I have just been to visit my daughter in Munich and on one of the days we all went to see Dachau concentration camp. We went in through the gate with the insignia “Arbeit macht frei” (work brings freedom) and into the courtyard. It was a cold, damp day and that courtyard made us think of the hundreds of prisoners who had had to stand there for hours in much worse weather conditions, weakened by hunger and much less warmly clothed than we were. We also thought of the executions and punishments undertaken there on the ground we were standing on.

We visited the barracks – how could SO MANY people have existed on what were nothing better than shelves? There was a prison block for special prisoners, as if the “normal” conditions weren’t enough! Here there were cells with not enough room for anyone to sit or lie down and no daylight.

We saw the high barbed wire fence with a ditch in front where apparently desperate prisoners threw themselves in order to be shot and have their sufferings ended.

Most moving for me were the Jewish memorial and the crematorium.

At the end of the tour there was a cinema where tourists could see some footage of scenes taken by the SS. There was complete silence from the audience! In the museum there was a map with all the concentration marked – I had no idea there were so many, all over Germany! We know the names like Ravensbruck, Buchenwald, Auschwitz etc but there were many others.

The whole memorial site was impressive in the way it was done and very moving – truly we must never forget!

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::02:: almost all of the survivors are gone now, I am SO glad for the thousands upon thousands of interviews done, the film footage, pictures and diaries saved. But even with all this, the world is forgetting, or doesn't care, the lies from the Holocaust deniers, the Arabs and the lunatics fringe are ignored or even celebrated. Mans inhumanity to man speaks no louder anywhere than this obscenity unleashed upon these people.
God forgive us.
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Dachau -

That's where Yod went with the prayer march.

Exactly! <<tmbup>>

I had the chance to go while I was in Germany, and I left with a profound sense that what happened was real. I'm glad for all the film and interviews as well. Sadly in many countries now the education system doesn't teach history -- they push a leftist agenda that has nothing to do with reality (in the US anyway).

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I am not sure I could bear to go and visit ::02:: ...so glad you did huggyem huggyem



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From just reading about this most of us have no idea of the reality. I didn't see any of these camps when I was younger and I have probably missed my chance now so the only thing I can do is pray sincerely that this really does never happen again.

However, by not teaching it in our schools today, and failing to learn from history in general, it probably will happen again. I can almost see it coming.

Ohhh I agree with you 100% bucks, I really can see this happening again.

I must say I was impressed by the way the Germans have faced up to their past and made this memorial. There was no glossing over. There was no charge (that would have just been wrong). There was a charge for the car park but that's diffferent. The facts were presented and it was accepted that this was a dark period of their history.

If you are interested, here is a recap of the March for Life that occurred last year:

http://www.tos.info/index.php?id=492&L=1

(Click on the links to the side to see more)


I can't find the recap on the 2008 march, but here is a slideshow presentation of the event:

http://www.godtube.com/view_video.php?view...144416f131df9a2


And here is a video for a song that was inspired by all of this:

The Forgotten People

I think my parents went there earlier in the year. It sounded extremely moving from what they were telling me. I would definitely like to go at some point in the future.