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Dachau

No catchy title today. It was too somber of a day for that. Also, to my 2 readers (hi Mom and Coralee), I'm afraid today's post is going to be a bit of a downer with not a lot of pictures of the kids (which we all know is the main reason to get on here).

We let everyone sleep in as late as they needed today, which turned out to be until 11:30 am. We are certainly still catching up on sleep and adjusting to yet another timezone. We didn't have any food in the house so we went into the little town of Starnberg here and found a bakery. The couple was very nice. We asked if they had anything dairy free for Ammon and they said no, they aren't used to tourists in this area. haha. The sweet lady said she would bake us something special though if we wanted to order it. The kids and I partook in some pastries and the baker found some meringues for Ammon. Since we slept in so late we hurried back to the other side of Munich to Dachau.


I had visited Dachau 20 years ago when I did a Eurail trip through Europe with some girlfriends. The main thing I remember from that trip is this sculpture.

We spent a few hours going through the museum. They have tons of information and stories. I won't share most of those here, but I am sure you can imagine. Dachau became the example for other concentration camps. Treatment of those here was brutal and evil. The conditions were horrific and barbaric. They experimented on the prisoners killing most of the test subjects. At first only men were brought, but eventually women were also held here and were treated even more brutally than the men. The whole thing is truly difficult to comprehend.








After the camp was liberated the American's set up here using the facility to imprison those in the Nazi regime who were being charged with war crimes. Eventually survivors insisted that Dachau be turned into a monument for those who suffered and died there. 



The crematorium was also the place where people were told they would be getting showers, but instead were gassed to death in large mass murders.


Toward the back of the camp several churches have set up chapels and other sacred spaces to honor those who lost their lives in Dachau or were sent on to extermination camps to be killed.






I'm not sure how much the kids got out of it. Cormac was hangry and wanted to leave. Azure has read some historical fiction from this timeframe. She has also started reading "Alicia: My Story" which is a true story of a Jewish woman who survived Nazi Germany. Lucette was trying to understand, but I don't know how much she does. Something like this is so far removed from the way our kids have experienced the world that it is difficult to comprehend and for that I am extremely grateful. 

The place carries a certain energy that can be felt by everyone. It is heavy. Everyone who was there spoke in soft whispers or not at all. That was the same experience I had 20 years ago. It is not a place that you feel comfortable speaking jovial in or even conversing much. It deserves more reverence than that. I hope it is a feeling the kids remember as they continue to learn history and to shape the future.

After we had toured the facility we had some lunch then headed to Aldi to grocery shop. Germany feels a lot more like the Europe I remember than Sao Miguel did. We all felt Sao Miguel reminded us a lot of Central America. 

Now we are back at our Air BnB so we can work and hopefully get a decent bedtime in tonight. Well, for those not working at least. Here is Ammon's current setup:



Our place has plants everywhere. Some of them are quite huge. I love all the green and all the plants. I wish I was good with plants. I also wished I lived somewhere this green! 

Lastly, if you made it this far, I made the kids take a selfie so we could have something happy to put on the blog for today.




Comments

  1. Mark DahlJune 16, 2024 at 9:17 PM

    I made these comments on my phone but apparently they didn't work. I am thankful to be an American and that our country helped stop Hitler. And I wanted to tell Azure that Grandpa and I are also reading Alicia: My Story. It is a good book, but kind of difficult for your age, Azure. You must be a good reader. Love all the info.

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