Our second weekend here was very interesting and exciting. On Saturday the 5th we went on a walking tour of Hamburg, for two hours, in the rain. Although it was raining almost the entire time, we were able to see and learn a lot of new things. We saw the Atlantic Hotel where the Bond movie, Tomorrow Never Dies, was filmed. We learned that if you are caught j-walking, or feeding the birds here you will get fined at least 130 €. Apparently, Hamburg is home of the most millionaires and billionaires than any other city, with at least 10 billionaires, and over 40,000 millionaires; so we saw the millionaires club where only the filthy rich can go. We also saw the hotel where Madonna, and Mick Jagger have stayed. At the end of the tour we went to the "Mahnmal St Nikolai," which is a church that was bombed and almost completely destroyed during WW2; all that remains is the tower and a few walls. There are several different monuments at the church to commemorate the struggles of the war and those who lost their lives. We were able to go to the top of the tower, which used to be the tallest in the world, and get an amazing view of Hamburg. There was also a museum downstairs that showed different artifacts from the church and gave information about the War. This was a very emotional experience, especially reading about the accounts from children and what the people had to endure during and after the air raids. I can't imagine what it must have felt like to live during that time and how it must feel for the people still alive to still struggle with those memories. The War and Holocaust are two very touchy subjects here, many people still blame themselves for what happened, even those who were not even born yet. The thing is, this is all some people knew, especially if they were born during that time, that is what they were taught and they simply did not know any better.
After doing the "Hamburg thing" and staying up all night then going to the Fish Market at 5 am to get Fish sandwiches, then getting locked in a Walking Dead-like school playground where we had to escape by climbing under a 6-inch gap of a fence, we went to the Neuengamme Concentration Camp Memorial. Along with the St. Nikolai memorial, this was a very emotional trip as well. Growing up in America we did not learn about how widespread the Holocaust and concentration camps were. They told us about the "big" ones like Auschwitz, and that was it. I have always been interested in learning about the Holocaust since it was first introduced in middle school, and I was glad that we would get to visit one of the camps on our trip. The camp is located in the countryside of Hamburg, it took over an hour to get their by train and bus. Upon arrival I was very surprised, it looked nothing like I was expecting. The buildings looked nice and well built and it was very small. During the tour we learned that the buildings from the original camp were torn down after the war and new buildings were put up for a prison. There are a few original buildings remaining, for the others, there are "rubble blocks" put in place to show the exact size and locations of the barracks and infirmaries from the original camp. In one of the buildings we went inside the basement was left alone and you can look through a glass wall to see what it looked like during the Holocaust. This part of the tour was the most emotional for me. I walked down alone, not knowing what to expect, and as soon as I got to the bottom of the staircase I was completely overwhelmed. It felt like every single person who died at that camp was there with me. I immediately walked back up the stairs to catch my breath before going back down. It was so emotional and overwhelming being in a room that has not been changed where thousands of people lost their lives for such a selfish cause. This is a place you would have to visit yourself to know the full effect. The remainder of the camp was not as emotional because things have been reconstructed and "museumized" so much that it doesn't make you feel as much. However, it was still interesting to read the different first hand accounts and to learn about what life was like in the camps and during the War. I also found it interesting to finally learn the truth about how widespread the camps are. For Nuengamme, there were over 86 satellite camps were prisoners were sent to and from, plus many others around Germany and the rest of Europe. There were so many people killed and affected by this that it is still hard to wrap my head around.
Depending on who you are talking with, not many people here like to talk about the War and the Holocaust, they are still very emotional about it, especially the older generation. There are placards and memorials all around and it is amazing to hear and witness the different perspectives and ideas about what happened.
After doing the "Hamburg thing" and staying up all night then going to the Fish Market at 5 am to get Fish sandwiches, then getting locked in a Walking Dead-like school playground where we had to escape by climbing under a 6-inch gap of a fence, we went to the Neuengamme Concentration Camp Memorial. Along with the St. Nikolai memorial, this was a very emotional trip as well. Growing up in America we did not learn about how widespread the Holocaust and concentration camps were. They told us about the "big" ones like Auschwitz, and that was it. I have always been interested in learning about the Holocaust since it was first introduced in middle school, and I was glad that we would get to visit one of the camps on our trip. The camp is located in the countryside of Hamburg, it took over an hour to get their by train and bus. Upon arrival I was very surprised, it looked nothing like I was expecting. The buildings looked nice and well built and it was very small. During the tour we learned that the buildings from the original camp were torn down after the war and new buildings were put up for a prison. There are a few original buildings remaining, for the others, there are "rubble blocks" put in place to show the exact size and locations of the barracks and infirmaries from the original camp. In one of the buildings we went inside the basement was left alone and you can look through a glass wall to see what it looked like during the Holocaust. This part of the tour was the most emotional for me. I walked down alone, not knowing what to expect, and as soon as I got to the bottom of the staircase I was completely overwhelmed. It felt like every single person who died at that camp was there with me. I immediately walked back up the stairs to catch my breath before going back down. It was so emotional and overwhelming being in a room that has not been changed where thousands of people lost their lives for such a selfish cause. This is a place you would have to visit yourself to know the full effect. The remainder of the camp was not as emotional because things have been reconstructed and "museumized" so much that it doesn't make you feel as much. However, it was still interesting to read the different first hand accounts and to learn about what life was like in the camps and during the War. I also found it interesting to finally learn the truth about how widespread the camps are. For Nuengamme, there were over 86 satellite camps were prisoners were sent to and from, plus many others around Germany and the rest of Europe. There were so many people killed and affected by this that it is still hard to wrap my head around.
Depending on who you are talking with, not many people here like to talk about the War and the Holocaust, they are still very emotional about it, especially the older generation. There are placards and memorials all around and it is amazing to hear and witness the different perspectives and ideas about what happened.