Never forget horrid lessons of the past

My first visit to a former concentration camp was to Dachau just outside of Munich Germany. Upon entering through iron gates that bore the logo “Work makes you free” I noticed two busses unloading groups of high school students from local schools. As the students entered through the gates they behaved much like teenagers everywhere, full of the joy of youth and laughing.

But Dachau is designed to sober you up upon entry. You file past black and white enlarged photographs of scenes of cruelty and hate. Then the visitor is required to enter a theater where a film is shown in graphic detail about the atrocities committed in the name of the German People.

After viewing the film the visitor was released to the camp to visit a barracks, to view the killing machinery and the grounds. The students I saw punching and shoving and acting out were now huddled in small groups of sober serious students. I heard no more laughter, saw no smiles, but there were tears.

Were the students upset. Of course that was the purpose of the trip. Memory of the past is important to the future. Beware of those who seek to erase all memory of the past.