One of the most moving and memorable parts of our “Around the World” trip so far has been a visit to the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp outside of Berlin. Evidence of the war and its outcome, a divided Berlin, is everywhere. Wanting to better understand the events in Berlin during this time and pay our respects to those who suffered and lost their lives during the holocaust, we decided to visit the Sachsenhausen Memorial and Concentration Camp.
The Sachsenhausen Camp is located on the outskirts of Oranienburg, a small town about 50 minutes from Berlin. This camp was primarily a labor camp and political prison from 1935-1945. Our guide told us that this was the “model” concentration camp – the standard from which other camps would be built. We were told that Sachsenhausen was intended to illicit feeling of complete Nazi dominance on those interned within it’s walls.
Sachsenhausen was used as an example concentration camp for journalist tours and the Nazi propaganda machine. Our guide mentioned that many reports early on depicted the camp as quite pleasant; however, once fully immersed in the holocaust, the Nazi Party didn’t feel it necessary to keep up the image. The prisoners at the camp worked long days in the nearby manufacturing plants including a brickworks factory noted for its high mortality rates. Interestingly, this concentration camp is known to be home for the largest counterfeiting operation ever which produced fake American and British currency as part of a plan to undermine these economies. This plan was never completed.
Even though there are only two barracks still standing in addition to a guard tower, it’s pretty easy to to get an understanding of the camp’s layout. Our guide mentioned that the barracks often housed upwards of 250 prisoners with only 8 toilets and two washing troughs with cold water. As a result, frostbite, disease and infection were prevalent throughout the camp.
Survivor accounts have painted a gruesome depiction of both the horrific conditions within the camp and the prevalence of prisoner abuse. Abuse from the guards was a part of the daily life in the camp which included brutal beatings, torture and murder. We were surprised to learn that infighting amongst prisoners was also regular due to a hierarchy that developed based on alleged “crimes”.
The collective misery of thousands can easily be dismissed, yet the lives of the people we have read about when visiting various holocaust sites in Berlin and a visit to this actual site of such an atrocity makes for a surreal and confronting experience. Visiting a mass grave like the one present at Sachsenhausen removes any hint of doubt from our minds that we are reading a fictional story and puts the reality of the situation into a very non-fiction context.
