Central & Alpine Europe

 Today we visited the Dauchu concentration camp. Coming in I did not know what to expect because I have only read about places such as Warsaw and Dauchu. I knew that it was going to be a horrific site, but I could not foresee the actual feelings that I had after the visit was over. This camp was originally designed for only 6000 people and during its peak in the 1940’s it held around 40,000 people. The way that these people were treated was horrible. They were starved to death in many cases and could not receive medical attention from anyone with experience because the “doctors” really were not doctors at all. The inmates had to do all of the hard labor in the camp such as clean, cook, and build all in a days work. The pictures of some of the individuals that starved were extremely gruesome because they were skinnier than anyone that I have ever seen. The most powerful moment thing that I will take out of this experience was viewing the crematorium. They would take their dead and burn them to ashes. There were so many dead that they could not even find the time or coal to cremate them all so the bodies started to build up. The Nazis wanted to hide this entire camp from the community because it would in no way be supported. After viewing this camp I believe that at least once in every individual’s lifetime they should visit one of the concentration camps in order to get a real appreciation for the life we live. Sometimes I feel that my day was rough because I had to work a few hard hours in the sun, but when compared to the work and life these brave people had to go through, it will be much more difficult for me to complain. These people that were subject to this kind of abuse and torture for years are the real heroes and I thank God that I was able to visit this now.

Patrick S.