Sunday 22.09.13
Dachau is a concentration camp close to Munich, it also happens to be the first concentration camp that was ever opened. Thats where Kev and I went to today, Topdeck had organised a bus to go to Dachau, and seeing as we were in Germany, we thought it would be a good idea to go.
On the bus ride there, the tour leader Blake went into even more detail then I have ever heard about what happened at these camps. Of course I knew they were terrible, everyone does. But I didn't know the extent of what happened to the millions of people killed across Europe in places like this. It was very sobering.
The first thing I noticed was the gate leading into Dachau. In cast iron it has 'Arbeit macht frei' or 'work makes (you) free'. Then straight as you enter the camp, it hits you that hundreds of thousands of people died in the very same place that you are standing in.
Walking forward more, you being to notice how big Dachau is. In front of you is the old Nazi office building, now turned into a museum, the fences are lined with guard towers, though apparently there used to be twice as many. Along the ground for hundreds or meters are outlines of buildings where the victims were made to live, and where many died.
Dachau was making me feel incredibly sick after being there for only 10 minutes. I got so angry at what was done there, and seeing where people were murdered was becoming too much. I persevered, and went into the museum. I had to pay respect to all of these people and couldn't leave so freely when they couldn't. A movie was playing in english, so we watched it. It was all about how the Nazi party began and the book burning and the burning of the Reichstag in Berlin, then continued on and had footage of life inside the camps. This was making me more upset with every passing minute and I just about ran out of there to be sick, but I couldn't do it, I really did have to see this through for those people.
When the movie had finished, myself and Kev walked towards the end of the camp, where the people were made to work. The rest of the camp was in complete silence, all that was making a sound was the bell at the end of the camp. It was so eery.
We stayed for a while longer, then slowly made our way to the bus and to Thalkirchen.
After calming down, and sleeping for a bit, Kev and I headed into Munich and got some dinner. After such a sobering day we though we would head back to Oktoberfest and walk around, seeing as we had only seen the inside of a beer hall the previous day. This was probably the best thing we did. Honestly this place was amazing at night. The atmosphere was incredible and full of energy. There is a big statue in the same area as Oktoberfest is held, it has heaps of stairs leading up to the top, so we sat there for about half and hour and took in what we were seeing. I would absolutely suggest going to Oktoberfest if you ever get the chance. No other festival in the world could compare with this Bavarian celebration.
