While away on vacations, I missed two weeks of the WP Photo Challenge. In this post I will share with you my entries for ‘Symbol’, ‘Half and Half’ and ‘Close up’.
All photos were taken in Germany, when we visited the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site.
“On March 22, 1933, a few weeks after Adolf Hitler had been appointed Reich Chancellor, a concentration camp for political prisoners was set up in Dachau. This camp served as a model for all later concentration camps and as a “school of violence” for the SS men under whose command it stood. In the twelve years of its existence over 200.000 persons from all over Europe were imprisoned here and in other camps. 41.500 were murdered. On April 29 1945, American troops liberated the survivors.
The Memorial Site on the grounds of the former concentration camp was established in 1965 on the initiative of and in accordance with the plans of the surviving prisoners who had joined together to form the Comité International de Dachau.”
These are my entries for “Symbol”.
The first is the Jewish Memorial, designed by architect Zvi Guttmann. The structure is made of black basalt lava and slopes downward like a ramp.
The railing is reminiscent of the barbed wire that was so ubiquitous in the concentration camp, and together with the ramp imbues the building with symbolism recalling the extermination of European Jewry.
A menorah with seven branches made of Peki’in marble hovers above the building. In Peki’in, a place in Israel, at least one Jew should always reside, even in the most difficult of times, to symbolize the continuity of Judaism. Inside burns the “Ner Tamid,” the eternal light.
In the first photo is the entry gate to the concentration camp. Two contrasting halves. Outside they were told that this was a reeducation center. Inside, they found torture and death.
ARBEIT MACHT FREI means WORK LIBERATES. They found a different reality inside the camp.
The second photo is of one of the monuments inside the Memorial site with an inscription.
In one half is an inscription which is a tribute to those who died and those who resisted extermination, as a call for action, for the world to unite and defend peace and freedom.
The other half is made of pebble stones, which may represent the effort we must strive to make so that atrocities against humanity can never happen again.
These are my entries for “Close up”
The first photo is location number 15 of one of the barracks, where the prisoners ‘lived’ in the concentration camp.
A total of 34 barracks were located on the right and left side of the camp road. The position of these barracks is marked by stone foundations. There are two barracks at the beginning of the camp road which were reconstructed as part of the Memorial Site.
The National Socialists reign cost the lives of 6 million Jews.
Except for photo #3 taken with a point and shoot Canon camera, all other photos were taken with a Olympus E-M10. I converted the photos to black and white in LightRoom, then applied a filter Antique Plate 1 in Silver Efex 2.
Sights & Insights 
Wow Lucile, these are stunning and thought-provoking photos. The editing is sublime, especially on the two photos for Symbol. Stunning post.
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Why thank you! The menorah is my preferred. The light inside was fantastic.
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Excellent shots !! haunting and poignant to the core.
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Thank you very much, Andy.
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Fantastic shots Lucile. Welcome back.
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Hi Debbie. Thank you. Now I’ll try to catch up with the backlog of comments and posts.
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Thought provoking post. I like your editing with the antique plate, appropriate for a sombre subject.
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Thank you so much, Sue.
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Just amazing photos and can only imagine what you must have felt being there. Very haunting and striking photos, Lucille!
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Thank you, Barbara. It’s an impressive site which touches deeply those who visit it. I’d visited another site close to Berlin some years ago, but this one was much bigger.
Big or small, still haunting.
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This is such a powerful post; made more sobering by your beautiful, evocative images.
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Thank you, Su. Appreciate your kindness.
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Stunning. Thought provoking.
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Thank you so much.
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Haunting photos, Lucile. I am humbled by your display. ❤
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They’re, indeed , Colleen. One cannot but be humbled by that site. Thanks.
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great and thoughtful tnterpretation of the 3 challenges. the black and white is perfect for these pics
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Thanks. It asked for an old feel!
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I’ve also been to Dachau. We visited once when we were in München.
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That’s exactly what we did. So close by.
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Yes, it was just a short train ride. München was nice, but a bit boring.
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Funny enough I also think that München is not an attractive city, unless one loves to drink a 1 liter glass of beer.
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Who came up with the idea of a one liter glass?!? It’s way too much and you have to drink it fast, or else it gets warm and dull.
We spent five days there (my ex booked the tickets) and nearly bored ourselves to death (it was winter and rainy/cold). München is not a place I’ll recommend people to visit. Just got sick and tired of sausages, sauerkraut and beers.
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I guess the Germans did.
What else can I say after such a hilarious description like that?
Lol
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A very powerful post!
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Thank you so much for dropping by and commenting.
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Very nice shots. What camera are you using? They’re beautiful.
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Thank you! I’m using a Olympus E-M10 (mirrorless).
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Superb, once again!! I like them all, but the menorah is just remarkable.
You’re in Germany?
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Thank you! I’m back to Holland. I went to Austria, and on the way there, we visited Munich and Dachau.
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Cool. Was Dachau…chilling?
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It wasn’t the first time I visited a memorial site of a concentration camp, so I was prepared. Still, it’s incomprehensible and it feels like a punch to the stomach.
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Yeah, I can imagine. No, maybe I cannot imagine. I can imagine me imagining, but not sure that’s what I’d feel.
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I guess, it is a unique experience.
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I’m sure.
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In the 70’s, I visited a concentration camp and and I think it was Dachau. I’d have to check my journals to remember for certain. But I still remember the feelings engendered by that visit. We must never forget. Your wonderful photos and words reinforce that.
janet
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Thank you so much for your thoughtful comment, Janet.
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Captive haunting work Lucile, a visit to one of the camps is on my list of things to do.
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Thank you, Chris. You won’t regret the visit.
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I know, I visited Oradour sur Glane, a village massacred by the SS in June 44 (see albums on my blog). And most important is to remember what men is capable of or what happened. In the Vercors in France is a very haunting museum remembering the assault of the SS on the resistance on that plateau. Haunting, hearing in their own words the stories.
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You documented the site beautiful in photos
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Your black and white shots make this even more poignant, Lucile. I can only imagine that when you entered that gateway, it must have been very sobering.
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Thank you! You’re absolutely right. That’s how it felt.
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A period of history that will hopefully never again be repeated.
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Great shots, a poignant reminder.
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Thanks for dropping by and for your comment.
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All great entries … I may have to take a page from your book and combine the weekly photos from time to time! Some weeks I just can’t get to it. I visited Auschwitz a few summers ago, and your photos here have brought back that terrible subdued and somber feeling I had there.
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Thank you so much.
Feel free to do it. I often combine challenges in one post as I don’t have time to do otherwise.
I’m sorry if these photos brought back somber feelings.
Warm regards.
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Harrowing! Lest we forget…
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We must never do it. The world is so upside down lately that I wonder if some nations have turned the page.
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Twice in some cases!
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Indeed.
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