Bergen Belsen

Bergen Belsen concentration camp was the first site authentic to the Holocaust my group visited.  The grounds are quite lovely- wooded, quiet, miles from the nearest community. If one wasn't aware of the history of the place it would seem an innocuous, peaceful area for a nice nature walk. In part, this is because of the decision not to rebuild the structures that were destroyed by the British in order to wipe out disease upon the liberation of the camp.

The museum was built directly adjacent to the camp footprint.  A large balcony, however, hovers over the Bergen Belsen grounds without touching the earth. In the tradition of their culture it is unacceptable to build on a Jewish cemetery, and so the sanctity of the site is being preserved in order to honor the thousands upon thousands of both of known and nameless victims buried in mass graves there.

Knowing the horrendous events of the camp doesn't prepare a person for the first glimpse of the mass graves. Each one is surrounded by a low stone wall- a retaining wall, of sorts- with a stone marker simply indicating the approximate numbers of bodies buried there. "Hier ruhen 2500 Toten" or "Hier ruhen 5000 Toten." The hush holds a different weight- a different silence- than other cemeteries, for this one contains only the graves, unmarked by personal information, of murder victims.  No one who died in peace surrounded by the people who love them rest there. Only those whose last moments were fear, pain, loss.

The camp is not only symbolic of devastation, however. I learned that it also served as a camp for displaced Jews after the war. Then, it was a place of life rather than death. A place of celebration- weddings were performed and consummated. Babies were born (over a thousand of them!. Hopes were realized. Plans were made. Lives were rebuilt.

As I was having my own moment of silence in front of the symbolic markers placed in the cemetery by the families of some of the victims, a butterfly landed on my backpack. She stayed there for several minutes as I composed myself, and then fluttered away...maybe to comfort another person who needed a simple moment of beauty. She was a good reminder that life, after all, has a way of moving forward, of continuing on, of persevering- even in the most impossible of circumstances.