Dachau

Work will set you free. 

Today was hard. We got up early to catch a train and bus to Dachau. I've said it before, but it bears repeating. You think you are ready for what you will see. The fact is you simply aren't and I hope that none of us ever will be. The weather was beautiful and it was a crisp fall day. I felt so confused by how good it felt to be outside and so aware of the pain and suffering that went on inside some 60 years ago.  The memorial is beautiful as well, as much as you can say that about a concentration camp. Beautiful in its simplicity. The camp, the museum, the barracks, the artwork, religious monuments, and the crematorium were simply overwhelming. I'm glad I went, and I hope everyone gets a chance to do so if only to remember that this should never happen again. 

I can't go into detail into what I saw. But, I was struck by the smallest things. A prisoner's glasses, a belt, a picture of a beautiful woman taken from a prisoner upon admission. 

I also know that I will never take my freedoms for granted. 

-KB

I share the same observations as Kathy. Another takeaway for me was was the part of our tour that presented the liberation of Dachau by American forces. The prisoners had heard the gunfire for a couple days then silence. Then waiting and more waiting for a very long day until the rumble of tanks and the arrival of the Americans late in the afternoon, April 29, 1945.  We read accounts of anticipation by the prisoners and tales of horror by members of the U.S. Seventh Army's 45th infantry division.  It was a time of unselfish sacrifice by our country. Men and women gave their lives to save others in the War. It's sad to think that perhaps the US has become a country of selfish and self serving people willing to shut down the government.

To think about the proud Americans spreading freedom across Europe and compare those brave soldiers and their families to the members of congress today I can't help but think we are so much more than what we've become...

-AH