Dachau

 

For over a week I've been contemplating what I experienced at Dachau, the first concentration camp here in Germany. It's just really hard to put into words how emotional the whole experience was. Here's some historical background on the place:

1. It was the first concentration camp; all the other concentration camps/death camps were designed from this one.

2. The camp started in 1933 as a "work camp." The Nazi's believed that hard work would rehabilitate Jews, Christians, homosexuals, and really anyone who didn't subscribe to their way of thinking.

3. The camp was designed to house 6,000 prisoners, but in the end, it held over 32,000!!

 

4. Every morning and evening, the prisoners were forced to do a "roll call" where they literally had to stand at attention and not move until all the prisoners were accounted for.

5. There were three barracks that were used for medical experimentation. Humans were used as guinea pigs to try new medications, new surgeries, etc.

6. There was an electrical fence around the perimeter of the camp, and many prisoners would purposely run into it to end their lives.

7. American soldiers freed the camp on April 29, 1945, and they turned the camp into a prison for the Nazis.

 

So this is my experience:

We walked into the camp, and our audio guide had us walk the path that the prisoners would have walked at their arrival to the camp. We could still see remnants of the road that was taken into the camp and the railroad tracks that brought the prisoners from all over Europe. As we walked through the front gate, we could read the iron door...Arbeit Macht Frei, which means Work Sets One Free. It was the motto of this "work camp." We then walked out onto the huge courtyard, where the prisoners were forced to stand at attention for hours until all the prisoners were accounted for. We could imagine the electrical fence running along the perimeter that was an escape for so many of the prisoners. And there were watch towers all over with snipers ready to kill anyone not doing their work. Here, I could imagine men of pride and valor being reduced to garbage as their bodies gave out from lack of food and the strenuous work conditions. These were men who stood up to the regime and paid with their lives.

We then viewed a few of the memorials at the camp. The first stated: "May the example of those who were exterminated here between 1933-1945 because they resisted Nazism help to unite the living for the defense of peace and freedom an in respect for their fellow men".

 

Another memorial was actually constructed by a freed prisoner from this camp. It showed men who were starved tangled in a web of barbed wire. I can't even imagine having the ability to construct that after such a horrific experience.

 

Another memorial was a symbol of the different nationalities, religious groups, and countries who had prisoners in this camp. The memorial contained triangles of various colors depicting these groups. (When prisoners were brought to the camp, they were stripped of their clothes and their name and given only a uniform with a triangle patched that contained their i.d. number. Thus, the significance of the triangles in the memorial).

 

Next, we saw the memorial of the Unknown Soldier. It contained an inscription that said, "Never Again".

 

Next, we walked through one of the two barracks. They had been restored, because they were originally torn down. The bunks that men, probably 6 feet tall or more, had to sleep in were incredibly small. And I am sure that some men had to sleep on the floor, simply because there was just no room. Cleanliness was something that was highly regarded by the Nazis, so imagine 32,000 men in tiny barracks but with not a speck of dirt or dust on the floors.

Finally, we made our way to the crematoriums. Originally there was only one, but the death toll had become so high that they had to build another. When I say "they," I mean the prisoners had to build another one. The soldiers did none of the work in the camp. So with this second crematorium, there was also built a gas chamber where, in 15-20 minutes, 150 prisoners could have been exterminated at a time using prussic acid poison gas. This gas chamber was never used, however, there were other means of extreme torture used in killing the prisoners. At times, the soldiers would bring live prisoners to the crematorium and hang them in front of the burning ovens.

 

 

By the end of our journey through the camp, we were mostly speechless and stunned. It's easy to think, "Well, this happened in an uncivilized time, and people are smarter now. It will never happen again." But that is simply not true. This happened only about 60 years ago. The Germans were not uncivilized at all. WWI had imposed some really harsh things on the Germans, and Hitler came promising great things. It was easy for a people so discouraged to believe. Hitler had become their ray of hope, and frankly many of the Germans didn't know exactly what was happening. Everything that the Third Reich did was very secretive. I believe that we came out of this experience knowing that it could happen again, and that we must be mindful of who/what we believe. Just because someone makes great claims and promises doesn't mean that it will happen. And as long as our "ray of hope" is not in man but in Christ alone, we can make it through anything. The Bible speaks of men who will come and, with great speeches and great manipulation, will talk people out of their faiths. Hitler was one, but I believe that there will be a time when we are all tested. And I believe that God has His hands on us, and will give us grace to stand in that day.

I would really appreciate any comments on this post. I'd like to know what you think regarding this time, and perhaps the time that will come.

Thanks,
Beth

HELP!!

On April 30, we are going on a bit of an adventure. We're going to get in our car and drive through Switzerland to Italy. If anyone has been to these places, let us know!! We need to know some great places to visit/stay/eat. We are planning on staying in Rome for a 3-4 days, and we'll hopefully get to attend a Papal Mass. That's really the only thing we have planned that's concrete. I have an Italy travel guide, but I would like some input from people I know who have been there. Thanks so much!!

A White Easter?

This weekend the weather has been really bad. It's been cold, windy, and rainy. This morning, we woke up thinking the weather would be no different, but it was!! It was white!! We were having the Easter blizzard. Nevertheless, we decided to brave the weather and drive 45 minutes to our church for Easter service. (In South Carolina, even church would have been canceled due to the snow). Church was awesome. It was completely packed out. The first song they played was, "Oh, Happy Day" by Steve Fee, and it was in English (a double bonus). A good time was had by all.

The entire day, I've been thinking about what this day really means and how the Easter bunny come into the mix. This the day we commemorate Jesus' resurrection!! Not only did He die for my sins, He defied death by rising again. I would have loved to have seen the faces of the people to whom He appeared. Can you imaging seeing Him and thinking that it just can't be true? But then He shows you His hands, and you have no doubt that this is God in the flesh standing in front of you. Can you imagine His mother? She has seen her Son die such a brutal death, but then He goes to her and says, "Hey mom, Guess what? I'm Alive!!". I can imagine what the disciples thought? It had to have become crystal clear to them that He had told them all of this was going to happen, but they just didn't understand before. They must have felt so dumb, yet so happy at the same time.

Anyway, this has been a great day. I am so hoping that God will reveal Himself to lots of people today. My challenge to anyone who doesn't know Christ is to simply begin to search for Him. Ask Jesus to show you that He is God. It's really that simple. The Bible says that when we seek, we find, and I believe with all of my heart that He will reveal Himself to you if you only ask. That's what He did for me. Trust me, I am about as stubborn and hard-headed as they come, but He has shown Himself to me over and over again.

Happy Easter!!!

Eiffel Tower at Night

 

Wonderful Adventures

I haven't blogged in a few weeks. We've been all over the place. Our best friends from the States flew to Paris for a business trip, so we decided to make it both a business trip and a vacation. We took a fast train to Paris on March 5. They met us at the train station, and I cannot tell you how excited we were to see such familiar, loving faces!! We then took the subway to the hotel, and went to sleep.

The next day, on our first sightseeing day, Tiffany took us to the Notre Dame. It was breathtaking, inside and out. I even learned what a "flying buttress" is! As we were walking, we came across a movie or tv production on the streets of Paris. We waited for a little while to catch a glimpse of a movie star or something. No luck. We walked down the river for a few kilometers, just enjoying the Parisian lifestyle and culture. We made it to the Louvre, where we only toured the outside. It's the largest museum I've ever seen. In the middle of the courtyard is a giant glass pyramid that, when the suns shines at a certain angle, makes prisms on the ground. We walked down the huge garden in front of the Louvre. There we encountered all kinds of art, sculptures from the classical era and from the modern. It was an interesting conglomeration. We then made it to the Arc de Triomphe, a huge arch in the middle of a round-a-bout that serves as a WWI memorial. About 6 or 7 streets converge at this round-a-bout, and there are no lines on the road for lanes. You can imagine the chaos of driving in Paris. We then started walking towards the Eiffel Tower. It was mesmerizing. It's ten times larger than you think, really. I don't think a photo can really capture the enormity of the the structure at all. I took about two dozen pictures of it in all, but it's just something you have to see with your own eyes. We walked a bit more, and then took the subway back to the hotel. Our feet were so tired that we ordered room service for dinner. Kenny was still working at this point, so we decided not to go out and have too much fun without him.

The next morning we woke up, and had a breakfast of fresh croissants with butter and boiled eggs. It was yummy. Our journey on this particular day began with a subway ride to Montmartre. There is a huge basilica there called Sacré-Cœur. This place is interesting, because it's actually fairly modern. There is someone inside the church 24/7 praying for the sins of Paris. Several bombs actually hit this basilica during WWII, but no one was killed or hurt. The people here believe this is because of the faithful prayers. We walked inside where there is complete silence. No one is allowed to talk; to disrupt the prayers going on inside. This church is different from many of the other churches I've seen in France and Germany where the images are dark and gloomy and a little morbid. This church is full of light, depicting Christ as having great love for people. There's a huge structure of Christ in the front of the church, and rather than being on the cross, dying, He's bearing His heart in love for His people. It's really amazing. Once back outside, we could look out on all of Paris. Wonderful!! We then walked down the street to a little square where artists like Pablo Picasso, Renior, and Van Gogh painted. There were amazing pieces of artwork here, created by modern artists. Tiffany and I really wanted to buy one, but the price was a little too high. We continued on and saw Renoir's home. We passed a memorial of St. Denis, who was a martyred Christian bishop during the Roman era. He actually walked down this street to his execution. Interestingly, it was a pretty long walk, and the Roman soldiers got tired. They decided to behead him before he even got to the execution site. The story goes that St. Denis, after being beheaded, got up, picked up his own head, washed it off in a fountain, and walked the remaining 3 miles to the execution site, where he collapsed and died. We continued walking around the city. We passed Van Gogh's home, and then around the corner was the reason I wanted to come to Montmartre in the first place, The Moulin Rouge. The Moulin Rouge is my favorite movie of all time. I can sing and quote the entire thing. I often cry before anything happens, because I know what's about to happen. I'm a sap...i know.

The next thing on our list to see was the Louvre. We had already explored the outside. On this day, we were going to attempt to see a good portion of the inside. The first room we entered into was the ancient Roman room. Interestingly, the sculptures and other items looked very Egyptian. We saw the famous Venus de Milo and Winged Victory of Samothrace. We saw some famous paintings like the Marriage at Cana and the Mona Lisa. There was just so much. I can't even tell you all of it. We spent hours inside the Louvre, and we didn't even scratch the surface.

Later in the evening, we got all dressed up for our dinner cruise down the river. I don't think I've ever had so much fun. The food was great, but the friends and conversation were ten times better. We got to see many of the sights we'd seen only in daytime at night. At the top of every hour, the Eiffel Tower begins to sparkle for 15 minutes. It's really beautiful. It is true that Paris is the "City of Lights."

The next morning, we took one final small tour of the city, and then headed for the train station to head to Germany. Kenny and Tiffany spent about a week with us in Germany. We went to Neuschwanstein, saw the Austrian Alps, then snowboarded down them. We ate great Bayerish and Swabian food. We traveled to Munich, where we saw the Olympic stadium and the new BMW museum. We then drove to Dachau, Germany's first concentration camp, the camp that all the other camps were designed after. I am going to write about that in a separate blog. It just doesn't seem right to talk about it in this one. Plus, I am still processing some of the things I saw and read.

Kenny and Tiffany left yesterday, Friday, and we are so sad that they are gone. It was great to share such an amazing time with them. You can go and visit all of these cool places on your own, and you'll probably have a great time. But great friends make everything so much better. We love the Tuckers!!!

Check out all the photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/mrsehl.