Even the Earth Forgets 04-15-2011

We went to a Nazi work camp on the 12th.  It’s called Langenstein Zwieberge.  After the war had been decided but surrender had not yet happened, the SS created one last camp.  The intention of the camp was for prisoners to build tunnels into the mountain so th e Nazis could begin construction of armaments underground.  This concept came into being after the Allies dealt a debilitating blow by leveling 80% of Halberstadt.

The Nazis knew the war was almost over, but it was treason for them to admit the Germans were losing or were going to lose so the war effort continued, so life in the camps pushed forward.
Langenstein was the worst place to go.  In an effort to cover up their actions in regards to the work camps, the SS marched thousands of prisoners  (all those “strong enough” to work)from other camps(like Auschwitz) for 320km into Langenstein.  It is suspected that this was done in order to kill more of the prisoners.
Once the prisoners got to the camp, their life expectancy was 4-6 weeks. They were literally starved.  The most horrific thing to me was that all the meals were soup.  If a prisoner had a bowl or cup, he could eat (the camp was all men) if he didn’t, he starved even faster.
The work in the tunnels was horrific.  They were dug by hand with very few tools.  The charges were set by inmates who handled the chemicals with no protective coverings and no guarantee that he would make it out. Those who were willing to go in and set the charges got to leave the tunnels two hours early and return to the camp.
The conditions were horrific.
Going back now makes it seem surreal.  We walked into this beautiful meadow with tiny flowers blooming and  green grass.  Birds were singing and though it was windy, there was no indication other than a few fence posts) that this had been a place of death and genocide.  I think that made it all the more saddening.  Even the earth forgets tragedy.  We walked up to the memorial and it was smaller than I had thought it would be. I was walking in a place where there were six mass graves.  Hundred no, thousands of men who had been torutured, starved, and ultimately killed had been thrown into shallow hole with hundred of others and totally dehumanized.  The weren’t given the dignity of even being memorialized until years later.  And I was walking on them.  It was so sad.
One of the most interesting things about Langenstein is that the inmates weren’t primarily Jews.  It was primarily Communists.  There were Jews, but the camp wasn’t a place of religious persecution, so much as a place to commit murder indiscriminately.  The Germans were certain they could turn the war around if they built the tunnels and the prisoners were expendable free labor.  There was also a limitless supply of them. Appalling, and all on the orders of one evil man and all the people he convinced of his correctness. 
The eerie stillness gives me chills still.