Going to the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp was very interesting, but incredibly sobering. It makes one wonder how people are capable of doing such terrible things to each other. Most concerning of all is how it was a gradual process. It wasn’t so bad at first, just strongly encouraging people to leave. Then people were forced out of the country and eventually arresting and sent to their deaths. All the while, the German people were fed propaganda and indoctrinated in the Nazi regime’s ideology.
The results of those terrible events can still be seen today. The German people are very averse to strong nationalism. It may very well be why the new right wing nationalist movements in Europe don’t seem to be gaining and hold in Germany.
It affects things more subtly as well. There are gold colored plaques throughout Berlin that mark the locations of Jewish families that were forced from their homes and businesses. Just as the plaques are present, but not advertised, the Holocaust museum in is under the radar as well. There is a field of rectangular stone slabs. In the monument park lies the entrance to the museum under the field. There are no signs or advertisements, but it is there.
I don’t think the German people will ever forget about what their country did in the past, but maybe one day they won’t be burdened by the guilt.