Greetings!
Sacsenhausen was a concentration camp that housed male dissidents, Jews, homosexuals and other 'undesirables' near Berlin during the Second World War. It was also used for some time during the Cold War, though this was initially covered up by the East German government at the time. Santos and decided to participate in a guided tour of the camp, to gain a better understanding of what the prisoners had to go through.
Life really was terrible for the poor men and boys (it was a male only camp) that were imprisoned at Sachsenhausen. Our guide spoke at length of the conditions and torture at the camp, including one incident where the prisoners had to stand still in the main area for approximately 16 hours, despite the extreme cold and snow. Many of the prisoners died that night and many more died in the following days as a result. It is so hard to come to grips with the reality of what happened - it is one thing to read and learn about it at school and in books, another thing to see where it all took place and still another to fully realise it. Even now, a small part of me still cannot comprehend that some human beings did such atrocities to other human beings.
I have to admit that it felt strange taking photos at Sachsenhausen. Because of this, I didn't take too many and none inside any buildings, in the rooms where prisoners where were kept or in the crematorium.
The green building was the officers' mess hall, and at times the prisoners were forced to wait upon the officers, giving them food while they were starving. It was apparently known as 'the green monster'.
The building behind the trees was the home of the camp warden. The grounds surrounding his house were beautiful, with ponds and trees, and swan and other animals.
Front view of the watchtower that guarded the entrance to the prisoner section of the camp.
View from the gate. This was the main area where the prisoners had to attend rollcall twice and day and where the majority of the punishments took place. The large obelisk in the background is a monument constructed by the communists.
The watchtower. The balcony at the top house a huge gun on a pivot that was continually manned.
Monument construcyed by the Communist government in memory of those freed from the camp. Apparently the statue design (a communist soldier, a communist worker and a freed prisoner) had to be reworked as the prisoner was too authentic - the government wanted a healthy looking prisoner instead of an emaciated one, to show that the communists were survivors.
This building housed the doctor's office and morgue, where autopsies took place. The family of prisoners who died at the camp could pay a fee at receive the ashes of their family member as well as a death certificate with cause of death. However, due to the nature of the crematorium, there was no way of knowing which ashes belonged to who (or any way of separating them). In addition, the doctor only autopsied those prisoners he had a vested interest - those with abnormalities or those he had deliberately infected with disease and then experimented. All others were carried by other inmates, who were extremely inexperienced and who were forced to pick one of seven causes of death, including heart attack, stroke, cancer, etc. Death due to starvation, gunshot, overwork, hypothermia or being thrown onto a barbed wire fence were not options.
Sorry this wasn't the happiest of posts, but we felt it was important to see this part of history as well. Our next post (which I will write tomorrow night) will be much happier, I promise!
Love from Cass and Santos
