“It’s cold out here, ” I complained as I walked through the gates. “Actually it’s rather mild for November. It can get below 20 c here, ” replied Carlos, our half German, half Costa Rican guide. Carlos then began to recount a story of sadistic SS officers who on one of the coldest days of the year, made 800 prisoners stand at attention for hours in the very same area that I had been standing. On that day, 140 of the 800 prisoners died from the cold. Another chill came over me, this one right up my spine. I also felt a sense of guilt. Who was I to complain? I had a heavy coat, scarf, gloves and a full stomach and unlike those prisoners, I had come to Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp by choice.

Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp Memorial is located north of Berlin. It should be on everyone’s must places to visit list. One cannot come to Germany without being haunted by the atrocities committed by the Nazis and The Third Reich 1933-1945. Tens of thousands perished here. Sachsenhausen was a training ground was a for the SS and the lead quarters for the entire concentration camp system. The Soviets also used the camp for their own political prisoners from 1945-1950. Much of the camp has been restored or still remains.

“The first thing you could hear in the morning were the keys. Then the shackles being removed. Then a gunshot and you knew that another life had been extinguised, ” was how a former survivor described his experience in Dacau. The camp located just northwest of Munich. In addition to gunshots, prisoners died from starvation, torture, human experiments and mass execution. Everything that happened in the concentration camp system as a whole happened at Dacau. I guess it was appropriate for me to arrive here on a cold and rainy day. You can take a train and bus here from Munich which is about 20 minutes away or book a tour with a local company such as Radius Tours, but if you come on your own, you will have more time to explore the camp and its exhibits.

Throughout the world there are many places were great atrocities and horrible crimes against humanity took place. Many would tell me that they would not want to go to those places, that they would not want to spend part of their vacation there. I would tell them that not only should they visit these places–they must. Travel can sometimes be difficult and challenging. It should be. Sachsenhausen and Dacau were both places that challenged me, but I left both places taking away a lot more.