Transparency

There is a thought that says that the world, people, can be viewed in black and white. That in looking at any interaction, there are clear sides to the matter at hand- sides that are definitive categories for which to summarize, and thus polarize, the conduct and behavior of those involved in the interaction.

Such a thought is attractive because it is simple. It is easy.

It is simple to say that the Nazi regime was a wholly evil institution. It is easy to say that the victims of concentration camps suffered in vastly greater ways and amounts than any human should experience.

I do say the same myself.

But nonetheless, standing in the memorial of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp, I couldn't get away from wondering about the lives of members of the SS- Nazis carrying out the actual work that we refer to as the Holocaust. There is no excuse for the behavior exhibited by Nazis in concentration camps, but it would be irresponsible to believe that a Nazi is some species altogether different from our own- one whose actions cannot be excused, whereas maybe mine or yours can be.

It is complicated to say that the Nazi regime was an institution comprised of people who could've been your neighbor, your relative, your friend. It is difficult to believe that underneath the mire of Nazi bullshit, there was a human being that could've been me.

But that humanity is precisely why we cannot allow ourselves to simply polarize the world. I cannot say how many Nazi members were zealots for their actions, but I can say that the Nazi propaganda of the time was piled so high that it can become quite easy to forget the people buried deep below.

At the Sachsenhausen memorial, our guide told us about the efforts of the Nazis to portray the camp as an efficient and high-functioning work camp. While thousands of prisoners stood in rank and file for a photo for the public, four corpses of prisoners who died in the night had been forgotten and inadvertently left in the shot. Propaganda can only cover up the truth so much...

On the same day that we visited Sachsenhausen, our class saw the Alliage saxophone quintet perform with world-famous clarinetist Sabine Meyer. The performance was perhaps the most transparent display of physical and musical communication I have ever seen. Every player was equally invested in conveying and receiving information to and from the rest of the ensemble. When one player was leading, they were clear with what they wanted- through either eye contact, posture, or sound. Nothing was hidden on that stage in Berlin.