Berlin - Day 3

Our third and final day in Berlin was Easter Sunday. Since we had seen most of what we wanted to see in Berlin we decided to go to the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp, just north of Berlin. It was about an hour train ride and then a 20 minute walk. I'm glad we took the opportunity to visit a concentration camp. We hadn't had the chance yet in Europe. It was quite interesting to see a place that we've read and heard about. I had actually never heard of this particular concentration camp, which was one of the first built and was put into use in 1936. As a matter of fact, prisoners from this camp were sent to build Auschwitz and other concentration camps. It was quite odd to walk from the train station to this camp and realize that it was right next to a neighborhood. Not sure if that's how it was back in the 1930s...

Sachsenhausen was another one of the many freebies we got on this trip, but we did end up paying 3 euros per person for an audio tour. We could have spent a full day here. There was a lot to see, read about, and listen to. Quite overwhelming... We were able to see watchtowers, the roll call area, Jewish barracks, a prison, kitchen, execution trench, crematoriums, pathology lab, and infirmary barracks. One unique thing about Sachsenhusen is that it had a shoe-testing track. One form of punishment was to have the prisoners wear new shoes and walk roughly 40 kilometers over cement, cinders, broken stones, gravel, and sand. Oftentimes they purposely had prisoners wear shoes 1 or 2 sizes to small and they also had to carry sacks filled with 20 kilos of sand. Sachsenhausen was actually used until 1950 because after the war the Soviets utilized the camp to detain political prisoners. Anyhow, we obviously learned a lot more on our visit there...

Words cannot describe what it felt like to walk through such a place. A place where horrible things happened to people. Where you know that as you walk back to the train station you're walking through streets that were paved with people's ashes, in order to hide what was going on. It makes your heart ache to think of the suffering. But in the same breath, it's make you so grateful for a knowledge and understanding of life after death. And a hope that in some way things will be made right for all those who suffered.

Here are some pictures of our last day. The girls checking out their maps on the train ride to the concentration camp: The entrance gate, which translates "work makes free":
Soviet Liberation Memorial:
After quite a few hours inside the camp we grabbed a late lunch at a cafe. Here's Audrey eating fries the European way (not something we've necessarily trained her to do):

Once we got back to Berlin we met up with everyone for dinner. From dinner we headed over to the Reichstag (parliament) building. Andy had done his homework once again, so we knew of a separate entrance for those with strollers. Sweet! We didn't have to wait in line. Sometimes traveling with children can have perks! The Reichstag was another freebie. We were able to walk up the dome of the building that gives you a 360-degree view of Berlin. By the time we got there, it was dark. But we still enjoyed listening to the audio guide point out different Berlin landmarks as we walked up the spiral walkway up the dome.

At the very top the dome is open. So, the kids all had fun laying on the benches and looking up at the night sky...

A cute, but unfortunately blurry, picture of Audrey in the Reichstag:

The next morning, before we left, we learned a bit more about Berlin's history thanks to Allison's dad. We had used the Fredrichstrabe Train Station several times during our time there. Every time we went to and from the station we passed by a bronze statue of children. We didn't get a picture of it, but I do remember it. It's a statue that depicts the history of the station. One side of the statue shows children with suitcases off to the UK to safety. The other side of the statue shows the children who were not as fortunate, and from the same train station were headed to a concentration camp. Click here, if you're interested in more information.

We really enjoyed our weekend in Berlin. We found Berlin to be a unique European city. Berlin has a lot of recent historical events that we can remember happening. It was really neat to be able to visit a place with such modern history.