Warning : A very dark, traumatic and chilling post ahead. Discretion Advised. Please quit reading/ viewing the very instant you feel overwhelmed. I apologize in advance if you get depressed after reading the entire post.
The mood of the week has been synonymous with the weather; cold, dark and not to mention depressing. The weather can make a compelling excuse owing to the approaching winter but the cause for the gloomy mood can squarely be pinned on the visit I made last weekend to the Concentration Camp in Buchenwald, East Germany.
I admit, I have been to morgue, a crematorium and an autopsy lab, I have seen death take away some of my loved ones but never before have I visited a place that has given me constant shivers down my spine by its mere remembrance. Buchenwald is one such place, located in the midst of thick woods, it was built by the Nazis to house political opponents, Jews, Homosexuals and Gypsies among others. Primarily an extermination through labor camp wherein inmates were made to slave 15 hours a day without much food, water or toilets. Death came by the dozens with an average of 200 odd people dying at the camp on a daily basis that a permanent crematorium had to be built there to dispose of the bodies.
The following photo was taken when the Allied Forces wrested Buchenwald from the Nazis.
A pile of human corpses outside the crematorium waiting to be burnt.
The Corpse Cellar
The Height Gauge in the Infirmary
One of the many Nazi extermination techniques was that a random inmate would be picked and sent to the infirmary for health inspection. The camp doctor there would ask him to stand against a height gauge to measure his height. Lying concealed to the inmate would be a hole in the wall of the height gauge which would help a shooter at point blank range standing by on the other end of the wall complete the task at hand. This apparently was designed for two benefits, the victim would never guess how his death might come about and the shooter would never have to face his victim.
Just like the citizens at the end of the video, our expressions too assumed melancholic proportions with a young lady in our group passing out on seeing some of the exhibits kept at one of the exhibitions.
Survivors of the holocaust were regarded very lucky, the following is an account of one such survivor.
I left Buchenwald wondering exactly how severe my problems were in comparison to what the inmates of Buchenwald must have gone through and realized what luxurious lives we lead; being able to live a life of limitless freedom without the thought of death looming large over our heads, getting to eat lavish meals without a bother in the world and being able to do what, when and how we please without fearing for our lives.
At the end of it all, I only felt the gratefulness multiply for being blessed with such a positive upbringing that I surmise what hurt and pain the affected must have gone through and also realize how grossly important being humanitarian is.
Lets End this one on a happier note, shall we?
Our Deepavali Spread, 15 of us got together and churned out the above.
PS: It was only after this meal that I felt some reprieve from the gloom and melancholy.
Hope you all had an awesome Deepavali.
