Wednesday, June 5, 2013
Buchenwald
We spent about 2 hours at the camp seeing the famous entrance gate, the train stop where prisoners arrived, the foundations of the barracks, the disinfection station, the memorial tower, and the crematorium.
Over and over, we were struck by reminders of the horror and the incredible evil that was carried out in this camp. The haunting images will be forever held in our minds and in our conversations with God.
One of the most famous images of the camp is the entrance gate. The words on the gate say "jedem das seine" which means to each his own. We learned in the Dokumentation Center in Nurnberg that the Nazis stressed community and working together and having people be a part of the movement. This gate is a slap in the face to the prisoners held here because they were on their own for survival as far as the Nazis were concerned. Even more striking is that the words are read from the inside of the inmates' camp.
It was a quiet ride to Wittenberg today. Tonight we had some devotional time to process and worship. We read Job 3:1-8 to put some words to our emotions. We finished our worship by hearing Psalm 46 and by singing "Silent Night."
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