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“Arbeit Macht Frei”. Every single person that had the misfortune of being sent to the Dachau concentration camp read these three words as they walked under the arched gate onto the premises and felt a sense of false hope. Those three words, I found out, translated into “Work Sets You Free”. At first I thought my trip to the Dachau concentration camp would be another boring walk through a museum that my parents dragged me to, but in actuality, once I broke away from my pre-conceived classroom thoughts of a concentration camp and realized the reality in front of me, it changed my life forever.
When I first observed the camp, it was everything I was expecting: barbed wire fences, guard towers, barracks for the prisoners, etc. The whole camp seemed like the set of a World War II Hollywood movie, perfectly preserved in time. When I first set foot in the museum and saw the chilling photos that are almost too explicit to describe, it brought me back 70 years and really put me in the correct setting to be able to appreciate the visit. Walking through the camp and imagining the terror that took place on the very soil I was standing on helped me realize that I have been sheltered all my life. It never crossed my mind that people feel no remorse for the pain and sorrow of others, but after hearing stories of guards killing prisoners just because they were not wearing their hat at roll call every morning shattered that virgin thought. The very mistake of losing your hat, or even the misfortune of looking at a guard the wrong way could cost you your precious life. It never crossed my mind that to some people a human life is expendable.
Not only was it a humbling experience, realizing that most of what I originally thought my whole life was mistaken, the Dachau memorial really put a damper on my German pride. My trip to Germany was for all six of my family members to find our roots and bask in the German culture of drinking Dunkel Bier and eating big soft pretzels, not once thinking about being responsible for the largest human genocide in history. It was kind of hard to accept the fact that my ancestors probably took part in the heinous acts of the Nazi party, but it is an undeniable part of history that can’t be erased or re-done. It was only a very short 70 years ago that such acts were being committed and the residents of Dachau still feel ashamed for what has been done.
Although my visit to Dachau was a very sobering experience, this moment was not in any way a low point in my life, but rather a turning point that everyone should experience. This experience for me was a transition from my sheltered bubble of Oakdale, NY, to a much greater understanding for the world. I’ve learned to open my mind to that boring museum and appreciate the past, because you never know when that moment in your life might be right in front of you.
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