Today, I woke up at six a.m. This seems to be constant thing so far, as I have been travelling through Germany. Every day in Marburg, I get up at seven. For some strange reason, when we were in Berlin, I woke up at six each day. This appears to have continued with my early awakening here in Weimar. After a traditional German breakfast (cold cuts, sliced cheese, rolls, tea – delicious!) Mid-morning, we left for Buchenwald.
Buchenwald was a concentration camp during the World War II era. However, it was a labour camp, not a death camp, where primarily-political prisoners were sent to be worked to death. Following the end of World War II, the Soviet Union used the camp to hold their prisoners. Not much of the original camp is standing or has been rebuilt. Much of the memorial is based on the feeling of emptiness from where buildings used to stand, prior to the Soviets knocking many of them down. One of the most powerful memorials in the former camp is a stone slab inscribed with the nationalities of those who died in Buchenwald. While this may seem to set the victims apart, there is one thing that is special about this memorial – something that is not on any informational plaque or pamphlet at the former camp. Below the stone slab is a heating apparatus that keeps the monument at constant body temperature – unifying the varied nationalities that died in that place.
We were given the rest of the day free. After a nap, some friends and I decided to go find dinner, which ended up being Italian-style pizza. American pizza, with thick crusts and tonnes of toppings, is non-existent here. The pizza is only thin, Italian crust, thin spread toppings. It is delicious pizza, but different. Being a Sunday, there was not a lot open in Weimar. Weimar is a city of only about 65,000 inhabitants, smaller than Marburg’s 80,000. Being a historical, tourist town, not much was open, even in the early evening.
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