December 31st 2008. Four years ago today. I was on my first major trip outside of the United States spending 14 days traveling around Europe on a bus with 54 people who started out as strangers and by the end of the trip became friends. For most of the people on the trip, we were there in Europe to have fun and see the sights, but none of us had any clue that December 31st 2008 would leave a major impact on each of our lives.
It was early in the morning and our tour group was leaving Munich after a late night of enjoying the famous Bavarian culture. We thought we were heading straight to Innsbruck, Austria where we were planning on enjoying the local new years eve festivities and fireworks. Our tour guide had a different plan for how we would spend our time on the final day of the year. Shortly after leaving Munich, our tour guide told us that we were making a stop outside of the city to visit Dachau Concentration Camp. For those of you who don't know, Dachau is located 10 miles from Munich and was the first concentration camp established by the Nazi Party. Dachau was created to be a camp for political prisoners and served as the prototype for all other concentration camps that were established. In total, Dachau became the home for 200,000 prisoners. Of the 200,000 two-thirds were political prisoners and one third were Jewish. This concentration camp was mainly used as a work camp, but over 35,000 people are thought to have died at Dachau from either disease, malnutrition, or other causes.
At first I wasn't sure how to feel and based on the reactions of most of my tour mates, everyone was struggling trying to determine how they felt about this unplanned stop. For some, the reality of where we were going didn't seem to hit them and they probably felt as though this was a stop getting in the way of their new years party. Others on the bus were hit hard as they had family who at one point had been held in concentration camps and they were not sure if they would be able to go to a place that would bring up so many feelings and hit close to home. I made the decision to go into Dachau and use my time there to reflect and remember. To remember those who had lost their lives both in Dachau and in other concentration camps around Europe and to reflect on my own life and the things I had accomplished that many of the people forced to live, and in numerous cases die, in these camps never had the opportunity to do.
I walked around the camp silently. For me, even though horrible things happened where I walked, it was still a hallowed place- a place where people had died and still to this day needed to be respected and remembered. I took my time walking around the camp, trying to understand how these places could have been created and how it managed to take so long to liberate the camps and the people in them. You can't fully understand what a place like this is or how you feel when you are there, until you actually go yourself. Until you see the barracks where prisoners and innocent Jewish people were forced to live. Until you stare inside the crematorium and realize the horrible things that happened. We see pictures and read stories in textbooks, but what we see and what we read are nothing compared to walking on the same ground that people died on years before.
Going to a concentration camp isn't the way that I would recommend you spending the last day of 2012, but what I would say is that having that experience made me realize several things. First, in order for history not to repeat itself we have to remember, and remember often. Second, we have to stand up for injustice both at home and abroad. I would also say that it should not just be the injustice that leads to genocide, but rather all forms of injustice so that one population, part of society, or person is not mistreating another. This can be something as small as bullying, but we need to stand up and say something more often than we do. Third, we need to care about one another more. Too often we focus on ourselves and what we are getting in our lives. Rather, I urge us to think more globally. To think about how we can help each other, support one another, and become a better society by taking the time to get to know one another. Fourth, we need to be constantly reflecting on our own lives. Most of the time we wait until the last day of the year to look back at all the great and all the bad things that have happened to us. Instead of waiting until the last day of the year, we need to be constantly reflecting and using that reflection to move forward and make ourselves better. Even when life is hard, and even if overall you feel as though you have had a terrible year; you are blessed; you have great things in your life; and you didn't spend time in a concentration camp like the prisoners in Dachau.
Our experiences shape us and make us who we are. For me, spending the last day of 2008 at Dachau touched my life in more ways than I understand or that I can explain. And now, on the last day of 2012, I'm taking time to remember and reflect. I hope that you do the same.
It was early in the morning and our tour group was leaving Munich after a late night of enjoying the famous Bavarian culture. We thought we were heading straight to Innsbruck, Austria where we were planning on enjoying the local new years eve festivities and fireworks. Our tour guide had a different plan for how we would spend our time on the final day of the year. Shortly after leaving Munich, our tour guide told us that we were making a stop outside of the city to visit Dachau Concentration Camp. For those of you who don't know, Dachau is located 10 miles from Munich and was the first concentration camp established by the Nazi Party. Dachau was created to be a camp for political prisoners and served as the prototype for all other concentration camps that were established. In total, Dachau became the home for 200,000 prisoners. Of the 200,000 two-thirds were political prisoners and one third were Jewish. This concentration camp was mainly used as a work camp, but over 35,000 people are thought to have died at Dachau from either disease, malnutrition, or other causes.
At first I wasn't sure how to feel and based on the reactions of most of my tour mates, everyone was struggling trying to determine how they felt about this unplanned stop. For some, the reality of where we were going didn't seem to hit them and they probably felt as though this was a stop getting in the way of their new years party. Others on the bus were hit hard as they had family who at one point had been held in concentration camps and they were not sure if they would be able to go to a place that would bring up so many feelings and hit close to home. I made the decision to go into Dachau and use my time there to reflect and remember. To remember those who had lost their lives both in Dachau and in other concentration camps around Europe and to reflect on my own life and the things I had accomplished that many of the people forced to live, and in numerous cases die, in these camps never had the opportunity to do.
I walked around the camp silently. For me, even though horrible things happened where I walked, it was still a hallowed place- a place where people had died and still to this day needed to be respected and remembered. I took my time walking around the camp, trying to understand how these places could have been created and how it managed to take so long to liberate the camps and the people in them. You can't fully understand what a place like this is or how you feel when you are there, until you actually go yourself. Until you see the barracks where prisoners and innocent Jewish people were forced to live. Until you stare inside the crematorium and realize the horrible things that happened. We see pictures and read stories in textbooks, but what we see and what we read are nothing compared to walking on the same ground that people died on years before.
Going to a concentration camp isn't the way that I would recommend you spending the last day of 2012, but what I would say is that having that experience made me realize several things. First, in order for history not to repeat itself we have to remember, and remember often. Second, we have to stand up for injustice both at home and abroad. I would also say that it should not just be the injustice that leads to genocide, but rather all forms of injustice so that one population, part of society, or person is not mistreating another. This can be something as small as bullying, but we need to stand up and say something more often than we do. Third, we need to care about one another more. Too often we focus on ourselves and what we are getting in our lives. Rather, I urge us to think more globally. To think about how we can help each other, support one another, and become a better society by taking the time to get to know one another. Fourth, we need to be constantly reflecting on our own lives. Most of the time we wait until the last day of the year to look back at all the great and all the bad things that have happened to us. Instead of waiting until the last day of the year, we need to be constantly reflecting and using that reflection to move forward and make ourselves better. Even when life is hard, and even if overall you feel as though you have had a terrible year; you are blessed; you have great things in your life; and you didn't spend time in a concentration camp like the prisoners in Dachau.
Our experiences shape us and make us who we are. For me, spending the last day of 2008 at Dachau touched my life in more ways than I understand or that I can explain. And now, on the last day of 2012, I'm taking time to remember and reflect. I hope that you do the same.
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