I do not have any pictures of our stop at the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial. I was too far into feeling all the feels to stop and pull out my phone to take a photo. I found one photo online that is worth resharing.

We asked the kids how they felt about visiting the memorial on our way home from Austria. Both of them agreed that it is something that they should see. We warned them about what we might see, that we might cry and it was OK if they did as well, and that if they felt like they wanted to leave, we could.

We listened to an audio tour to make our way through the area that is open to the public. We walked through a museum that was full of horror stories about how prisoners were treated. At one point Lily felt a little overwhelmed so we went outside. I asked her if she wanted to stop and she said no. She was very interested in seeing where the prisoners slept. She stopped and read every poster in the bunkhouse.

Ty wanted to explore on his own. He went through all of the buildings, including the prayer memorial buildings. We caught up with him at the crematorium and he explained what he had learned the first time through. Lily questioned why the people didn’t get suspicious as they were waiting for the “showers.” Who could they express concerns to? Who was going to help them escape? Where would they go? A very big question from a small human – one that does not have an answer that is fathomable in today’s world.

It was a cold, rainy, miserable day. While it made our visit a little bit unpleasant, it was perfect for forcing us to think about how awful the conditions were for the prisoners.

I was not sure if it would be a good idea to take the kids through the memorial. I know how much of an impact touring Auschwitz had on me 20 years ago, in my 20s. However I do believe that part of history needs to continue to be a story that is told so that it never happens again. We are living in a town that is full of stumbling stones marking the last known residence of Jews that were sent to concentration camps. Being here, living here, we feel the history. I want them to try to understand, even though it is nearly impossible to fully comprehend. Never again.