The trip to Majdanek was one of the most impactful parts of the trip for me. I had learned about concentration camps in class, but until I was actually at one, the reality of the horror of what happened had never struck me. Majdanek was particularly moving because it has been preserved as it was when it was liberated, and felt very real. We also went to Auschwitz later in the week, and while that was of course also very moving, it felt more like a museum to me. Majdanek felt much more true to the spirit of the camp as it had been. Additionally, the memorial with the ashes found on the day of liberation was mind-blowing and contributed to the power of the tour.
Majdanek was the first concentration camp I had ever seen, and it was very different from anything I had imagined. The most disturbing part was how close it was located to the city of Lublin. The day we visited was rainy and grey, which gave the camp a fitting eeriness. I was especially moved by one particular barrack we entered. Inside were 50,000 single shoes representing only a portion of the people who died at the camp. Seeing the shoes made the sheer number of people seem so much more real. This is when thee reality of this part of history began to set in for me.
I thought the tour of the Majdanek camp was particularly well done because of its structure. After reading the stories of some of the survivors and seeing there pictures, we were then shown some of the shoes and ashes of the victims. In this way, the victims were humanized and made more relatable before the true extent of the massacre was revealed to us through the exhibits of the shoes and ashes. Although I can never truly comprehend the magnitude of the suffering that occurred there, I felt that this gave me a better perspective of the reality of the situation and how much of an impact this event made on so many lives.
From the first moments of being in Majdanek, I was stunned and horrified. I was glad we were able to visit, but it was so difficult to process. The most powerful visual for me was the line of sight from the camp entrance-- our tour guide said the huge stone monument at the camp's entrance alluded to the gates of Hell as described in Dante's Inferno, which are inscribed with the phrase "Abandon hope all ye who enter here." To remember that and then look out over the bleak landscape of the camp was extremely chilling. Then, looking far beyond the monument, you can see what we later learned was the mausoleum, where the ashes of the people killed in the gas chambers are still piled. Our guide asked us whether we found the mausoleum poignant or disrespectful, since the ashes were left unburied, but I think the group consensus was that it was a beautiful, respectful remembrance of lives lost while still offering a powerful reminder of the evil that occurred at the camp.
The trip to Majdanek was one of the most impactful parts of the trip for me. I had learned about concentration camps in class, but until I was actually at one, the reality of the horror of what happened had never struck me. Majdanek was particularly moving because it has been preserved as it was when it was liberated, and felt very real. We also went to Auschwitz later in the week, and while that was of course also very moving, it felt more like a museum to me. Majdanek felt much more true to the spirit of the camp as it had been. Additionally, the memorial with the ashes found on the day of liberation was mind-blowing and contributed to the power of the tour.
ReplyDeleteMajdanek was the first concentration camp I had ever seen, and it was very different from anything I had imagined. The most disturbing part was how close it was located to the city of Lublin. The day we visited was rainy and grey, which gave the camp a fitting eeriness. I was especially moved by one particular barrack we entered. Inside were 50,000 single shoes representing only a portion of the people who died at the camp. Seeing the shoes made the sheer number of people seem so much more real. This is when thee reality of this part of history began to set in for me.
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ReplyDeleteI thought the tour of the Majdanek camp was particularly well done because of its structure. After reading the stories of some of the survivors and seeing there pictures, we were then shown some of the shoes and ashes of the victims. In this way, the victims were humanized and made more relatable before the true extent of the massacre was revealed to us through the exhibits of the shoes and ashes. Although I can never truly comprehend the magnitude of the suffering that occurred there, I felt that this gave me a better perspective of the reality of the situation and how much of an impact this event made on so many lives.
ReplyDeleteFrom the first moments of being in Majdanek, I was stunned and horrified. I was glad we were able to visit, but it was so difficult to process. The most powerful visual for me was the line of sight from the camp entrance-- our tour guide said the huge stone monument at the camp's entrance alluded to the gates of Hell as described in Dante's Inferno, which are inscribed with the phrase "Abandon hope all ye who enter here." To remember that and then look out over the bleak landscape of the camp was extremely chilling.
ReplyDeleteThen, looking far beyond the monument, you can see what we later learned was the mausoleum, where the ashes of the people killed in the gas chambers are still piled. Our guide asked us whether we found the mausoleum poignant or disrespectful, since the ashes were left unburied, but I think the group consensus was that it was a beautiful, respectful remembrance of lives lost while still offering a powerful reminder of the evil that occurred at the camp.