Planning a visit to Berlin? Do you have some desire to expand your knowledge concerning history and think about the actions during world war II? But one tour can definitely not be missed and that is when you visit Sachsenhausen, which is just outside Berlin and is a memorial site of a concentration camp. This article follows a recent trip I took and in this blog post, I will guide you through the tour, sharing some information, advice, and useful tips.
Overview of Sacshsenhausen Concentration Camp
Sachsenhausen was one of the most important concentration camps during the reign of nazis. It was founded in 1936 and at first intended to become a purely propagandistic camp meant for presentation of the German Lebensraum to the Nazi agitators and ideally natured Poles; however, it turned into a death camp in the process of several months. Nowadays, Sachsenhausen is a museum and a center of one sort focusing on the education of the people about the Holocaust and on people paying their respect to the victims.
Sachsenhausen Tour: What You Will Encounter
Sachsenhausen tour is particularly a heart touching and informative tour, which help to give you an idea of how terrible it used to be in the past. Here is what you can expect during your visit:
1. Guided Tour
Once you reach the camp, guided tour is most likely available and for sure recommended. It is very wise to select this spot, as a guide that is equipped with rich knowledge of the history of the district will be able to tell interesting stories, answer questions and help to not overlook any interesting details.
2. Memorial Sites
While in Sachsenhausen men, you are able to visit so many memorials all within the region of Sachsenhausen. These include for example entrance gate with the inscription Arbeit macht frei, the roll call square, the barracks and different buildings designated to the exhibition. Each site will show you different realities of prisoners’ lives and their suffering.
3. Barracks and Camp Conditions
Went exploring through the barracks is quite an eerie thing to do. It was in these small huts that prisoners were locked and confined in equally poor conditions most of the time. Some of the barracks are newly built to mimic the original setting where prisoners lived and some exhibit information about the prisoners’ lives and legends, realia, etc.
4. Former concentration camp of Terezin, Colosseum, Appellplatz and Watchtowers.
This was the roll call square or Appellsplatz where prisoners were paraded for count and formation, usually in extreme weather. There were some watchtowers in the square and every guard had full supervision over the prisoners. Being at these places can help a person feel the full pressure of history.
5. The Crematorium
The crematorium part of the tour is considered one of the more shocking experiences to any visitor. Seeing the ovens and the place where people were put before burning is shocking because it helps to understand what went on in the camp.
Suggestions of Things that You may be Interested In As You Visit Sachsenhausen
When planning your trip to Sachsenhausen, it’s important to keep a few tips in mind:
It should be allowed for you to devote considerable time to the visit. To get the best of the memorial site, it is advised that anyone should spend anything less than half a day on site.
Wear comfortable shoes as a large part of the tour is concerned with a physical exploration of the city.
Make sure to wear some shoes that you’d be comfortable with walking because there would be a lot of walking.
Do not run amok or engage in loud and politically incorrect activities at the given memorial site.
It is suggested you bring some water and some food with you as there are no restaurants or cafes there.
Conclusion
Touring Sachsenhausen can of course be an emotionally draining but nonetheless it is relevant. When the participants visits the site, researching about the camp and offering respect to the victims, we make certain that its horrific teachings are not overlooked. Remember that coming to visit, the visitor sees what happened in Sachsenhausen not only as a result of learning about the Holocaust but also as a call to strive not to repeat the mistake.
Additional Resources:
If you are interested in further reading about the topic, here are some recommended resources:
Sachsenhausen Tour Website
Looking at Berlin and traveling through Auschwitz Concentration Camp
German concentration camps you can visit
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