The claustrophobia. The crematory. The gas chamber. I’ve heard about and seen these images almost my entire life, but now I was actually at one of the sites where hopes and lives of thousands were lost: the concentration camp at Dachau.
World War II is not a foreign subject to me. I grew up with a strong Jewish upbringing and attended a parochial school where the Holocaust was a core aspect of the curriculum. But books and history lessons weren’t enough to prepare me when I came face-to-face with terror: a cage where people like me were held captive just for being themselves.
The camp was essentially a factory: its product corpses. Whenever I visualise the word ‘depressing’ I won’t be able to shake Dachau from my mind. It was a massive slice of land with gravel for footpaths and dull, grey buildings. The landscape was designed to break the human spirit.
This was where the ‘undesirables’ were sent: Jews, gypsies, homosexuals, members of opposing political parties, the disabled, Jehovah’s Witnesses or anyone else who didn’t fit into the Aryan race. Hitler’s criteria for what a ‘good’ person should be was unattainable.
And Dachau isn’t the only reminder of Germany’s ugly past. Prior to visiting the concentration camp, I went on a tour of Hitler’s Munich – key places where he and his followers worked on their agenda. Many buildings still had remnants of the eagle plaque, and while the swastikas had been removed, its image could not be erased from my mind.
At one time there was a Nazi memorial on the side of a building near a high-traffic area. Every time someone passed it they had to give the Hitler salute or they would be stopped and threatened by the Gestapo. In order to avoid giving the salute, people walked through what later became known as ‘Dodger’s Alley’. Today, some of the bricks in the pavement are gold in memorial of those who showed resistance to the Nazi regime.
Not all cities are so obvious about their discrimination. But history lingers. It’s not just the architecture that still stands out – stereotypes and bigotry may remain even if much time has passed.
In the US we may have a black president, but the ugly days of segregation still leave their mark. The fact that we even had to question if the US was “ready for a black president” or if Barack Obama is “actually black” proves that people’s mindsets have barely progressed.
We can’t forget history, otherwise we will repeat the same mistakes. During the Holocaust, the ‘undesirables’ became scapegoats for Germany’s loss in World War I and their economy’s depression. Now 66 years later, a similar sentiment has arisen in Ireland, where migrants are being blamed for the recession, which has caused an increase in subtle and even outright racism and discrimination. In the US, too, illegal immigrants have been accused of ‘stealing jobs’ from American citizens.
Disturbing historical sites or dark tourist attractions such as Dachau must continue to stand to remind people that such discriminatory thoughts can lead to deathly actions. Thankfully, discrimination tends not to be as visible or tangible as a concentration camp, but it still exists, and if no one speaks out we are allowing it to happen. No one in the town of Dachau investigated or questioned what was happening in their city, and then an atrocity took place.
After this life-changing trip, I’m reminded that I should never tolerate any form of discrimination, whether it is as minor as a so-called joke or as extreme as a threat of physical violence. I hope you join me in this commitment.
