A few months ago we travelled to Berlin with my family and we decided to visit the Sachsenhausen Memorial and Museum located on the former grounds of the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp which was one of the first camps created under the Nazi Regime.
Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp is located in Oranienburg, a small town about fifty minutes by car from Berlin.
When we arrived to Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp, I deeply affected.
I saw a writing on the door which was located in the entrance of the camp.
“ARBEIT MACHT FREI”
I realized that in this camp, prisoners have been deceived….
When they obey the rules and work quietly,they believed that they could be free one day.
This made me very sad.
We visited all the areas in Sachsenhausen…
When we get tired, we sat in the small common area of one of the barracks, located between the lavatory and sleeping area.
I read from Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp guide book that the barracks often housed upwards of two hundred and fifty prisoners each, with only eight toilets and two washing troughs fed with cold water.
The prisoners were only allowed access to use the facilities for thirty minutes at the beginning and end of the day, making it impossible for everyone to all maintain a proper level of hygiene.
As a result of these living conditions, and disease, infection was occured throughout the camp.
In my opinion, this means that, people were almost left to die.
According to guide book, Sachsenhausen was primarily used as a labour camp and political prison from 1936 to 1945.
But, when war progressed, gas chambers and large ovens were constructed to kill large amount of people.
When I saw the gas chambers and large ovens, I felt great sadness.
Because I think that, this was a human drama that was wery hard to accept for me and also my family.
According to guide book which I read in the museum, estimates have put the total number of lives lost at Sachsenhausen at 30000, however this number is difficult to determine as thosends of Soviet prisoners of war were killed immediately upon arrival at the camp without being registered, their bodies disposed of in mass graves.
In 1945, after liberation, Sachsenhausen came under Soviet control and was renamed Soviet Special Camp No.1.The camp was used to house German officers convicted of war crimes, anti-communists and Nazi collaborators.
According to researchs, mortality rates during that time were not better than the previous Nazi regime.
In 1950, the camp was officially closed.The buildings were demolished to hide evidence of Soviet persecution.
Today, Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp is open to the public 365 days of the year for visitors.
Travelling to new countries and visiting new museums, new places is very enjoyful for me and my family.By the help of these travels, I learn many things about the world history.
However some trips could be very painful.
Visiting Sachsenhausen was also very painful trip for me.
People are always hurting each other in order to have much more power, land and money.
In past years, millions of people have been tortured and killed because of wars.
On conclusion, in my opinion, the world will be a wonderful place when we learn to respect every living thing on earth regardless of religion, language or race.