Day 11…..Heavy day all around….

Happy Mother's Day to all, especially my own mom Ann Chisholm, my mother-in-law Doreen Gallant and of course my beautiful wife Julie, who has been carting the kids to 3 sports each and looking after the home front.  

This is technically our last day on the #TOSHworldtour and we are finishing on the heavy side.  Was always a little nervous about the schedule for today as we are discussing mainly the rise and thankfully, the fall of the Nazi regime.  After picking up our bus we are off on the 40-minute drive to Orianenburg Concentration Camp.  This was the name of the village where the first of the infamous camps was set up by the Nazis in 1933, it later became Sachsenhausen Concentration camp in 1936, although not considered a death camp, it was very much a place where people died, many people died as we found out!!

As I had mentioned, this was the first of the labor camps of its kind and was actually home to only 1 of two SS training headquarters in all of Nazi Germany, with Dachau being the other.  This place also became the headquarters for all of the Nazi concentration camps, not Berlin but here!!  All of the masterminds (especially Theodor Eicke the man responsible for developing, overseeing and maintaining the camps) that were behind this sick practice were centered from here; very eerie for sure.  Also notice I said labor camp, it was where people who were against the Nazis, along with prisoners of war (eventually when the war began in 1939) homosexuals, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and of course the Jews.  At its highest point the site imprisoned more than 200,000 people from ’36-’45 and it is estimated that upwards of 70,000 people died while they were being held captive.

How big is this place to house 200,000 people???  It is more than 500 soccer fields in size, we are only going to see a small part; however, the parts we are going to see are the most mind numbing areas of the labor camp.  This labor camp is concentrated on the “Brickworks”.  You might be wondering why they need bricks during a war?  Well maybe not so much during the war, but they would use a lot of the bricks on site to continually expand the area, but also eventually for the Germanic World Capital that Hitler was planning on building after he had seized control of Europe and most of the world.  Each day as you will see, the captives had 45 to wake, shower and be in the work yard for roll call.  Any deviation from this could result in just about anything!  We quickly learned that there is very little difference between a death camp and a labor camp, as I have said people were murdered at both; however, in a labor camp the people were still considered to be useful.  If you made it to the death camp that was the end of line for your usefulness for the Nazis.

That being said, the life expectancy at this labor camp was about 6-8 ……….weeks!  Again not a death camp but you usually died because of work.  In fact when you entered the work yard through Gate A, the ironwork gate read “Work Will Set You Free.”  Most people now believe the freedom to be death.  The main areas that we explore are the large work yard, the barracks, the cells, and the crematorium.  Irina, our guide, is a wealth of knowledge on the camp and tells us stories of individuals who were held here and died here, and thankfully now through extensive Nazi record keeping, are remembered here.  

One of the interesting individuals that was held here was the son of Joseph Stalin, Jakub.  After he was captured as a prisoner of war, it was said that he was extremely worried about his father and what he would think about him being captured, as Russians were supposed to die in defence of country and never be captured. The Germans decided to make an exchange for a high-ranking Nazi general; Stalin refused to make the trade for his own said as he said “We will not trade a General for a simple soldier!”  Shortly after, Jakub Stalin was of no use to the Nazis and was murdered.

In this camp only 1/5 of the of prisoners here were Jews, but the Jews were the most hated of all of the people being held here, and therefore never received any help or exceptions in any way shape of form.  When it was finally liberated by the Russians and eventually the Peace Arch installed, the Jews were basically ignored; however after standing up to the Russians, the Jewish people were soon recognized for what had happened to their people.

Barracks...200 people slept in here

Latrine

Our last stop is in the back corner of the work yard as we visit the medical area/crematorium.  This was where the dead bodies were disposed of.  Because this was an original camp, for the first years the bodies were taken away in trucks on a daily basis.  That was until a car accident occurred with a large quantity of bodies in the back and then this practice was adopted.  Although they said they firmly believed what they were doing was right, they didn’t want the general public abroad to see it.  I don’t know about you, but if I firmly believe something is definitively right I will let everyone see what is going on….I think you get the picture on these individuals.

Crematorium/Medical Aide area

This area of the camp doubled as a medical area.  “Doctors” were stationed here and workers were asked to come for check ups if they were sickly or old.  They were asked to take their clothes off and wait for the doctors as they were shuffled between rooms.  In some cases they were shot directly in the back of the head as they were being measured for their height.  How did they do it?  They had small holes in the walls where they stood to be measured and the gun would be fired on the other side…truly gutless acts!!!  This area of the camp was known as Station Z…if you remember how you got to the work yard, through Gate A, this was a symbolic end of the alphabet for these individuals.

Memorial to the dead in the crematorium area

The kids have been great and although it was a lot to take in, they will eventually understand it all.  As a fitting end to the tour, Irina who was our guide at Sachsenhausen today is from Belarus,and her parents are now living under a dictator and she said similar practices are happening ie.  phone calls being listened into, no freedom of speech against government etc.  She finished the tour by pleading to the students, with tears in her eyes, to never let anything like what went on in the holocaust to ever happen again...thanks Irina!!

From there we head back for our last day in Berlin and essentially the tour.  Things don’t get any easier as after lunch we are heading to the new display museum called the “Topography of Terror” which is the site of the former SS headquarters.  This museum/display has two parts, one inside and one outside.  It is very graphic and informative, which is the new German model, as they are not hiding behind their history.  Even we hide behind our history, our treatment if the first nations and David has discussed his country’s (England) treatment of the Irish and how they are not willing to admit to issues they have had in the past.

An example of Nazi treatment of those who were a hindrance to the Aryan race

Again this is new Germany and I like it!!!  As a matter of fact there was neo-Nazi rally yesterday in Berlin not far from where we were but the numbers were small.  But today, we saw a march in support of the fight against anti-Semitism that still exists today in parts of the country. As it past by us, we were actually standing in the beautiful Jewish memorial.  Very memorable!!!  Prior to seeing the memorial, on the adjacent block is the site if Hitler's bunker.  There is actually nothing there, because they want nothing memorialized to the Nazi's.  The only thing that is there is the traditional Berlin street light men that are set up on display.

Jewish Memorial

Brandenburg Gate

Today was about another 10K hike for the group but we were able to see much of historical Berlin.  The sites today are what I would like to think are the real Berlin and its history, and we have also found many parts of new Berlin that are covered in graffiti as expressions of a society so long oppressed.  The city certainly grows on you and I would love to visit again, you never know, it may happen again in 5 years time!!!

We have walked clear across the city and honestly we have put over 70 miles on our feet and the kids are still going pretty strong.  It is at this point I will sign off for the tour.  It has been another rewarding experience for the tour at TOSH.  We have once again had the pleasure of having great travel companions from our local schools.  

We have had great guides, great hotels and great meals…thanks so much to all of the EF staff especially Chelsea Quinn our tour manager, Mary Erskine my EF best friend, Dave Robinson who comes up with all of these wonderful plans and inspires me to keep going forward, and Laura, Damien and Matt(new Bruins fan friend!!) for helping us at every corner and thanks for reading!!

To David Harrod, another tour of duty with this Brit and he never disappoints.  Always willing to help and make sure that this is the best possible experience in every aspect.  A friend gained for life, that I would trust to wander me through any part of the world!! Thanks David and look forward to seeing you again in 2017!!!  Keep visiting Thelus without me…that means a lot!!!

Thanks to KISH’s Todd, Donald and Cathy, KRSH’s Kevin and TOSH's Amanda and Dave for allowing me to rope you into these crazy adventures of mine once again.  It means a lot to me for your help in every aspect, and I hope that we can do it all again.  For sure the most laughs I have ever had while on tour.  You are all "grey coats" in my mind!!! HAHA

To Bill and Ellen Martin for being teenagers again and walking all those miles with us.  Bill made a friend at every street corner, even sometimes I am sure just with the street corner if there was nobody there to talk you!!!  HAHA  I hope that you had a memorable experience as you  retraced both your fathers' footsteps through very difficult times of their lives.

None of this ever takes place without the help of a lot of people, first and foremost the parents and the kids.  Although at times I felt that the lessons learned over the past 11 days may take some time to sink in for some on this tour, I truly feel that it has left an indelible mark on their lives, and at the very least we have opened their eyes to a world beyond Summerside (I love our city!!!) and PEI (I love our province!!!) and what can be achieved through travel and education.  At the very most we have helped them become more global citizens, citizens that can and will have a say in their future, if they so choose!!!  Let’s hope we have pushed them in the right direction.

Lastly, my family.  I love doing these tours. I love the impact that we can have on students’ lives.  Sometimes in the day-to-day functioning of my job, I lose sight of that, especially when we deal with petty occurrences in a high school and I am left wondering… “Am I really doing anything with my life?”   These pilgrimages have changed my life, and without the support of my family, it wouldn’t happen.  It was killing me today not being ay Mya’s championship game in Halifax, Julie (Happy Mother’s Day again) texting me updates (because all incoming texts are free with Telus…thanks Telus...hey I'm in a thankful mood!!!) and finding out that they lost 2-1, but she was player of the game, in my books a good job; however, it’s a team sport and in perfect Mya fashion, because she knows her Dad too too well, she wasn’t that excited with that player of the game award!!  Haha  Missing their practices for soccer, flag and hockey bothers me, but I know they are ok with it, because this is important to their Dad.  As I sit here in this hotel room in Berlin(maybe the odd tear starting to well) I can only think of the next few years and what 2017 will bring, as I get to finally bring at least one, maybe two of them, to the battlefields and cemeteries of Europe.  I can finally introduce them to and old friend named Clue in Thelus that played a major role in this life change, along with thousands of others who died in defence our freedoms.

It is time for bed (well after editing and picture uploading which will be another hour) as we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow.  See you soon PEI and thanks to you all who have followed.  I am never sure who reads, but even if its just one person and they take something from it…that’s ok!!!  One is always better than none!!!

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PS One last thing, just to finish on the heavy thing...if you haven't noticed most of my titles end up being themes throughout the daily blog...thanks to Cameron Gillis on carrying on the tradition of taking some clothes homes for me...I didn't do much shopping because there is a moratorium on souvenir European "#$%@" in the Chisholm household, but since I was close on the way over.....never leave anything to chance!!!