Wednesday started off with a serious note before
ending on a fun one. We took a train from Munich to Dachau, a small town 45
minutes outside of Munich. This is where
the first concentration camp intended for labor was established by the Nazis.
The gate that lead to the camp read “Work makes you free” in German and that
was a sick motto since work killed the people who were held captive in
concentration camps. As I saw the crematoriums, gas chambers, and cells that
Jewish, Slavic, and political prisoners were held in, it struck me how many of
my friends, colleagues, and teachers could have suffered the same horrid fate.
The hardest part for me was walking through the woodlands in specific parts of
the camp where the ashes of Jews were buried as well as many others who were
discarded underneath the camp. There were huge barbed wire fences surrounding
Dachau and the Nazis would electrify prisoners if they would try to escape. All
in all we only saw about 20 % of the entire camp since that had been the only
portion historical preserved, but I must say that portion itself was humongous.
After returning to Munich, we ate lunch at the
Munich train station, a huge mall-like structure with hundreds of trains
(almost 1200 according to our guide) arriving and departing daily. I had the
privilege to watch President Obama with German Chancellor Angela Merkel giving
speeches at the Brandenburg gate in Berlin while eating my lunch.
Afterwards we started walking around Munich and
seeing some more of the fascinating architectural buildings kept to this day. We
arrived at the English Gardens, Munich’s “Central Park.” We discovered a number of quick-moving
tributaries of the Isar River running through the park. Many teenagers were jumping in and enjoying
the cold river water and the fast current that kept the water going. I joined
them so I could feel the coolness and fast-moving current of the water. It was
rather exhilarating! On that fun note we had dinner at one of the Beer Halls in
Munich, and then took a taxi back to our hotel.
- Arman
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