When we ventured out on this trip of a lifetime, we knew that we would be seeing many amazing sights and cities. Our list of favourite places has been growing and growing as we go on and we have now added Berlin too that list. We were staying in our last Wombat hostel ( superb as ever!), so our accomdation was great. We were going to go to Potsdam the day we arrived, 25th, but thenn saw an brochure for Sachsenhausen concerntration camp, just out of Berlin. So we trained out there. We noticed the difference between this little village and Berlin city straight away. It felt empty, kind of deserted. Not many people and the people we saw were grim and slightly worn. Its no wonder, they have a murder camp on their door step. We got given audio guides and were told that this camp was primarily used to house policital prisoners and people who the Nazi's deemed unfit, like homosexuals, the disabled, etc.
It was......unbelievable, and not in a good way. The camp was vast, grey, and souless. It gave you the shivers, knowing what happened in those barbed wire fences. We wandered around the enormous camp, going into the baracks and infirmarys etc. It was devasting the condition that these prisoners had to live in and what they endured. The whole experience was very sobering and quite devasting really. It showed us what human beings are actually capable of doing, and how brutal we can be.
There was still light at the end of the tunnel though as on the way back we stumbled upon a dance shop!! Us dancing girls went in and bought ballet flats and pointe shoes, not even available in NZ. How fab! :)
The following day we joined a free walking tour that showed us the main sights of Berlin, including the Bradenburg Gates, Holocaust Memorial, Hitlers bunker, Nazi book burning memorail, Checkpoint Charlie, SS Headquarters, museum island and the Berlin Wall. We had a great guide called Leo who told us many stories, including why the Berlin Wall came down. The walking tour was a great way to Berlin.
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