Germany, Day Six — Dachau Concentration Camp and Memorial, and Munich

Guten Nacht! After breakfast at 9 AM, we started our day with a two-hour drive to Bavaria and the Munich area. This drive ended with our arrival at Dachau concentration camp. We started our time there with a ten-minute silent worship, where we centered ourselves and got ready to go in and see the dark history of the concentration camp. We then went in, going in small groups and walked around the concentration camp. This included seeing a museum memorial, the place where victims lived, the entire concentration camp site, and the area where victims were gassed and cremated.

This was an emotional and heavy time for all of us. After being at the camp for about two hours we came together as a community for a Meeting for Worship. Here we began by sitting in silent reflection, and then some of us shared how we felt and our reflections. Although this experience was not a happy one, it was very valuable to me, along with the rest of us. We can never imagine what it was truly like to be a victim at the camp, and we can never fully honor the victims of the Holocaust; however we all left with a better understanding of the horrors of the Holocaust along with a larger gratitude for human life. We all supported each other throughout the entire experience, and I felt more connected to every member of the group through sharing this heavy experience with them all.

Munich

After our experience at Dachau, we went to Munich’s city center to walk around on our own. Some people got lunch, shopped, and explored the area. We had some small conversations about the noticeable transition in architecture as we’ve moved through Germany and all thought Munich was a beautiful city. After exploring for a few hours we came back to the bus to go to dinner. We ate some authentic German food at a very authentic-looking German restaurant. Although the trip has had heavy portions of bratwurst, we still enjoyed the meal despite some being full from lunch. A special part of the evening was meeting up with Vanya’s aunt and uncle, who taught us about some German culture and provoked some interesting conversation. We are sad that the trip is slowly coming to a close, but it was yet another truly memorable day. Excited for tomorrow’s adventure in Munich.

Below are some photos from our afternoon and evening in Munich, including the town hall, spaetzle, apfelkuchen (German apple cake), and our dinner together.

Vanya and Heera