Concentration camp in Germany
Aug 27th, 2003, 04:16 AM
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Concentration camp in Germany
Next April, my wife & I will visit Berlin for 5 days and around the Deideshime & Heidelberg area for 7 days. We would like to visit a Concentration camp, but I don't think there is any near to those areas. Any advice would be welcome.
Aug 27th, 2003, 04:33 AM
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On the way from Berlin to the Deidesheim / Heidelberg area, you could swing by the Buchenwald camp near Weimar. It is an amazing sight...the stark grounds of the camp set against the serene rolling hills of the surrounding countryside.
Aug 27th, 2003, 05:14 AM
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I'd strongly second bmillersc's recommendation of Buchenwald near Weimar (Weimar is a 3 hour train ride from Berlin. It's a VERY touching experience and I'd say you'll get the most background information there as well.
Take a look here: http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Holocaust/buchtoc.html
A similar site exists for Sachsenhausen:
http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Hol.../SachTour.html
Near Heidelberg I don't know of a former concentration camp. I grew up there and we made a school trip to Natzweiler/ Natzwiller in France.
http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Hol...eilerTour.html
(an internet routing service says it's 170 km from Deidesheim and it would take short of 2 hours to drive there).
Take a look here: http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Holocaust/buchtoc.html
A similar site exists for Sachsenhausen:
http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Hol.../SachTour.html
Near Heidelberg I don't know of a former concentration camp. I grew up there and we made a school trip to Natzweiler/ Natzwiller in France.
http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Hol...eilerTour.html
(an internet routing service says it's 170 km from Deidesheim and it would take short of 2 hours to drive there).
Aug 27th, 2003, 11:46 PM
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Just wanted to thank you people for your replies. Unfortunately we will be flying between Berlin, Prague and Frankfurt so the Buchenwald camp is not so easy. We will have a car in Deideshime. We will definitely get to at least one of your suggestions.
Aug 28th, 2003, 04:20 AM
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While not a concentration camp as such, there is a holocaust site in the town of Walldorf which is on the southern edge of Frankfurt airport--about a 10/15 minute drive from the rental car drop off.
It was a workcamp for Hungarian Jewish women. They were assigned to upgrade the airport's runways for use by the jet aircraft Germany produced at the end of the war.
There is not much left of the camp itself--a few foundations and steps. Some schoolchildren from Walldorf found the site several years ago and researched it as a class project. It ended up being turned into a memorial woods.
There is a walking path through the woods with numbered markers along the way telling the story of the women, where they came from, what they did at the airport, where they ended up as they were moved around at the very end of the war (most died). There are copies of women's letters, quotes from interviews with survivors, etc.
It's not as visually impressive as more well preserved camps, but my wife and I were both moved to tears as we followed the story of these women and the horrors they experienced in what is now a peaceful and pleasant little wood.
It's accessed via Nordendstrasse in northern Walldorf. Just a few feet east of the intersection with Farmstrasse, there's a little road that goes north into the woods. That's where the memorial starts.
Doesn't take long to see, but if you've got some time left over at the airport, it's not a bad way to spend it.
http://www.siteprojekte.de/kz-walldorf/
http://www.moerfelden-walldorf.de/le...ussenlager.asp
It was a workcamp for Hungarian Jewish women. They were assigned to upgrade the airport's runways for use by the jet aircraft Germany produced at the end of the war.
There is not much left of the camp itself--a few foundations and steps. Some schoolchildren from Walldorf found the site several years ago and researched it as a class project. It ended up being turned into a memorial woods.
There is a walking path through the woods with numbered markers along the way telling the story of the women, where they came from, what they did at the airport, where they ended up as they were moved around at the very end of the war (most died). There are copies of women's letters, quotes from interviews with survivors, etc.
It's not as visually impressive as more well preserved camps, but my wife and I were both moved to tears as we followed the story of these women and the horrors they experienced in what is now a peaceful and pleasant little wood.
It's accessed via Nordendstrasse in northern Walldorf. Just a few feet east of the intersection with Farmstrasse, there's a little road that goes north into the woods. That's where the memorial starts.
Doesn't take long to see, but if you've got some time left over at the airport, it's not a bad way to spend it.
http://www.siteprojekte.de/kz-walldorf/
http://www.moerfelden-walldorf.de/le...ussenlager.asp
Aug 28th, 2003, 07:29 AM
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I can't answer your question, but just wanted to remind you, that you need to visit the new Holocaust museum in Berlin. I've been to Auschwitz, which was very moving, but the museum in Berlin is amazing also -- in a whole different way.
