The Dark Past

There are a few things you should never talk to a German about. On top of the list is Hitler and the Holocaust. Especially to those of the older generation. It is a very sensitive topic for them. I have even heard  first-hand from a German, that many Germans are not proud to be german due to this unerasable black mark in their history books.

From history lessons in school, but mainly due to my association with my German Employer Company in India, I was aware of the history of Europe, especially during the World Wars. But I got better insight into the german perspective of these times, during the intercultural trainings that I attended in India, which focused on Germany. What added credibility to the presentation, was the fact that the trainer was a German. So I heard it from the mouth of the proverbial horse!

During the last weeks I could impove my understanding of the matter, through a lecture at the University and an excursion to the former concentration camp at Dachau, close to Munich (or München as the Germans call it).

The cloudy, rainy and cold morning seemed befitting of the scheduled visit to Dachau. Today it stands as a memorial to the innumerable victims of the attrocities of the 3rd Reich (12 year long reign of Hitler). The atmosphere of the place felt gloomy and depressing, like at a funeral. As we walked through the museum halls, which once housed the prisoners, our guide tried to be as cheerful as possible, while she narrated the shocking realities of those dark years. The harassment and cruelties that the inmates - political dissidents, journalists, homosexuals, gipsies and above all - the Jews, had to withstand would melt hearts of stone. But apparently not of the National Socialists (or Nazis as they are better known). The narration, graphic images and documentary video of the horrific torture inflicted by these demons, sent chills through my spine. As we took a tour of the compound from workshops to cellars to experimental gas chambers to dead-body incinerators to mass graves, the heavens seemed to shed cold tears on our raincoats and umbrellas. The most aweful experience was at the main gate to the concentration camp bearing the line "ARBEIT MACHT FREI" (German line meaning 'work makes you free'). The most sarcastic and absurd statement to be made in the context!

Dachau was one of the several thousand concentration camps spread over Germany, Poland, Austria, Russia and few other countries that Hitler managed to conquer. But its purpose was to impose forced labour under inhumanable living conditions and working schedules. The deadlier ones were some camps, mainly in eastern Europe built for the sole pupose of genocide - of primarily the Jews, about 6 Million of whom lost their lives during the 12 years in addition to large number of others previously mentioned.

I am just glad that the Holocaust lasted only for 12 years and that Germany has been able to recover and build itself up to what it is today. However I feel that, the sad memories of the past will continue to haunt the Germans for a long time to come.