On Saturday we took a trip into Munich, Germany but first stopped at Dochau - the first NAZI concentration camp built during the 2nd World War. It was a sobering experience to say the least. To really see the barracks that they slept in - these buildings built for 200 people housed up to 2,000 people. The camp as a whole was built to house 6,000 but housed over 30,000 prisoners at a time by the end of the war. To walk where they walked, see the living conditions first hand, and see more graphic pictures than they would ever dare show us in school taught me more about the NAZI regime than any amount of books or movies or classes ever did. It was difficult but was also an increidibly valuable experience. If we really soak in the horror of that event as a society I don't think it ever could happen again. If we ignor it we make a big mistake. 
posted by Pamela Joy at 10:29 AM
2 Comments:
Pamela,
For some reason there has been a theme about the holocaust going on in my life lately. During my flight to England about a month ago I read a first hand account by Elie Wiesel called "Night" A couple of weeks later I watched "The Pianist" directed by Roman Polanski and adopted from a true story about a Jewish Polish concert pianist who lost his whole family to the holocaust and barely survived the war himself. It was incredibly powerful. Somehow I believe God is doing things to call my attention to how depraved man is when he turns away from God. Even in a single generation, incredible horrors can occur. Then I began to think about places like Cambodia, Kosovo, Rawanda and Burundi, and many, many more. I realized more and more that the Holocaust was a not an isolated incident. It is not a phenomena restricted to a certain time in history or a certain part of the world. It is not even always racial or religious in context. The Hutus and Tutsi's were all black. The Cambodian massacre was politically motivated. Etc. Etc.
Although I am sorry that you had to be confronted with the unspeakable atrocities, I do believe it is important to confront them and consider just how bad things can be whenever we walk away from God and try to do things our own way. It is sobering to realize that even when we seek him zealously, we are capable of gievous sin!
See you soon, Pammy.
Dad
Pretty crazy what actually seeing the place will do to you huh? I'm home by the way. I could say that the shock of Dachau and the states is comparable, but it's not. The culture shock nevertheless was bigger than I thought. Hope you have an awesome last couple of days
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