Flossenburg

As our last family outing before Hyrum left, we decided to check out Flossenburg, which is just an hour from our house.  The small town has a Concentration Camp Memorial, as well as some castle ruins you can walk up to.  We enjoyed seeing both and spending time outside in the cooler weather.  

Two of the preserved buildings--the laundry/washroom and the prisoners kitchen.  In the middle is Roll Call Square. 

There were around 100,000 prisoners held at Flossenburg in the 7 years it was open.  The area has a lot of granite, so prisoners were often sent out to quarry granite in small work camps.  Before liberation in 1945, most prisoners were sent on death marches to the South, so only 1500 sick people were still found in the camp.  

 The nature of the area was obviously a bit dark and haunting, but we were both surprised at how beautiful the grounds were.  They've done a good job at creating a memorial that educates visitors about the place's sad history [through two museums] while still paying tribute to all who passed through the camp [there's a memorial garden with beautiful paths and flowers.]

Several buildings are still standing, including a few watch towers. 

I was surprised to learn that many of the inmates weren't Jewish.  As you can see from the map above, 22,000 people came from Russia.  There were a lot of political prisoners, along with homosexuals and gypsies.  

Wash room as it exists today.  

Hyrum checking out the displays. 

After finishing at the Camp, we headed to the castle, which was bigger than expected.  I was glad the hike wasn't too far, or too steep, but Hyrum still laughed quite a bit at this picture of me walking up trying to stay balanced.  I guess sometimes we don't realize how silly we look, until its captured on film!

Can you see me?  I opted not to walk up to the very top, so Hyrum went up with the camera.