experience for oneself.