Deutschland Chapter V

Tuesday May 19th

Dachau concentration camp memorial-

I am quite embarrassed to admit this but I have never given a concentration camp much thought. You will have to excuse my ignorance. This memorial hit me really hard. I know they teach this topic in school, but somehow I must have either blocked it out or just didn’t quite catch the magnitude of the holocaust.
Some of the things that struck me:
The camps were around for over 10 years. I didn’t realize how long they existed.
The camps were discovered and closed just over 50 years ago. It NEVER registered that the holocaust was so fresh in our history. I guess in my puny thought process, High School history was always hundreds of years ago. Nothing that I could relate to.



When you walk into the camp the front gate says “Arbeit Macht Frei” (work makes freedom) Just walking through the gates gave me an uneasy feeling. The spirit there was intense and sobering.

Most of the camp was torn down or removed but they spared the main admitting building and turned it into a museum. Randy and I read and walked in silence reading stories and prisoner accounts. It was completely sobering.

I will never forget the feeling.

Outside the museum several memorial buildings were built. The church bells were beautiful. Again we sat in silence.


Just outside the camp were the gas chamber and the crematory. Near the end of the war coal was sparse and money nonexistent. They could no longer burn bodies so mass graves line the property.




I can’t even begin to comprehend the relief of the liberation.

What an EYE OPENING experience for me…

...moving on to something a little lighter...

It was my birthday!!! I am pretty sure this was my first and hopefully not my last time celebrating my birthday in Europe.


To celebrate we drove to Munich. This was a bustling city, not to mention HUGE!!! I got nervous when Randy was not within touching distance. There were a lot of people. We walked to the center of town to see the famous coo coo clock tower. It was impressive. We went shopping and of course found more ice cream.


For dinner we took a picture in front of the famous Hofbrauhaus restaurant. A local told us the food was much better across the street. We quickly took a picture then ran like traitors to the competition. My birthday dinner was FABULOUS!!! Wienerschnitzel and spatzle . I could eat it for every meal. The only bad thing about Germany is you can’t order water at a restaurant. You must order a beverage. It costs at least $7 for a sparkling apple juice or soda. Beer is dirt cheap. No wonder Germans drink a ton of beer.