The next leg of our journey brings us to Germany. Whereas in Croatia I was curious as to how the etymology of "Hrvatska" (what the Croats call their homeland) came to be "Croatia" for us, I am absolutely flummoxed as to how we have "Deutschland," "Germany," and "Aleman" (plus all of its variations) all meaning the same place. In any event, noticing the difference between Swiss German and Bavarian German took all of a half-second, as the distinction is still incomprehensibly clear.
Our first stop in the former united Prussian empire was in Bavaria: Munich. I'll just be direct with this one: Bavaria kicks ass. They make good cars (BMW), eat awesome food (schnitzel), and drink beer like it is their job (more to come on that one). It is also easy on the eye (mostly):
Above, lots of old architecture abound in Munich. I have a lot to say about Munich, so I'm going to divide it in two parts: the serious part and the fun part. I'm going to start with the serious part. I probably am going to hell for beginning this section off with this quote:
Peter: My God, what is this?
Brian: This is the McBurgertown slaughterhouse.
Cow: Sir, you are correct. But here, we call it Dacow.
Peter: Dacow?
Cow: Dacow. Except we spell the chau part c-o-w, like cow. So it's kind of... uh... a, sort of a dark joke.
Brian: Yeah, yeah, it's a Holocaust joke. That's... that's really funny.
Dachau
Above, an anti-Nazi, anti-fascist poster saying "These are the enemies of democracy" with a ghastly caricature of a Nazi in front. This is obviously propaganda for the social democrats.
The eternally famous words on the front gate at Dachau (above). This is the first thing that the prisoners saw when they arrived at the camp. "Arbeit macht Frei," literally, "Work will make you free." Work literally killed most of the prisoners.
Above, this is the front yard of the camp where roll call was held twice a day. Even in conditions like this (snow, freezing cold), roll was still held for the mostly shoe-less prisoners.
Above, the plantation and the watch tower overlooking it. Plantation work was considered "easy" by the camp's standards, and no Jews were allowed to work in the plantation. Still, a preferred way of killing prisoners would be for the "Cappie" (one of the Nazi guards) to bring a prisoner towards the gate (which is considered a boundary, if any prisoner is caught outside of the gate he/she is shot immediately as it's considered an escape attempt) and to throw his cap outside of the gate. He then asks the prisoner to retrieve his hat while there are several other armed guards waiting. The prisoner can either disobey the command and not retrieve the hat and be tortured or killed, or he can attempt to retrieve the hat and be shot to death as soon as he crosses the boundary. I read about this "game" inside the museum and the number of accompanying photos was nothing short of unnecessary.
Blame the writers of Family Guy, not me. In all seriousness now, we made a day trip to the concentration camp of Dachau (a small town immediately north of Munich), the first concentration camp opened in Germany. I had no idea what I was about to see/behold/witness/feel/encounter...
We got there in time to watch a 45-minute movie (in English) about the history of Dachau. It was filled with pictures that no one should ever be subject to seeing. I wouldn't say I "watched" the film; rather, I'd probably say I "winced through it." I will leave it at that.
The former bunkers and barracks and prison of Dachau are now a large museum and memorial site for the camp. Each room is filled with displays and exhibitions on each of the nationalities, religions, and classes of people that were brought to Dachau during its operation from 1933 to 1945. For me, I found this one room filled with war-time propaganda to be absolutely fascinating. Here's a comparison of two:
Above, an anti-Nazi, anti-fascist poster saying "These are the enemies of democracy" with a ghastly caricature of a Nazi in front. This is obviously propaganda for the social democrats.
Above, a poster that reads, "Our last hope: Hitler." I found most of the Nazi propaganda to be focused on fear tactics, intimidation, and trying to muster some sort of "groupthink" amongst the people, whereas the anti-Nazi material was geared towards reason and rationale. I think we all know who ended up winning that election in 1933.
There was a plethora of information on the abuse, torture, and daily living conditions that the prisoners were subject to while in Dacau (most of it accompanied with grisly, graphic photos or drawings). Each room really throws your mind in to some kind of torment: you increasingly hate Nazi Germany, you're appalled, disgusted, and ultimately you just begin to question the human condition (or lack thereof) in Germany at the time, you simply wonder how in the hell any of this could have happened. The way officials and soldiers blindly followed orders until they became wholly consumed by their power which lead to their continued savagery reminded me a lot of the themes that I learned about in Conrad's The Heart of Darkness or Golding's The Lord of the Flies.
So, hopefully you get an idea of what the visit was like. While the Uffizi and the Vatican Museum and the Zurich Kunsthaus all had me in an appreciative awe of what I was looking at, Dachau simply left me dejected, desolate, and dumbfounded. Some more photos for you:
The eternally famous words on the front gate at Dachau (above). This is the first thing that the prisoners saw when they arrived at the camp. "Arbeit macht Frei," literally, "Work will make you free." Work literally killed most of the prisoners.
Above, this is the front yard of the camp where roll call was held twice a day. Even in conditions like this (snow, freezing cold), roll was still held for the mostly shoe-less prisoners.
Above, the plantation and the watch tower overlooking it. Plantation work was considered "easy" by the camp's standards, and no Jews were allowed to work in the plantation. Still, a preferred way of killing prisoners would be for the "Cappie" (one of the Nazi guards) to bring a prisoner towards the gate (which is considered a boundary, if any prisoner is caught outside of the gate he/she is shot immediately as it's considered an escape attempt) and to throw his cap outside of the gate. He then asks the prisoner to retrieve his hat while there are several other armed guards waiting. The prisoner can either disobey the command and not retrieve the hat and be tortured or killed, or he can attempt to retrieve the hat and be shot to death as soon as he crosses the boundary. I read about this "game" inside the museum and the number of accompanying photos was nothing short of unnecessary.So, I'm going to end my Dachau summary there (on that cheery anecdote). Dachau was by far and away the most moving experience I've had in my life. I would hate to consider visiting Auschwitz or any of the extermination camps. Being surrounded by so much history was nearly overwhelming.
There was only way to bring ourselves out of such a solemn state of mind, and that, my friends, was to be taken care of on Saturday, February 21, a Saturday I will never, ever forget; and quite frankly, a Saturday that I can't really remember. It deserves a post of its own.
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