The wickedness that pervaded Belsen cannot be comprehended. When people travel to historical locations, they or at least I, look for something that gives you a link to the past; some hook that gives you a momentary glimpse to another age. That could be a street layout, or the buildings, but in Belsen the link is generally not there. On the contrary, it is peaceful. Quiet. Evocative of being alone in the great outdoors. The memory of what happened though has been preserved forever in some shocking scenes documented by the official photographers and the BBC journalists who entered the camp.
I travelled to Belsen for some R & R intrigued at what I might see. After all, 'Belsen' is one of the names that resonates most strongly when one thinks about the horrors of World War 2. I had been to Auschwitz some years previously and much of this is preserved as it was. However, places that become historically important aren't handed down to later generations as the theme parks of the future, and what we see today in Belsen is due to the sickening conditions found at liberation. An emerging humanitarian crisis and six years of a brutal and ongoing war probably pushed thoughts of site preservation to the bottom of the priority list.
Much is now left to the imagination and research to understand the location. The visitor centre is informative and after being shocked, the peaceful site that it is today affords the visitor the space for the contemplation and remembrance that Belson and other locations of humanity's inhumanity deserves.
After you've experienced my delights or horrors of Germany, see what the destinations below may have in store for you.
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