Day 03–Saturday, May 23
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Friday, we left one another
in a light-hearted mood. We regrouped mid-day and found ourselves on the bus
for the first time. Meeting Hans (the driver) was a pleasure. I’m not sure he’s
aware of how much he’s loved.
It was quite a sight: thirty adults
with all their luggage, intermingled with the soccer fans dressed in, what we
might call, Halloween costumes. A lego man, complete with yellow head, and two
cave men stand out in my mind. There’s an important playoff tonight, I hear—and
those in Munich plan on celebrating!
A 45 minute drive later, we arrived at our destination only
to be greeted by Jenny, a St. Norbert graduate from 2005, not on our tour but
visiting the site today—interestingly, only a few hours earlier, Fr. Jay
wondered how long it would be until we bumped into a grad.
The Tour brought us to Dachau
Concentration Camp today. I was interested in touring this site, at the same
time, afraid of what I would see and feel while there.
Pictures cannot capture the strange
silence among the hundreds of visitors. The air is dense with thoughts and
feelings—numb, overwhelmed or confused were the reactions I noticed the most. I
felt an overwhelming sense of “WHY?!” To what end?
A few last minute pictures brought me to the furnaces, that
nauseated me. How could a place like that actually could exist? It isn’t just
in movies, real people really died there.
Many of the stories in the audio
guide make you cringe. Labeling people with triangles that color coded them by
race, religion, sexual orientation, and arts occupations—determining the level
of dignity individuals were afforded in the camp. If a Jew were any of those
descriptors, their triangle would get placed upon another one making the Star
of David and they were doubly doomed, landing at the bottom of the social
scale.
One of the large memorial pieces
layers geometric shape and color images in remembrance of those who were
marked.
The camp was filled 500% past its
capacity. Grown people were forced to occupy beds, smaller than a twin…that
would be like sharing with up to four others. The beds were stacked three high,
one being on the floor.
This camp was for special cases.
Dissenters, clergy who preached against the movement, those that associated
with Can-Can girls, or homosexuals, were all imprisoned.
There is much to process after this
experience. Sadly, this situation lives on in so many places around the world
today, right now. Words like “atrocity” and “tragedy” are spoken freely, people
shake their heads, we talk about “how could they…?” and then the new story
flips and we move on. Many of us don’t believe we can make a difference in the
world because these evils are so big and overwhelming.
One small act can change things. Paul
Lederach spoke about this very thing not too long ago at St. Norbert. Along the
same vein, this is why I’m glad that the Norman Miller Center, on campus,
exists. Bringing the dialogue, that informs change, out into the open
(regularly) and inspiring a sense of calling in people is never in vain.
After we left Dachau our bus was
quiet and we moved toward Roggenburg. As we rolled up we were greeted by
musicians! Roggenburg Abbey has a hotel and restaurant.
Many of us relaxed before dinner, on
the patio—the weather was beautiful this evening. A lively dinner with
tremendous food, in three or four courses, and two hours of talking ended the
evening.
Tomorrow we will celebrate Mass
here, tour the Abbey and then drive to Schlagl Abbey.
