Sachsenhausen

A mass gravesite at Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp - the memorial to the Soviet liberators created by the GDR stands in the background.

Hello, this is Dan. Jordan asked me to blog today. You can tell it is me by the capital letters and the many misspellings. I am not sure that just because I am Jewish that my experience visiting a concentration camp is any more valid or significant then Jordan's but she has been such a faithful recorder of our time here that I am willing jump in and help out when something really moves me.

Sachsenhausen was a work camp located about 35 km north of Berlin. It served as one of the first concentration camps, built by prisoners in the late 30s. While many were killed here, it was not one of the major death camps utilized in the mass Nazi extermination projects. After WWII the Soviets ran the camp as a prison until 1950. From 1961 on the GDR left the property as a memorial to the political prisoners of the Holocaust.

The first thing that strikes me about Sachsenhausen is that it is actually kind of beautiful in a strange way. We have just entered the main gate and are standing inside the exterior wall, but outside of the gates to the prison area. To the left is the Commandant's residence and a very large stand of fir tress. Amongst the tress are a number of memorials left to various victims of the camp or groups of victims. With the sun streaming through the trees and landing on the memorials, some of which feel more like art sculptures then headstones, the place seems as much like a park as anything else.

I change my mind about the beauty of the place as soon as we approach the entrance to prisoner's camp and see the words, "Arbeit Macht Frei", molded into the gate. Knowing that no one was ever set free from Sachsenhausen during Nazi rule makes the idea that "Work Makes You Free" somewhat chilling. As if on cue, the sun has disappeared behind some clouds and the wind has picked up.

Through the gates lies the massive semi-circular roll-call area. Beyond this, the grounds are mostly desolate, save a few buildings that still stand on the property: the kitchen, a few of the barracks, and a prison within the prison for the housing of particularly objectionable detainees. Throughout the vast empty spaces there are large numbered concrete stones marking the location of buildings that were once densely packed into the grounds. They look like gravestones to me, perhaps because of the many small rocks visitors have placed on top them.

Jordan and I wander the grounds viewing the various exhibits, reading the stories of the many people who passed through the camp. Intermixed with the exhibits and memorials one might expect are a number of memorials created by the GDR. There is a large obelisk with statue in front of it depicting Soviet soldiers liberating their Communist brothers. All of the Soviet memorials depict only political prisoners - there is little if any reference to the thousands of Jew, Gypsies and Homosexuals who lived, worked and died here. This bothers me more then I would have expected it too. I am further disturbed to read that all the statues of prisoners being liberated have been changed so that none of the Communists are shown as being emancipated. It is reminds me that no matter what government is in power, propaganda and spin are ever present.

While Sachsenhausen was never one of the major death camps, many people were murdered here using a "neck-shot" system and they did have small-scale gas chambers and crematoriums. These have been destroyed, but much of the equipment remains on the site and a memorial has been built around it.

As I read about the prisoners, I am struck by two recurring thoughts. How can something like this have happened? I have read and heard about the Holocaust for as long as I can remember; yet it only feels real to me for the first time while standing on the site of the atrocity. I am also struck by a bazaar sense of understanding for the work the Nazi's felt they were doing. Many of the exhibits show how the killing and the work was made more efficient over the years - how they effectively reduced effort and time for each death. Mostly I am struck by how the principles are similar to what I do for a living. I spend a lot of time looking at processes and data and trying to figure out how to build website features faster or with greater quality (in Germany no-less!). I remind myself that my work does not get people killed or even hurt - but I am still disturbed by the fact that I can see the similarity.

By the time we hit the last of the indoor exhibits it is starting to rain outside and I am exhausted. I have spent the last 4 hours mentally putting myself in the place of prisoners, guards, neighbors of the camp, and even people living abroad during this time. I am emotionally spent and feeling a touch guilty for how easy my life has been. It also strikes me just how significant it is that I, as a Jew (albeit one that has not really practiced in a number of years) have chosen to accept a work assignment in Germany. It really was not that long ago.

On the way home, the sun pops out again and we get a nice rainbow off the side of the highway. With a little distance from the site, I can see that perhaps it really was a while ago. I have yet to meet an openly anti-Semitic German. My co-workers go out of their way to openly discuss German history with me express their own concern and confusion over their past. At times, I fell like I, as an American in this day and age, should be just as confused and concerned about my own country's actions and my own complacency. While the circumstances may be different and the crimes less dramatic, I have a somewhat greater understanding of just how easy it is to put on the blinders and go through your everyday life. It is not a very uplifting thought, but perhaps an important one for me to acknowledge.