When it comes to understanding the dark history of Germany, a visit to the Sachsenhausen Memorial and Museum is a must. This former concentration camp, located just outside Berlin, offers a powerful and educational experience that immerses visitors in the atrocities of the past. Are you ready to explore this important historical site?
The History of Sachsenhausen
Sachsenhausen was developed in Oranienburg in 1936 as one of the first of a new generation of National Socialist concentration camps. First of all, it was an example of the other camps and also became the place for training SS officers. Sachsenhausen has turned into an unimaginably terrible transit camp for prisoners in the course of many years and became a place where tens of thousands of people were imprisoned and eventually killed.
The guide will then take you through the different classifications of people held in Sachsenhausen such as political prisoners, Jehovah’s Witnesses, homosexuals among others, and Jews. You will learn how prisoners lived, what their life was like and the type of treatment they received from the SS officers; the different methods of torture used.
What to Expect on the Tour
Generally speaking, a standard tour of Sachsenhausen will take one about 3 to 4 hours. The visits to the camp are conducted by professional and experienced tour officers who explain the historical background, and narrate individual stories behind the features in the camp. This can make for an emotionally charged sightseeing, but at the same time – the experience of visiting the museum allows looking into the human spirit’s cocacity and the value of memorial.
Here are some key areas you’ll explore during the tour:
1. Entrance Gate and Appellplatz
Your trip starts with the entrance where you can see the shocking sign “Arbeit Macht Frei,” which translate to “Work Liberates” in English. You will be standing in the Appellplatz more popularly referred to as roll-call square in which the prisoners were counted for hours in all kinds of weather.
2. Housing, Living quarters and Accommodation; Army and Naval Barracks
Visit the area of the barracks in which the prisoners were put in close confined spaces and sometimes they did not have the most minimal of sanitation. Your guide will talk more from the perspective of day to day living, the fight for existence, social relations, and rebellion in the camp.
3. PRISON PUNISHMENT AND EXECUTION CHAMBERS
Visit one of the punishment cells where prisoners were placed under extremely inhuman conditions in an effort to punish and or correct them. Learn also the severity of the tortures practiced in the prison by the SS officers and stroll through the death trench where so many lost their lives.
4. Some of these are commemorative sites and display areas.
During the tour you have the opportunity to visit all the different memorials and exhibitions of the Sachsenhausen. These sorrowful sights are in one way informative of the victims and in another way they are a chance to pause and ponder.
Tips for Your Visit
Here are some tips to enhance your experience at Sachsenhausen:
Fully dressed and appropriate shoes should be worn since the tour will require some adventurous walking some time.
Take a bottle of water and snacks too since you are not allowed to take any with you inside the actual memorial.
Pay attention to the guide and do not hesitate to ask something. They are out there to give important information and facts that relates to history.
In other words, keep off the wrong side of the law when you’re paying a visit to this beautiful country. Sachsenhausen is a site of memory and should be respected in this way.
Conclusion
Sachsenhausen tour is not a simple sightseeing trip; it’s a way to learn one of the most tragic chapters in history. As in the case of visitors who delve into the experiences and life narrative of the suffering people in Sachsenhausen, you are part of the remembrance. Remember: Every person who does not have a possibility to recall the previous experience is doomed to make the same mistakes again. Thus, you take the step and start this educational process to go to Sachsenhausen and be aware of lessons of history.
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