{"id":1395,"date":"2021-04-14T06:05:40","date_gmt":"2021-04-14T06:05:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uberlin.co.uk\/sachsenhausen-archives-uberlinuberlin\/"},"modified":"2021-04-14T06:05:40","modified_gmt":"2021-04-14T06:05:40","slug":"sachsenhausen-archives-uberlinuberlin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uberlin.co.uk\/sachsenhausen-archives-uberlinuberlin\/","title":{"rendered":"Sachsenhausen Archives : uberlinuberlin"},"content":{"rendered":"
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January 31, 2013<\/abbr><\/h5>\n
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Impressions of Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp<\/a><\/h3>\n

by James Glazebrook<\/span><\/h4>\n
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\"Sachsenhausen<\/p>\n

It’s 4am and I’m wide awake, struggling to process the GetYourGuide Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp<\/strong> Memorial Walking Tour<\/a>. I’m”suffering” from two things: a nasty cold I picked up wandering around in sub-zero conditions, and a hazy black cloud of half-formed negative emotions that hangs somewhere in the back of my mind. Both leave me feeling pathetic and weak-willed.<\/p>\n

\"Sachsenhausen<\/p>\n

I got sick after less than four hours in -10\u00b0C, wrapped in three layers of weather-resistant clothing. Some of the 30,000 prisoners who passed through Sachsenhausen work camp endured more bitter cold (as low as -20\u00b0C) wearing only one layer of thin cotton, and no shoes. Once they stood outside for a roll call of their identification numbers that lasted 26 hours. Listening to this, I wolfed down a sandwich, feeling particularly worthless. Impossibly brave people had survived unimaginably worse conditions, sustained by only one slice of bread per day.<\/p>\n

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As I tried to make sense of our guide’s detail-soaked narrative, I felt a pale shadow of what Germans must, when they think about this part of their history. Hearing about the sheer number of prisoners, and the methods employed to dehumanise, punish and – later in World War Two – kill them, left me numb. Finding it impossible to put myself in their position, I tried to empathise with the citizens of the small town of Oranienburg, some of whom still lived on the borders of Sachsenhausen. I don’t blame them for doing their best to ignore the rumours of what happened inside, insinuated by the chimney stack smoking with the ashes of the Third Reich’s victims. If I can’t process this, generations later, no wonder they couldn’t at the time.<\/p>\n

\"Sachsenhausen<\/p>\n

Apologies if you were expecting specifics about the GetYourGuide Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp tour. No amount of words, images or facts and figures – although there are many to be found in the careful reconstruction of the camp – can truly represent the horrors that took place there. Go for the price of an ABC BVG ticket (entrance to the site is free), or book a guided tour, and support the invaluable work of the cash-strapped Memorial<\/a>. But don’t expect to be able to comprehend what happened there.<\/p>\n

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For more photos and another writer’s impressions of the camp, read this guest post about Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n