The last historic site we visited in Berlin was the site of the first Nazi labor camp, Sachenhausen, about 40 miles outside of Berlin. It was also the place where many of the methods of mass extermination were developed for the later death camps in Auschwitz and elsewhere.
Needless to say it was a profoundly moving visit and other than the main entrance to the camp and the memorial, we did not take any photos of the camp itself. The clock on the watchtower below is painted on and shows the time of day that the camp was liberated by the Soviets.
Our tour guide was excellent, and grew up in Malahide, Dublin, but has lived in Berlin, with his German wife for nearly 10 years. He does a lot of historic tours of Berlin, but shared that this tour they break up, so that tour guides don’t have to go there every day. As much as we are all familiar with the story of the holocaust, it’s very tough to visit a place that has witnessed such incredible suffering and evil.
