Sachsenhausen: 75 Years Later

Nathaniel Sansom

Nathaniel Sansom added 33 new photos to the album: Germany 2019 — at Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp, Germany.

May 12, 2019 · Berlin, Germany · Shared with Public

I waited for a little while to make this post because, quite frankly, I simply do not know what I could possibly write to describe what it was like to step foot inside a concentration camp.

While a great deal has been destroyed or deteriorated since the end of the war, there was still much to be seen as I learned about the indescribable and unimaginable suffering endured by millions around Europe at the hand of the Nazis.

I had not realized that before the war, Hitler had used similar SA camps to imprison his political rivals or those who spoke against his government after such actions were made illegal under the oppressive iron fist of his absolute rule. Once the war broke out, innocent individuals could be imprisoned for a wide variety of ‘offenses’. After the Night of Broken Glass on November 9, 1938, houses, businesses, and places of worship were destroyed as individuals were systematically targeted simply because of their faith.

From learning about the politics and power of the SA, the SS, and of Hitler’s initial legitimate rise to power, I find it astonishing that such a series of events could have taken place. Considering that this all occurred in relatively recent history makes it all the more important that we remember our past as we live in the present and envision our future.

We must take an active stand against anti-semitism in all of its many forms; furthermore, we must rebel against any and all forms of discrimination wherever and against whomever it may occur.

Reading about these events can make them seem too far removed. Staring at an incinerator and lines of barracks surrounded by guard posts and entrapped by electrified and barbed wire makes that history a little bit more surreal- to say the least.

After the war, Soviet-ruled East Germany repurposed the camp to serve the causes of Socialism and the GDR as they whitewashed history and promoted the idea that the prisoners had risen up and cast aside their chains and freed themselves. The stained glass pictures you will find included in this post depict this East-German/Soviet account of the liberation. One of the monuments the Soviets constructed depicts 18 red triangles, representing the Soviet prisoners from 18 countries who they knew had imprisoned at the camp (we now know there were actually at individuals of at least 40 nationalities imprisoned). Nevertheless, the Soviet memorial served to memorialize only those Soviets imprisoned on political grounds, serving to further whitewash the history of those who were imprisoned many for other reasons.

We must remember history and we must never allow the proper recollection of events to be either forgotten or distorted.

“First they came for the Jews

and I did not speak out

because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for the Communists

and I did not speak out

because I was not a Communist.

Then they came for the trade unionists

and I did not speak out

because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for me

and there was no one left

to speak out for me.”

-Martin Niemöller

 

I took these pictures on a tour of the former Nazi German Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp.