So I made us walk a bit faster on the trek to the train station today so we could get our heart rates up and burn more calories. While we only logged 8.2 miles today, emotionally, it was not an easy day. We estarted off the day, innocently enough, back in Marienplatza so Erin could see the Glockenspiel come to life at 11 a.m. As soon as the knights were done banging their swords and the drinkers were done dancing their jigs, we headed to Dachau.
I don’t know why, but I have always been fascinated by the Holocaust. I think I’m going to blame this morbid fascination on Fr. Kevin. He did an amazing job with all of us in Anne Frank. It wasn’t just a play. We learned so much about World War II and the Holocaust. Being involved in that show was like being in a history class and seeing firsthand what life was like for the Jews.
Since then, I’ve read many books about the Holocaust. (My favorites are Night and The Book Thief right now…also loved The Boy Who Wore Striped Pajamas.) I’ve been to the Holocaust museum in D.C. a handful of times and helped with the sophomore retreat at Seton, which focuses on the Holocaust. I thought I was prepared emotionally and historically to go to a place like Dachau. I learned an important lesson: nothing can prepare you for that.
The instant I stepped onto the concentration camp, a song that I sang on a silent retreat at SLU came back to me. “This is holy ground, we’re standing here on holy ground, for the Lord is here, and where he is is holy…”. That song stuck with me on every step I took. I couldn’t stop thinking this: someone died here. Someone who stood here died over there. I can’t even fathom how many people were compacted into that tiny place. It was maybe as long as the block from Lindell Towers to Cornado at Spring by SLU. Just amazing to me.
Having been through the Holocaust Museum in D.C., much of the actual museum at Dachau was old information. Still, I kept walking through the building, looked into every room, looked longingly out the barred windows, imagined the freedom that these men and women so desperately longed for. It’s so hard to imagine a country so beautiful being the catalyst for and home of such a destructive time in the world’s history.
I took a lot of pictures there…about 200. One of my favorites is the top right picture. This was taken from a room in the prison on the camp. The prisoners…probably those who were the first to be killed in the crematorium had that view, and just over that wall is freedom. (I realize it wasn’t complete freedom, as people would be out to put them right back into Dachau, but still. You get the gist. Just outside those walls was a different life. It was so close.)
So much is still spinning through my head about Dachau. I don’t think I’ll ever forget that experience. It definitely touched my heart, and it saddens me that even today we still have many of our own Holocausts to deal with. As human beings, we still haven’t learned the simple lesson that no one’s life is worth more than another’s and we should all just love one another. It breaks my heart to be part of a humanity that is so judgmental. I also felt so bad for the people of Dachau. Dachau isn’t just a concentration camp, but all people think of when they hear that word is the evil that took place there. How hard it must be to overcome that.
So, what did Erin and I decide to do after an overwhelming afternoon at Dachau? We went and had Mexican in Garmisch. I know it sounds weird to be in Germany and head for Mexican food, but Erin can eat Mexican food and drink their margaritas. (Side note: the frozen strawberry margaritas were delicious, and as you can see from the above picture, they served it with a marshmallow and a piece of candy. So yummy! And I had fajitas that were amazing…especially so since there wasn’t a Mexican working in the building!)
We walked around Garmisch, plotted out the last of our souvenir shopping, and learned our away around the town…which is gorgeous. Tomorrow, we will go from the most horrendous living conditons in the world to some of the most beautiful living conditions in the world: the fairy-tale Neuschwanstein Castle.
I loved today, and I never want to forget it, but I’m very ready for a fairy tale tomorrow.
