Sachsenhausen

On Sunday we went to the concentration camp Sachsenhausen. It's just outside of Berlin, in what used to be East Germany. It was a very intense day, but well worth it. We went with a tour from a nonprofit called Mosaic Tours and it was outstanding. Our tourguide knew so much about the camp's history, both during the war and when the camp was a part of East Gemany. The East Germans made it a memorial to imprisoned communists, and there is still evidence of their memorial there.

The gate to the concentration camp was intense because it has the phrase "work makes freedom" in it, which only five camps had. Our tour guide told us that other camps had the phrase "to each his own" on the gate.





The other fascinating thing about this camp is that it was where the men who made counterfeit US dollars and British pounds were kept. If you havent seen the movie The Counterfeiters you need to do so now. This is where their work building was:




Overall it was a depressing visit, but absolutely worth it. One issue they're still struggling with is how to commemorate such a thing as a concentration or death camp, but seeing one in real life had a huge impact on both of us.