Germany is a rich but secular history, having had its triumphs and their tragedies. The Holocaust is one of its darkest chapters in its past — millions of innocent lives lost. Existing as memorial sites, the Germany preserved several concentration camps to honour the memory of the victims and to teach future generations. In this blog post, I will take you through some of the Frankfurt near concentration camps you can visit to learn the somber history behind this period.
Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp
The Sachsenthausen Concentration Camp, which is about a 3 hr drive fro Frankfurt, outside of Berlin. One of the first concentration camps put into operation by the Nazi regime during World War Two and with significance for the persecution of social groups.
History and Significance
Originally opened in 1936, Sachsenhausen camp primarily served as the place to send political prisoners — resistance fighters, communists, and gays. Prisoners there suffered starvation, forced labor and medical experiments, and innumerable other horrors. The camp was a prototype for other Nazi concentration camps.
What to Expect During Your Visit
The Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp today functions as a powerful memorial and museum about the Holocaust. If you come visit soon you will be able to roam the prisoner barracks, the punishment cells, and the execution site.
There are guided tours available wherein you get to hear about the camp’s historical details, prisoners’ daily life and the role the camp played, in general. You’ll also see exhibits containing photographs, documents and personal testimonies, and will be able to become emotionally involved with the stories of those who suffered.
Dachau Concentration Camp
And for those who want to know what went on in the Holocaust, there is the Dachau Concentration Camp, just outside Munich. Although it’s farther away from Frankfurt, it’s an important site to be sure to see.
History and Significance
Dachau Concentration Camp was the first Nazi concentration camp from where we started in 1933 up to 1945 about 12yrs. It was a prototype for future camps and was a training ground for SS concentration camp activists.
Political opponents were first detained at Dachau, but in all, Jews, homosexuals, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and similar groups were also imprisoned there. Still, horrors had continued for the prisoners at the camp — it had a gas chamber and crematorium.
What to Expect During Your Visit
At present, Dachau Concentration Camp is a memorial site uniting remembrance, education and research. As you strolled through the gates you will learn about the prisoners daily routine as well as the conditions they lived in.
In a museum dedicated to remembering, there are displays on the camp’s liberation along with prisoner uniforms and personal belongings on exhibit. You don’t need to read them in a short period of time but when you do, you begin to understand the human tragedy that occurred within these walls.
Buchenwald Concentration Camp
Buchenwald is another concentration camp that was located in central Germany beside the city of Weimar and it’s another big one. Visiting this memorial site will give more information regarding the horrors of the Holocaust.
History and Significance
Greater Buchenwald, Concentration Camp operated from 1937 to 1945, Liberating an estimated 20,000 prisoners before the end of World War II. At first, detention was for political opponents, but Jews, Roma people and others considered undesirable by the Nazis were added later.
You Asked What To Expect During Your Visit — What you should know
You will see the open remnants of the camp’s infrastructure: barracks, guard towers and the crematorium. Detailed explanations given on the daily lives of prisoners and stories from a bravery and resistance will be explained in guided tours.
Buchenwald memorializes those who suffered and died under the Nazi regimes tyranny and be prepared for an emotionally intense experience.
By visiting these concentration camps near Frankfurt itself, we could reflect on mankind’s ability to bring forth the dark and never in a way to forget what was taken away. Such visits are a reminder to all to carry forth and be on the vanguard of tolerance, respect and compassion in the wider world.
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