#YOGO- You Only Germany Once. And yes, I am using Germany as a verb.
The weekend's events consisted of:
1) Watching a German Football Game of HSV vs. Bayer Leverkusen
This was such fun! Germans love their soccer. It is definitely the most popular sport in the country. The joy and pride Germans feel for their home soccer team is strong, to say the least. Fans cheered adamantly for their teams and many emotions were felt throughout the game. The home team, HSV won as well, so most fans went home happily cheering for their team. Literally, fans were loudly chanting songs as the masses marched out of the stadium.
2) Walking Tour of Hamburg
1) On the Walking tour of Hamburg we saw many beautiful sites. The Hotel Atlantic, the inner water in the middle of the city, the Town Hall of Hamburg, St. Nicholai (A church that was partially destroyed during World War II) and a museum that memorialized much of the destruction that happened in World War II.
3) Going to Reeperbaun and eating a fish sandwich at the Fischmarket
That night, we made our way to Reeperbaun. Bjorn Hennings, our guide and instructor while here in Hamburg told us that if we really wanted a Hamburg experience, we would go to Reeperbaun ALL night and then go to the Fischmarkt in the morning and get a delicious fish sandwich. SO...of course as a young group of motivated tourists, we accepted the challenge! We went to this section of Hamburg known for having a lively night atmosphere and stayed out all night until 5 in the morning. We then made the short trek to the fishmarkt, ate yummy fish sandwiches, trudged back home, and collapsed in our beds!(:
5) Visiting KZ Gedenkstatte Neuengamme
The following afternoon we we toured a concentration camp, more so the memorial of the concentration camp. Some of the original buildings were still intact, but some had been destroyed due to the fact that after World War II, the concentration camp turned into a German prison.
Here are a few pieces of interesting information I discovered on the tour:
1) I did know that many groups of people other than the Jewish population were terrorized, but I did not know that Russians were the ones who were most disliked and killed most often.
2) I also was cognizant that there were many concentration camps, but I had no idea there were such things as satellite camps. Satellite camps are were many prisoners were held and they were located near the bigger camps. Also, I had no idea that prisoners were often sent to work at companies. The prisoner were a form of economical, privatized labor.
3) The bathrooms for prisoners were tiny and inadequate. The space provided would not suffice for 20 people, no less 500 people.
4) Since the sleeping quarters were usually very overcrowded 2-3 people sometimes slept in one bed.
5) There were 20 children sent from Auschwitz to this concentration camp to be part of a medical experiment. These children ranged from age 3 to 12. Each child was infected with tuberculosis and eventually died.
***The actions that took place here were horrifying and disturbing. No doubt it is a scary and slightly uncomfortable part of history to study. At one point, I was not going to visit this concentration camp because I was uncomfortable with the emotions it might bring up. But nevertheless, everyone needs to be knowledgeable and know that it did happen. I believe it is important to educate youth about the Holocaust, concentration camps, and World War II. It is a part of the world’s past and we can avoid such horror in the future by ensuring our students possess knowledge of what happened so they can help it not happen once more.
The weekend's events consisted of:
1) Watching a German Football Game of HSV vs. Bayer Leverkusen
This was such fun! Germans love their soccer. It is definitely the most popular sport in the country. The joy and pride Germans feel for their home soccer team is strong, to say the least. Fans cheered adamantly for their teams and many emotions were felt throughout the game. The home team, HSV won as well, so most fans went home happily cheering for their team. Literally, fans were loudly chanting songs as the masses marched out of the stadium.
2) Walking Tour of Hamburg
1) On the Walking tour of Hamburg we saw many beautiful sites. The Hotel Atlantic, the inner water in the middle of the city, the Town Hall of Hamburg, St. Nicholai (A church that was partially destroyed during World War II) and a museum that memorialized much of the destruction that happened in World War II.
3) Going to Reeperbaun and eating a fish sandwich at the Fischmarket
That night, we made our way to Reeperbaun. Bjorn Hennings, our guide and instructor while here in Hamburg told us that if we really wanted a Hamburg experience, we would go to Reeperbaun ALL night and then go to the Fischmarkt in the morning and get a delicious fish sandwich. SO...of course as a young group of motivated tourists, we accepted the challenge! We went to this section of Hamburg known for having a lively night atmosphere and stayed out all night until 5 in the morning. We then made the short trek to the fishmarkt, ate yummy fish sandwiches, trudged back home, and collapsed in our beds!(:
5) Visiting KZ Gedenkstatte Neuengamme
The following afternoon we we toured a concentration camp, more so the memorial of the concentration camp. Some of the original buildings were still intact, but some had been destroyed due to the fact that after World War II, the concentration camp turned into a German prison.
Here are a few pieces of interesting information I discovered on the tour:
1) I did know that many groups of people other than the Jewish population were terrorized, but I did not know that Russians were the ones who were most disliked and killed most often.
2) I also was cognizant that there were many concentration camps, but I had no idea there were such things as satellite camps. Satellite camps are were many prisoners were held and they were located near the bigger camps. Also, I had no idea that prisoners were often sent to work at companies. The prisoner were a form of economical, privatized labor.
3) The bathrooms for prisoners were tiny and inadequate. The space provided would not suffice for 20 people, no less 500 people.
4) Since the sleeping quarters were usually very overcrowded 2-3 people sometimes slept in one bed.
5) There were 20 children sent from Auschwitz to this concentration camp to be part of a medical experiment. These children ranged from age 3 to 12. Each child was infected with tuberculosis and eventually died.
***The actions that took place here were horrifying and disturbing. No doubt it is a scary and slightly uncomfortable part of history to study. At one point, I was not going to visit this concentration camp because I was uncomfortable with the emotions it might bring up. But nevertheless, everyone needs to be knowledgeable and know that it did happen. I believe it is important to educate youth about the Holocaust, concentration camps, and World War II. It is a part of the world’s past and we can avoid such horror in the future by ensuring our students possess knowledge of what happened so they can help it not happen once more.