Natzweiler

This is the concentration camp post.  As much fun as I have writing, sometimes it’s hard for me to find the appropriate words.  In this post I will share a number of photos with you rather than writing too much.  I will start with just a bit we learned about the Natzweiler camp.  It is located in the Vosges mountains right outside Strasbourg in the Alsace region.  Before WWII, there was a lovely ski resort at its location.  This work camp was used primarily to hold political prisoners meaning opponents of the Nazis and Vichy France (not specifically Jews like the camps in Germany).  Since it was a work camp and not a death camp, the gas chamber is located a bit farther away from the work site and living quarters.  Even though these prisoners weren’t put to death en masse, they were worked relentlessly building what the Germans called a potato cellar (It is an underground structure which I believe is the length of 3 football fields and now houses a museum.  It was not constructed to store potatoes, and its intended purpose was never stated by the Nazis).  Prisoners were so tired that many couldn’t climb the hill where they were housed without lifting their knees with their hands.  If the prisoners were not submissive, they were imprisoned in small chambers for days where they were not permitted to sit or sleep.  In some occasions, they were hung for all to see. 

The Université de Strasbourg conducted many medical experiments in Natzweiler.  In a disturbing and sad twist of fate, a great number of Jews were brought from Auschwitz to this French camp where they were slowly tortured and killed by physicians to advance research.  Learning about these horrors and being in a place where so much evil had occurred made me feel physically ill.  The rest of this entry will be photographs.  For the faint of heart, there are but a few images of Nazi tools used for body disposal.   The remains of those who died here are either scattered or buried higher on the hill above the camp.

Beautiful Alsacian country living

Plans for the camp wouldn't be complete without "Arbeit macht frei".

The layout of the camp~ if you look on the top right, that super long building is the potato cellar.

Natzweiler entrance with a monument to the prisoners in the background

Konzentrationslager: German for "worst place on earth"

Most of the lodging buildings have been removed, but the very frightening fence remains.

That last building on the left was where misbehaving prisoners were placed in isolation.  This is also the hill that the inmates had such difficulty traversing.

As if the fences weren't enough, the guards kept watch in their short towers.

Home away from home

Prisoner garb

Sad shoes

So many bunks for the prisoners to rest a little

Communal living in the extreme~behold the bathroom.

Kyle in the potato cellar

The prisoners carved this small box with materials they found around the camp and offered it to the guards in good will.

A vision of work and death~ wheel barrows and the gallows

The crematorium

Tools for handling burnt remains

Tools for handling burnt remains

Those who opposed the totalitarian rule of the Nazis

Honor & Love of Country :: Humble Bones

For the glory of the French Resistance fighters who were executed or disappeared in Nazi prisons

Something so horrible in a breathtakingly beautiful place

lather, REIMS, repeat

The correct French pronunciation of this city is something like rans, but you could visit a good number of online forums where English speakers struggle to convey how it ought to be.  Kyle and I always thought it sounded like the word "rinse" with a crazy French accent.  Either way once you get past its name there is plenty to enjoy in this city located in the Champagne region.  That's right, bottles full of bub.

We arrived there in the middle of the week, but it felt like the weekend because the town folks were out in full force.  We took an exploratory walk making our way first to the cathedral (Notre Dame de Reims).  This church has an incredible history and personal significance to the Ham fam.  Susan's father had been in Reims during WWII and taken a picture of it in disrepair.  It has since been restored (as you may have seen in my post A Blip on Your Radar).   Before Notre Dame was built in the 12th century, a basilica had been there at the time Clovis was crowned king of the Franks in 496 AD.  Overall twenty-four kings of France have had coronation masses in this Reims cathedral~consider this place the Westminster Abbey of France.  Alas, most churches don't withstand the test of time and hardship; Notre Dame endured a fire in the 1210 and 1481, was besieged by the English in the Hundred Years' War, and was damaged by German shellfire in 1914.  You may be surprised to learn that the Rockefellers funded the reconstruction of the church after WWI.  Yet again, America rescues a French treasure.  According to Kyle's handy Rick Steves guide, much of the stained glass was removed from the church during WWII to store it safely until the European conflict had been resolved (we'll get more into that later in this post...).  Recently vineyard owners funded a stained glass project for the church, and it's lovely.  It depicts the process of growing vines, harvesting the fruit, and fermenting the sparkling wine.  Who knew we'd get a lesson in oenology at a cathedral?

A restored cathedral beginning the long process of being pressure washed.

Kyle's dropping some serious Rick Steves knowledge on us as we take in the view.

For restoring their cathedral, the French bestowed one road sign to the Rockefellers.  How thoughtful.

Well, the afternoon got much more interesting as we walked what seemed like miles to champagne caves where we hoped to enjoy a tour and some tastings.  We were quite dismayed when we arrived at 5:30pm and found the place completely closed up even though they closed at 7pm.  We discovered that we missed the last tour time (at 5:30) and were out of luck until the following business day.  *sigh*  We walked back to the hotel where I was ever so grateful that someone bought sausages, cheese, and bread while we were still in Normandy.  With some cold beers and a mix of peanuts and dried fruit, we had a veritable picnic in the hotel lobby.

Bradly gives this picnic two enthusiastic thumbs up.

We lost one plastic knife to the sausages before Kyle borrowed one from the hotel restaurant.  Crisis averted.

The next morning we set out with a mission~we were going to make it to a champagne cave.  We chose a different place since we were locked out of the first place.  Perhaps other establishments stuck to their posted business hours.  We also planned to visit Porte Mars and the Musee de la Reddition (Museum of the Surrender).  We passed Porte Mars as we came into town, and it looks like one of the most ancient things I had ever laid eyes on.  It sticks out in the midst of road construction and crazy intersections that only European civil engineers would dream up.  Porte Mars was built as 1 of 4 city gates to Reims in the 3rd century, and it's said to be the widest triumphal arch of its kind from the Roman era.  It was quite impressive.

I wasn't kidding about it being in the midst of a traffic nightmare.  It's as if the Europeans know that by putting traffic circles around Roman monuments they give motorists ample opportunities to run over a tourist...

Since the day was still young, we agreed that 11am was still a bit too early to do a champagne tasting (I think it's only appropriate at showers or brunches...).  We went to the Surrender Museum; this was a well hidden treasure.  On May 7th, 1945 in a small school, the Nazis surrendered to General Dwight Eisenhower in his temporary headquarters.  The school (named after FDR) is still open and full of angsty French high schoolers, and the museum takes only a small space out of the building.  They had a lovely movie on the surrender, plenty of newspapers framed from that day in several languages, and other war collectibles.  The most impressive and amazing part of the museum was entering Eisenhower's war room just as it was when the Act of Military Surrender was signed.  I found this great personal account of the surrender on BBC's website.

So much to read about the surrender.

The jig is up

The surrender happened directly behind me.  War rooms are very mappy.

The keys to the kingdom~or just the war room, but still very special.

Finally after a long morning of walking and touring, the Ham fam was ready sip some bubbly.  Alas, luck was not on our side, and the cave had been abandoned during the 2 hour lunch period (12pm-2pm) even though the hours distinctly said they were open from 10am to 7pm.  It just was not meant to be.    We are, sadly, people who tasted no champagne in the Champagne region.  Oh well... up next on our road trip will be highlights from Alsace-Lorraine~our stomping grounds.  Get excited!

My father stormed the beach at Normandy!

Okay, so the title is a bit untrue.  My father wasn't even born until after WWII, but this sentence has been in my head since middle school when I saw (and then read) a great movie, Stand by Me (or The Body in print).  Seeing Saving Private Ryan added to my understanding to why storming the beach at Normandy would be an impressive yet traumatic experience.  It was with great anticipation that I finally got to go to this place on the outset of our Ham fam road trip across France.

Monday afternoon we drove west and arrived in the town of Trouville~home of a large Casino and many-a-crepe restaurant.  We enjoyed a tasty dinner and drank some delicious cidre (or cider for English folks) which is a regional specialty.  Even though we checked into a Best Western, the hotels architects did their best to make it blend with the surroundings.  There was a lovely bar and a room to play pool (for free!).  It was an excellent home base for daily excursions to WWII museums and memorials.

Not your typical American chain hotel~the flowers give it that little something extra.

Downtown Trouville~ did I mention that "trou" in French means "hole"?  We were residing in Holeville... charming.

Tuesday morning our exploration in all things Allies and Axis powers began starting in Arromanches where Rick Steves had recommended a little D-Day museum.  These beaches were invaded by the British on 6 June, 1944 as part of Operation Overlord.  Arromanches was chosen to be the location of one of two Mulberry harbors; these were temporary harbors put together off the coast to deliver cargo to the Allies.  It was an absolutely beautiful place, and it must have been good for the military to arrive in June because this was a chilly place for us in September.

There are still remnants of military things in la Manche (or the English Channel).

Our next visit was a little farther west along the coast to Omaha Beach and the American cemetery.  You may remember our visit to St-Avold right down the road from us in the Lorraine region.  It's hard to believe there are more Americans interred there in the Moselle while taking in how enormous the cemetery is in Normandy.  They have a beautiful and wonderful museum with dozens of films and stories about the men and women who gave their lives here towards the end of the war.  I loved hearing letters read that the soldiers had written home and what they thought about what they missed at home and how they were doing in France. One of my favorite displays featured a dummy parachutist created by the British and dropped on D-Day to deceive the Germans; they call these little burlap fellas "Rupert".  You can read more about them if you search Operation Titanic.

We came out of the museum to the sight of long beaches and a green lawn lined with perfectly spaced headstones shaped as either crosses or the star of David.  It seemed to stretch as far as the eye could see, and it nearly brought me to my knees.  I am so filled with gratitude even as I sit here in Florida and write reflecting on how many of my countrymen fought for freedom and justice against cruel and evil empires.  I know they didn't liberate France for me, but I am so fortunate to enjoy France for what she is today because so many Americans (and British and Canadians) gave their lives for her independence.  Living in Metz in particular makes one keenly aware how easily France was made German through force and the will of a kaiser or dictator.  The Moselle region and Alsace are French thanks to two generations of Americans who left their homes and risked their most precious possessions, their lives, in order to restore France.  I felt no differently in Normandy; I actually felt closer to understanding how significant WWII was because we walked the battlefields and saw the graves of the men who left America never to return.

Omaha Beach

Americans in France

We went a little further down the coast to Ponte du Hoc where American Army Troopers scaled cliffs on rope ladders to take out some German fortifications.  It was here where we first saw war-scarred earth.  The German casements are left open and in ruins for tourists to enter and explore.  This area has been left so much as it was in 1944 that at times there are serious safety issues (for example, one could fall somewhere between 6 and 12 feet through the top of some casements).  You just can't imagine these places or visualize them from pictures as well as you would if you actually visited these battlefields.

We found Ronald Reagan in France!  Well, we found his words from the 40th D-Day anniversary...

Rangers scaled these cliffs from the beaches.

These German casements (or casemates) are huge! 

Kyle lives a little dangerously posing by fort tunnels.

Grass smooths the surface of this jagged earth.

We were struck by how much damage explosives can do.  I ventured into the crater to give you some perspective on its depth.

I was looking forward to sharing some of what we learned and experienced from our trip to Normandy.  I must confess that our war stories aren't quite complete; though these are from other French towns.  After our travels, I did a bit more reading about WWII online.  I found a nice video on youtube on FDR's announcement and public prayer of the D-Day invasion.  You'll have to forgive me for posting FDR; I am not a fan of his, but I found this address to be very interesting and historically significant.  Next on our tour is Reims, France.  That post will be up in a few days!