Mauthausen Concentration Camp

Trip Start Aug 31, 2008
1
5
30
Trip End Dec 08, 2008


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Flag of Austria  , Lower Austria,
Thursday, October 9, 2008

We took a group trip to Mauthausen Concentration Camp on September 30th. It was a few hours to get there; we took a combination of the Eurail and a bus. When we first got there, we watched a documentary that included interviews with all types of different people who were involved or associated with the camp in some way. It gave us the history of the camp and set us up for an understanding of the camp we were about to tour.
We got maps of the camp and were allowed to walk around the camp, tour the barracks, see the gas chambers and ovens, climb the "Stairway of Death," and look through the museum.
Before we went on this day trip, our Bible professor talked to us about not judging others. He read us the passage from Matthew 7: Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.  "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. It was hard to keep this instruction in mind while walking through the camp and watching the documentary. In a situation like this, how can we look at what the Nazi party did and what went on at the camp and not be angry?
In addition to these competing emotions, it was as if I couldn't fully fathom the despair and suffering that occurred here. It was as though my feelings towards the camp became numb because I cannot identify with anything even remotely close to the horrible acts that went on. The camp was definitely a hard thing to experience, but at the same time, it was something I was so glad to have the opportunity to see.
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