Just got home from an eventful weekend in Hamburg, Germany with my Holocaust and Genocide class. It was a fun, interesting, and emotional weekend exploring the Jewish history of Hamburg and the experience during the Nazi regime. We explored the development of the German camp system during WWII, and were able to experience it first hand at Neuengamme concentraton camp. It was an eye opening and meaningful weekend, and I'm so glad I had this experience.
Thirty six of us boarded the bus early Saturday morning and began our 4 and a half hour trip to Hamburg. Our first stop was the Bullenhuser Damm School and the upbeat mood of the group quickly changed when we were told about the site. On April 20th, 1945, 20 Jewish children had been transported here from Neuengamme. These children had been previously used in 'medical experiments' conducted by the SS involving injections of tuberculosis to examine disease progression, as well as many other immoral and sickening tests. It was nearing the end of the war, and the Nazis decided it was necessary to kill the children in an effort to hide evidence of the experiments from the approaching Allied forces. Not one of the children was older than 12. If they had survived just another two weeks, they would have been saved by the allies. It was almost sickening to hear these stories while standing on the same ground that these killings took place. We walked through a rose garden that has been set aside as a memorial for the site. Inside the garden, there were plaques hanging up commemorarting each child that died there. Many were written by their parents who had survived the war. Pictures are below.
After an emotional afternoon, we departed for the hostel. Once we arrived and got settled in, we had a few hours to walk around and explore the city of Hamburg. We walked around the harbor, glanced in a few shops, and enjoyed the beautiful weather. The sun was actually shining! Something we haven't seen for a while in Copenhagen. It was really nice to just walk around and enjoy the warm weather before dinner. At around 6, we all met for dinner at a small German restaurant and each had a huge piece of steak, potatoes, veggies, bread, and then cherries and ice cream for dessert. It was delicious! And after dinner, we went out for a night on the town. We went out to an area called the Reeperbahn and the neighboring red light district, the center of Hamburg's nightlife. There were tons of clubs and bars up and down the main street. It was a fun night out with everyone!
The next day we woke up, ate breakfast at the hostel, and departed for the church of Nicolai Kirche. During WWII, Hamburg was a strategic port and became a prime target for bombings. As a result of these bombings, almost all of the buildings of that time disappeared, and the spire of this church was one of the only landmarks to survive. We took an elevator up to the top (SO high up) and were able to see the entire city of Hamburg, it was beautiful.
After the church tour, we went out for a brunch with the class, and then boarded the bus for Neuengamme. This camp was used by the Nazis as a forced labor camp from 1938 to 1945 when it was finally liberated by British troops. It was used mainly for suspected German war criminals as well as a Correction Center for criminals, but only held 80 Jews at one point that were then sent to extermination camps. However, the camp held 106,000 men, and had a 50% mortality rate due to the intense working conditions. The SS established this as a subcamp of Sachsenhausen concentration camp, and it was located on the grounds of an abandoned brickworks factory. It was a very eerie feeling walking around a concentration camp where the primary purpose was to work the prisoners to death. It's hard to describe the feelings and thoughts that go through your head while experiencing something as saddening and eye-opening as this. Here are some pictures and stories that go along with them.
This is a picture of the camp just as we walked in. The rows of rocks/bricks represent where the barracks once stood. Each and every brick used for the display was made by the prisoners at the camp.
This is a picture of the bunker which served as an internal prison at Neuengamme. This is where the SS would put men who knew too much, or for those who they simply did not like. 8-10 men were jammed into one cell (you can see them marked off by cement rows) and left over night.
These are pictures of the crematorium, or what's left of it.
These are the trains and tracks that the prisoners would arrive to camp in. In the second picture, the cement slab on the left is a representation of the amount of space provided in one train car, where 80 prisoners were forced to squeeze into. The trips to the camp lasted days, and they were provided with one bucket of water, and one bucket for waste.
This is the canal that was dug entirely by the prisoners. It allowed for the transport of the bricks made at the camp to other locations. The canal went on forever, it's insane to think that men were forced to dig this whole thing out during their 12 hour work days, with SS men lined up all around them with guns, ready to shoot if anyone stepped out of line.
We also walked around the museum of the camp and saw many pictures and heard many stories of survivors. The first picture is one exhibit that showed the beds used at the camp. Below, shows the thousands of index cards of each prisoner, listing their professions and work commandos that they were assigned to at the camp.
After walking through the museum for a few hours, the trip was over and we headed back to the bus, almost in complete silence. It was difficult for me to imagine the extent of what happened there; it just doesn't seem real. It's hard to explain in words the profound affect that this camp had on me. It was truly an eye-opening experience, one that I'll never forget.
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