- Introduction
- The Camp
- Memorial
- Brandenburg Gate/Check Point Charlie
- The City
After docking in Warnemunde and boarding a train for our day's adventure, very early in the morning, we had a 2 1/2 hr train ride through the countryside of northern Germany. After switching to a bus there was another 1/2 hour ride to the site of the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp. Fortunately the guide was excellent - very knowledgeable and articulate - and no notes. He explained and showed what life was like for the inmates - not a pretty site.
See 'The Camp' tab above.
Then it was on to Berlin for the afternoon - our guide stayed with us and we visited the Brandenburg Gate, the Berlin Wall, Checkpoint Charlie, the Reichstag Parliament (where Angela Merkel has her offices - I think she is now the most powerful and influential leader in Europe and maybe even the world) and the Holocaust Memorial and a few other things. Then a 3 hr train ride back to the port.
We were informed that Berlin currently has 100,000 construction projects underway. There has been massive reconstruction, especially on the Eastern side, since the fall of the Wall in 1989. The Wall had stood since August 13, 1961.
In all, we were away from the ship for about 13 hours. There were many other tours to Berlin that day and we were the last group to board the train for our return trip. In fact we had a whole train chartered just for the tours from the Eurodam. Because of our late arrival back at the ship, departure time had to be delayed. As soon as the last person had their feet on board, the ship cast off and we were on our way.
A Model of the Concentration Camp 1944/45
This bronze relief model was located at the visitors centre.
Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp was set up as a work camp, manufacturing many products, some for war and some for civilian consumption. Although it did not start out as a death camp per se, many inmates were starved and worked to death, murdered and cremated on site. The area of the camp was approximately 9 square miles.
...And I know one thing more - that the Europe of the future cannot exist without commemorating all those, regardless of their nationality, who were killed at that time with complete contempt and hate, who were tortured to death, starved, gassed, incinerated and hanged...
Andrzej Szczypiorski
Prisoner of the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp, 1995
The camp system was designed to deal with all different ethnic groups; any people who were not straight white Aryan. In some cases the authorities had to deal with some of their own who did not follow the party line and were considered enemies of the regime - sometimes Germans who were leaders of the resistance groups. The latter two groups received particularly harsh treatment.
One suggestion from the guide was that the movies:
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Schindler's List (1993) - was quite an accurate portrait of life in the camps, and
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The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (2008)- is a good primer for young people - it is a story they can relate to.
There were many harsh realities that were totally new to us.
For example:
The staff of the camps had no problem doing what was required (what we consider atrocities) to maintain the discipline as required by the Third Reich. They either volunteered for, or willingly accepted, the assignment to work at the camp.
Just as depicted in the movie "The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas", the staff lived in a part of the camp set up for them and their families. They had all of the living comforts of a small village (schools, theatre, etc).
Crematorium Memorial
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IN MEMORY OF THE VICTIMS OF SACHSENHAUSEN CONCENTRATION CAMP 1936-1945
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STRUCK DEADHUSHED UPTHEHOMOSEXUALVICTIMSOFNATIONAL SOCIALISM |
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| The plaque memorializing the homosexual victims of the camp | |||
If you would like to know more about the camp click here.
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This memorial consists of 2,700 coffin-sized concrete blocks of varying height...four inches to 8 - 10 feet. No verbiage or inscriptions...you meander through and take away your own thoughts as to what it signifies. |
The Berlin Wall |
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The German government is doing a marvellous job of preserving the sites of atrocities and erecting memorials to the victims of the Holocaust. They see this period in their history as a time that should never be forgotten...or denied. |
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Brandenburg Gate |
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One of the plaques on the inside of the gate |
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Check Point Charlie |
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The historic preserved among the new |
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The Reichstag |
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Angela Merkel has her office here. |
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In background - Television Tower - At the base of that tower is the World Time Clock |
The Victory Column |