Then we all met at the Bergedorf bus station to head to the Neuengamme concentration camp. We went fairly far out into the country, passing several fields, greenhouses, and pastures with goats and such.

Finding the words to describe an experience like visiting Neuengamme is challenging, not only because of the heavy emotions that accompany such an experience, but also because the reasons why we make such a visit are difficult to articulate.

It is certainly interesting, but not good or nice. It is important, but no one's idea of a day spent on holiday or a pleasurable experience. In a way, we go because we should and because we want to, which seems like something we should not admit. But we want to learn about the circumstances under which such terrible things were allowed to happen and how active agency on the part of so many made this happen. Learning from the past is one of the central reasons we study history and care about anything that happened before each of us made our grand entrance onto the planet (“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." -George Santayana) We (or at least I– I am going to stop writing as though I speak for others now) also think the stories of the victims an important part of historical memory and that what these people endured should be shared, learned, and remembered for their sake.

The U.S. curriculum and population is fascinated with the Holocaust. Holocaust survivors are often brought in as guest speakers at school, and students usually read several books related to the Holocaust throughout their schooling in their English-Language Arts classes. At UNC, the History of the Holocaust course always fills up quickly during registration. Films such as Schindler's List and The Boy in the Striped Pajamas are part of our pop culture, and nearly everyone has read some part of Anne Frank's diary.

I don't want to try to recreate our tour of the camp, but I will talk about it a little and include some pictures of it below. Neuengamme was a work camp where most of the deaths were caused by exhaustion, starvation, and illness. There were mass gassing exterminations of Soviet prisoners of war on two occasions. Only 10% of the people at the camp were Jewish. A number of prisoners from Neuengamme were sent to public locations to work, including Hamburg Hauptbahnhof (the central train station). Immediately after the end of WWII, the Neuengamme concentration camp was turned into a prison. After years of dedicated and persistent efforts, it was determined that Neuengamme would be turned into a memorial in 2003.

Prisoners would assemble for roll call in this open space every morning. They would be forced to play upbeat German folk songs. A group was usually selected to stay longer and stand in a half-crouching position for hours, and they were not allowed to move.

The rocks are placeholders for the locations where buildings used to stand, and the posts represent where fences once stood.

This structure is where prisoners who were being punished were forced to go. Prisoners could be punished for losing a button or having a rip in their clothes, so punishment was a constant risk. This space was usually so full that prisoners had to stand in it. This is where the Soviet prisoners (250 in this building at one time) were killed by gassing.

Basement of one of the buildings

Caption: “‘And here there was once a concentration camp.’ Prison wall, probably 1995. Detail."

Map of concentration camps across Europe

The house of the camp Kommandant, where he lived with his five children

Lorries in the fields where clay bricks were produced

Memorial to those who died at Neuengamme

The long scroll represents those who died at the camp whose names are unrepresented at the memorial.

After our trip to Neuengamme, we all kind of went our separate ways and continued on with our days. Reflecting on this whole transition and the visit as an isolated experience in the midst of everyone's ordinary lives reminded me of Hannah Arendt's idea of the "banality of evil" and how common abuse of our fellow man is. It can really just become part of our day (not necessarily to the same extent we're talking about here though) if we let it.

After I got back to Wentorf, Julika and I took Benny to a park in Wohltorf where we watched part of a club game of field hockey. Our team scored two quick goals at the beginning of the second half before we left, and we ended up winning 2-1. Watching the game really made me miss playing!