MAY 18th, 2013
Nicole Ferrante
Today
we woke up and left the hotel at 8:30 AM. We all got on a small bus and took a two-hour
drive to Ravensbrüke Concentration Camp.
This camp was specifically made for women and children during the holocaust.
Upon arriving to the camp, we were introduced to our tour guide. He was very
knowledgeable and passionate about studies in the holocaust. He was able to tell
us a lot of first hand accounts about the camp. For example, he told us that
one of the women who donated photos to the camp exhibits took out pictures of
herself. The reason for this was before the picture was taken, the Gestapo
interrogated and abused her and she had bruises on her face. This was not the
image that she wanted to be remembered by. However, eventually she decided to
give the camp al the pictures. It is a very telling photo and shows how much
suffering and oppression that women at Ravensbrüke went through at the time.
When
we went into the camp our tour guide was able to tell us more personal stories.
For example, he told us one story about a group of women at Ravensbrüke
who were brutally punished because a member of their group escaped. The
remaining women were told that they had to stand at roll call for over a day.
Because of exhaustion, starvation, and overall fatigue many women died during
the punishment. Eventually, the escaped woman was returned to the camp and
initially handed over to her original group. They were instructed to do with
her what they wished. Although they did nothing, this was very telling of how
much these women had lost touch with humanity. There were many cases where
these women would turn against each other in the midst of all the suffering and
hysteria.
He did end the tour with a story of
hope. He spoke about a woman who was liberated from the camp. She describes
seeing an attractive man come into the camp with a red cross on his jacket. She
immediately went to fix her hair. It was at this point that she finally felt
like a woman again. The camps had ripped away her identity, womanhood, and
hope. The liberation gave them a small glimpse at all of these things, which
had been taken from them. After the tour we were allowed to walk through the
crematorium, which was separated into rooms, which memorialized various groups
of victims in the holocaust. Each room was very unique and did a great job of
depicting each group’s struggles. Overall the experience at the concentration
camp was very powerful and I learned a lot more about the holocaust then I ever
have in a classroom.
After
the tour of the concentration camp we met as a group in the hotel and spoke
about our own personal feelings and reflections from the camp. It was really
interesting to hear how other members of our group felt at the camp and how
they interpreted certain rooms and stories differently. We spoke a lot about
the visual representations of women and children during the holocaust and
whether or not it is respectful to show them or not. I think that while these
representations don’t show these women at their best, the images are important
to have because they are the most powerful tool we have to convey the pain and
suffering of the holocaust.
At
night we were all able to sit in the hotel lobby and watch Euro-vision, which
is like a European version of American Idol. It was interesting that most of
the songs were in English. As an American, I feel as though we should be
required to know more than one language. English is the only the language that
almost everything is translated to, which shows how ignorant Americans are. I
think it would be helpful for there to be a greater stress put on the
incorporation of foreign languages in American School Curriculum. Regardless,
it was nice to see some cultural similarities between Europe and America while
watching Eurovision. Like in America, it seemed that Euro-vision is very
popular and has become a part of European culture.
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