Sachenhausen Concentration Camp
I took five students to Berlin. It was our annual high school international trip. One of the highlights of the trip cited by students was a walking tour that took them to Sachenhasuen Concentration Camp, which was the camp intended to be the blueprint for all the Nazi concentration camps to follow. It is the only concentration camp that was designed in a triangular shape, which was supposed to make it easy to expand.. Being so close to Berlin, it was not built to be an extermination center, however, one of the goals was to work people to death. The inmates of the camp actually built the camp themselves. Notice the homes in the background. These homes were built by the inmates and were the homes of the guards and employees of the camp. Men would work at the camp during the day and go home to their families at night. |
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Nazi Bike Tour
The students learned more about Nazi Germany by joining a bike tour that visited significant sites of the Nazi government or Nazi resistance. They saw the German capitol building, the Reichstag, the Holocaust Memorial, and the location of Hitler’s bunker, where he spent his final days. |
The Communists
The students learned about East Germany under Communist rule after World War II. They saw the Checkpoint Charlie Museum and a comprehensive display of Communist rule at the Topography of Terror Museum. Part of the Berlin Wall still stands today and they also saw markers that illustrated where the former wall divided the city through Potsdamer Platz, now a busy shopping district. |
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Museums Another favorite place to visit mentioned by students was the Museum of Computer Games. This was an interactive display that allowed students to play old video games from the 1970s through recent times. They also visited the Pergamon museum focusing on ancient history, and other museums focusing on Bauhaus style, the German film industry, and modern art. They spent one morning in a recreated medieval German village, complete with actors playing the parts of local townspeople. This was designed to be a living museum where they saw the entertainment and work of a medieval citizen. |
Berliner Dome Other sites visited included the Brandenburg Gate, the Statue of Otto Von Bismarck, and the Berliner Dome, a grand cathedral on the River Spree. |
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