January 11th - Last day in Germany

For the last day in Germany the group went to the Dachau Concentration Camp. There was a 20 minute train ride from Munich to the town where the concentration camp is located. In 1965, the concentration camp was turned into a memorial site by surviving prisoners and their families members. I think that having people with personal connections to the site being the people who turned it into a memorial site allows for an authenticity to the site. I also think that there is some peace of mind in knowing that the way you are learning about these horrific events is the way that the survivors wanted it to be known. Overall this memorial was very hard to visit because of all the tragedies that have happened on the site. When I went through the dormitories it was very jarring to see the conditions these people were living in. I also found it very hard to go into and read about the crematorium. The way that mass people were put to death and lied to by telling them that they were going into showers is a tragedy. Overall, I think the experience was very valuable because knowing the history will hopefully prevent events like these from every happening again.