Wednesday 17 July 2019

Impressions from a visit to a military cemetery and a concentration camp

The tenth grades of the Offene Schule Babenhausen have been regularly travelling to the military cemetery of Niederbronn and visiting the Struthof concentration camp for years. As an example for the impressions a report of a participant follows here:


How was Niederbronn for me?


The trip to Niederbronn was an experience for me which I will never forget again in my whole life. One gets a completely new picture of the world. Much is told about the First World War as well as the Nazitime. You can also see how many people were forced by the state against their will to join the Wehrmacht (the German army by that time). It is often told in Niederbronn that all people are equal, no matter what tone of skin, religion or nationality this person has. In addition to exciting stories on what is probably the largest war cemetery in the world, right next to the hostel, one also experiences a very moving experience in the Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp. The concentration camp only shows how bad people can deal with others, how you can't even imagine it in your worst nightmares. You only had to do little things to get in. When the Germans marched into Alsace-Lorraine, the French were no longer allowed to speak French, they were suddenly Germans and no matter who spoke a spark of bad about the Germans or even refused an order, they were immediately imprisoned in this concentration camp. In the concentration camp Natzweiler-Struthof most people were political opponents or people who did not want to become Germans. A total of 20,000 people died in the concentration camp with the worst suffering. On the last evening we received a wonderful lecture from Mr. Raymond Levi, who told in great detail about his exciting family history. All in all I can really recommend the three nights in Niederbronn from the bottom of my heart. Anyone who has this chance should not miss this opportunity.

May mankind learn from such a thing and may such a thing never repeat itself again.

SC

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