Human Failures

The other day, I went with the class to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp, which is now a memorial for the victims of the holocaust. It was a haunting experience, in that we were allowed to visit locations in the camp which housed original instruments of mass murder. It was an especially immersive experience, in that some of the bunkers that were still standing contained some of the original beds, washrooms, and lavatories in which many people died of exhaustion, disease, or were killed by guards, among other causes. An especially chilling portion of the tour of the camp was when we visited the remains of the building with the crematoria and death chambers, which in this particular camp, were used mostly to kill and dispose of the bodies of political prisoners. Although the building was mostly destroyed by the Soviet Union, the lack of a completed building does not diminish the immediacy or imposing nature of what is left, knowing what took place there. Seeing the metal beams standing in the air and the doors to the ovens of the crematorium was possibly just as impactful an experience as seeing fully in-tact ovens would have been.

As we were making our way to the “medical” section of the camp, I noticed that someone from our tour group threw an apple core onto the ground as a way of disposing of it. That was rather infuriating because it is basically common sense that one should not litter in a location that is meant to commemorate the victims of genocide and mass murder. It is very sad to see that someone representing PLU would not wait for an actual trash can, and instead dump trash onto the ground of a memorial. The camp was already a symbolic trash can in that it was used to mistreat and dispose of human beings in such horrific ways. It did not need to be turned into a literal trash can.

However, after giving it some more thought, I realized that I probably should have picked up the trash and held onto it until we got to a trash can. Unfortunately, I was too grossed out to touch something that had been in someone else’s mouth, and I left it there, not realizing until it was too late, that it had become my responsibility. I get it now, but really only after looking at this occurrence in hindsight. It is fair to say that I failed too that day, but in a different way, not necessarily to a greater or lesser degree.

Front gate to Sachsenhausen concentration camp - the text reads, "Work makes you free."

Remains of Station Z building in which political prisoners were murdered