Today we’re celebrating the fact that our country was liberated from nazi Germany in 1945. Only a few months ago I was in Theresienstadt, near Prague. One of the scariest places on earth. In this concentration camp, no less than 33.000 persons died. Not because they were murdered (although there were executions), but mostly because of the extreme conditions: starvation, cold, stress and disease (especially typhus).
One of the strangest things that I noticed is that there are actually people living again in the houses that were once used to ‘house’ the inmates. While the main fortress was designed to house 7000 people, the nazis squeezed ten times as many people in the barracks. No wonder so many died.
Yesterday I watched a documentary about Sobibor, an extermination camp in Poland. A few archeologists have discovered the remains of the gas chambers very recently. This means that the almost 200.000 dead are finally given a voice. The nazis tried to cover up the camp, but in the end, we will all know the truth.
Leica M9 with 35 summicron