Dachau Survivors Memorial - Dec 22, 2015

Memorial to the Victims

Sorry to be so slow in getting this out, but we were really tired the first day here, and slept much of the afternoon. The flight was pretty good, but it is long. We arrived in Frankfurt a bit early and then had to make the loooong walk to the gate for our flight to Munich. It was quite a ways away, and we were pretty tired of walking at that point (it was about 8:30 am here, but really about 11:30 pm in Kamloops - far past our bedtime).

On Dec. 22 (Tuesday) we signed up for a trip to and tour of Dachau, the first concentration camp in Germany, built before WW II. We had to leave our hotel and take the subway (which is right below our hotel) to Central Station (Hauptbahnhof in German). That was an adventure in itself, but only 5 stops from our hotel station (Rosenheimer Platz). It is a real disadvantage, not being able to read the language, but people were very helpful, showing us how to use the ticket machines and directing us where to go.

Nicola, our Tour Guide

There is a large entrance building where those entering would pay their fee (ours was part of the tour package). Nicola then talked to us about what to expect and then began the tour. First we looked at the area where the SS was trained. They were the elite bodyguards for Hitler, but also the ones who ran the camp after the first couple years. Their training taught them how to exact the most pain to the inmates while keeping them alive to work for Germany as slave labour.

The camp was first established to get rid of German far left wing thinkers and dissidents against the country. It was originally a concentration camp to change the "way of thinking" of those people and run by the German police. However, too many folks died in the first few years (which was known because the law said that all deaths had to be recorded in the city of Dachau). So, the SS took over and the German police were replaced by them.

They were able to doctor records and took over the issuing of death certificates so that Dachau was not aware of what was actually happening in the camp. Initially, there were about 2000 - 3000 inmates, but as the 2nd World War got going and German occupation of surrounding countries began, the population of the camp increased a lot over the next years.

Entrance Gate to Prison From Inside

The Dachau Concentration Camp was the model and teaching ground for all the concentration/extermination camps that were built by the Third Reich. Al of the atrocities that were committed in the various camps originated at Dachau. All of them happened at some level here.

The memorial is built on the actual site of the Concentration Camp. The entrance to the camp is the original gate where the victims entered. The initial processing building is no longer there, but there are some marking showing where they victims were first processed. They then entered the camp, which was in full view of the SS Officers' home barracks, about 50m away.

The building where they were taken next was to the right. Here they were forced to strip off their clothes, get their hair shaved off their bodies, go through the delousing baths or showers, get their numbers assigned, and were issued their prison uniforms. Nicola explained this process in graphic detail, and the whole purpose was to dehumanize and humiliate the victims. They were no longer known by their names, but only by their numbers and the symbols on their uniforms.

A lot of the corporal punishment was carried out in this building, which echoed quite a bit. The windows opened toward the roll-call square where the inmates often stood for hours, listening to the screams of those being tortured.

Behind this building was another long building, full of individual cells. Nicola described some of the things that went on here. Some of the original tortures are no longer there, but she spoke of the standing cells. These were cells where some of the inmates spent their nights, not able to do anything other than stand. She said that some of these would work for 12 hours during the day, spend the next 12 hours in the standing cell, and then work 12 hours the next day.

Prisoner Barracks Across the Roll-Call Square

She also talked about how the SS would harass these prisoners overnight. Often having the radiators turned up high during the hot summers, and almost no heat during the winters. They terrorized these prisoners during the night, often noisily walking down the hallways and taking a prisoner away for torture. All the prisoners could hear them coming, and we could imagine the feat that tonigh they were to be taken away, each time they heard them marching down the hallway.

Latest Bunks

Across the roll-call square, were the prison barracks. There is only one row of the barracks now, and it is not original. They had deteriorated badly by the time the memorial was created, so this one had been re-built to show what life was like. We went in the first room, which showed the bunks for the prisoners originally. The bunks were three high, one per inmate, built with separations between the bunks for the bedding and mattresses of the inmates. Over the years as more and more prisoners were brought in, the bunks became less individual and able to accommodate more than one prisoner by removing the separations and finally making each level one large bunk to accommodate as many as possible. The prison was originally built to house 6000, but when the US Army liberated it, there were over 30000 being kept there.

Behind this rebuilt barracks are the footprints of the rest of the barracks that were there. In all, there were 34 barracks to house the prisoners.

Crematorium

Unknown Prisoner

Then, there were the crematoriums built to get rid of the bodies of those who died, and later to hide the evidence of what had happened there. What an awful place. The prisoners were brought in at one end, walked through a de-lousing station, and then told they were going into a shower. Once large groups were locked in, the gas was produced and in about 15 minutes, all of them were killed. From there, the bodies were brought out and put into the crematoriums to be disposed of.


This was certainly not a tour to be taken lightly. It was informative and helped me to get a much better understanding of the atrocities the Nazis committed during the war. It is certainly something that humanity cannot afford to forget, and therefore, this is a tour that everyone should attend.

Montreal to Ottawa

The train was interesting. It appeared that most people in our car were commuters between Montreal and Ottawa. Apparently some had come from Quebec City, and most got off the train in Ottawa. There was quite a number of people who were waiting to get on for the next part of the trip towards Toronto.

Of course, there wasn't a shuttle from the train to the airport (I had another car reserved there), so we had to take a cab. The trip cost us $50, but the driver got us there, despite rush hour traffic. It appears that many folks in Ottawa get off work early on Friday afternoon, as the roads were quite busy. Our driver was from Iraq, and he gave us a commentary on the places we passed. Don't know if he took a longer route than he should have, but it was informative.

We drove by our hotel, just before we reached the airport to get the car. We didn't really need to get the car, but we wanted to see some things around Ottawa. On the train, I had found that Ottawa 67's were playing a game against Oshawa Generals in Ottawa tonight. We thought we would like to give it a try, and relied on GPS Jill to find the place.

In fact, it was a short drive (less than 9 km from the hotel), back the route we had taken in the taxi. We had driven by TD Place, which is also where the Ottawa Redblacks play football. It was quite a complex. We found where we had to go to park, got parked, had dinner, got tickets to the game, and went in.

It is a strangely shaped arena, with one side and the end zones having lots of seats (maybe 30 0r 40 rows), and going up quite high. The other side had only a few rows (perhaps 15) of seats, with a low ceiling. The had a large screen on the wall of the small number of rows, and two smaller screens on that same wall at the end zones. There was nothing for the folks sitting under the low ceiling to see the screens.

The game wasn't that exciting. It was a promotional night, and there were lots of kids. It seemed that many of them were interested in getting themselves on the big screens, not the hockey game. It also seemed that the adults there weren't overly interested in the game, either. Ottawa won 4-2, and there wan't even a great deal of cheering about that. However, we have seen an OHL game, before we've seen a WHL game this year.

Back to the hotel we went. The final couple innings of the baseball game were still being played. We watched with disappointment as the Blue Jays lost, and we watched in amazement as the Lions beat up the Tiger Cats in football.

Then off to sleep with lots of time tomorrow before we had to turn the car in and get ready for our flight at 7:10 pm (EDT).  Our car had to be back by 5:00, so we could sleep in. Very comfortable beds so we slept pretty well.

It's noon now (we have a late checkout time) and Dawn has just found a market she would like to go to. So, we have to get ourselves packed up and ready to check out so we can head off driving. Our flight is scheduled to arrive in Abbotsford at about 11:06 pm (PDT) tonight. That will be about 2:00 eastern time, so we will be tired.

You'll notice I didn't include any photos for the last 3 entries. I'm out of time to download them, so will likely come back later on to add them.

Trois Riveres to Montreal

We got off the ship at just after 8:50 am for another tour of Quebec and then a drive to the Quebec City airport. We weren't flying, but had reserved a car so we could drive to Montreal. It was a nice car, a Chrysler with some good features.

We drove back into Quebec City and found a market that was near where our ship was still docked, that Dawn wanted to go to. After that, we went to a restaurant that we had been told had good poutine, and had lunch.  Then, it was time to head off towards Montreal.

We took a secondary road along the south side of the St. Lawrence River. It was slower, going through many small communities, but very picturesque. It reminded us a lot of the Fraser Valley, and also what we remember of Southern Ontario when we took a trip there. Around 5:00, I was starting to get tired, so I suggested we head into Trois Riviere and find a hotel for the night. It was dark by the time we got there, but with the help of the GPS, we found one that still had a room.

The next morning, we went for breakfast at the hotel, and then headed off toward Montreal. We looked for a place near the P.E. Trudeau Airport because that was where we were to turn the car in. We found a Best Western just minutes away from the airport, and once checked in, we went for a drive to downtown Montreal to see if we could get a tour of the Bell Centre, where Montreal Canadiens play.

Well, we found it, but there was no way we were going to find a place to park. Talk about congestion. It is located right in the downtown area, and there is lots of construction going on in that area. Some roads were closed, and many were one-way (of course I tried to go down some of these, much to the chagrin of other drivers), but all was well.

Once we decided we had enough of the traffic, we headed back to the hotel. Who knew that rush hour in Montreal starts at 1:30 pm? What an adventure - wrong turns, doubling back, missed turns, etc. - but GPS Jill got us back to the hotel, after a long while. We decided to stay there for the evening, and went downstairs to their restaurant for supper.

The next day, we had to return the car by noon. Being so close to the airport, it didn't take us long to get there, but of course we were early. I had made reservations on the 1:14 train to Ottawa, and on the shuttle from the airport to the train station. The reservation indicated that we might have to wait up to half an hour for the shuttle.  Of course, one arrive right away and we got on for the drive to the train.

Now, this was about 11:00, and our train was scheduled for 1:14 pm. The shuttle took about 10 minutes to get to the train station, which was right across the street from the hotel we stayed at. Who knew? Well, we had quite a wait for our train, but it was quite interesting sitting in this nice waiting room, watching all the trains that went through here on the route from Montreal to Toronto.

Finally, it was our turn, and we got on to head off to Ottawa.

Driving From Quebec City to Trois Rivieres

We boarded our bus for another tour of Quebec City and then a drive to the airport.

A Day in Quebec City

When we got up at 6:00 am, it was still dark. We were already docked at our pier, and we were to gather for our tour at 8:40 in one of the lounges. So, we went up for a small bite of breakfast. Again, the Horizon was pretty full, and we had to go to the end of the Caribe Cafe (another room attached to the Horizon) to find a table.

After breakfast, we went back to our room to collect the things we needed so we could head down to the lounge and wait for our tour to start.

Today's bus was what appeared to be a city bus, but at least there was enough leg room for me to sit comfortably in the seat. Our driver was Jean Nicola, and our guide was Roger. Both spoke English fairly well, but were clearly French Canadians who are proud of their city. We drove around the old town parts of Lower Quebec while Roger pointed out various sites of interest.

Chateau Frontenac

Samuel de Champlain

Then we entered the walled part of Old Quebec. Again, the streets were narrow, but very impressive. They have done a lot of work to re-construct and restore this part of the city to keep its historical buildings looking good. According the Roger, tourism is the number one industry in Quebec City.  We drove by Karen's ship as it sat at their pier. Roger said it have been there for 3 days, and would be leaving today.

Karen did contact us through a text message. She was going shopping to the Christmas Store. We drove by it, but I didn't know how to get there.

We stopped at the Hotel Frontenac to take some photos. Wow! What a huge hotel. I was pretty impressive, and inside the walls of the city.

One of 4 Martello Towers
in Quebec City

After we left the walled part, we were in Upper Quebec, or New Quebec.  Lots of restored, historical churches, hotels, apartments, and so on. Again, very impressive.  We stopped at the Citadel, and saw the Plains of Abraham. Their central Park was the site of the first golf course in Canada, but it is no longer a golf course now.

Halloween is Coming

Then, it was back to the ship so he could take the next group out on their tour. We spent the rest of the afternoon on the ship. First we had a slice of pizza, and then went back to our room to pack our suitcases. We had to figure out how we were going to organize things so we could put our suitcases out in the hallway tonight by 10:30. That part won't be a problem. What is the problem is how we are going to make sure we have clean clothes to wear tomorrow, and enough room to pack all the other things into our backpacks for getting off the ship tomorrow morning.

Old Church in Old Town

We went to dinner in our dining room. Our table friends came, so we took some pictures of our wait staff (Eena and Roseburn) and our friends (Barb and Gail from Chicago). Then it was on to ordering or last dinner on the ship. The selections have always been good, and they were tonight, too. I tried a watermelon/goat cheese appetizer, beef bullion soup, and a turkey dinner. Dawn had a shrimp/lobster/avocado appie, a watermelon/goat cheese salad, and the turkey. It was very good. For desert, I had baked alaska and Dawn had apple pie and ice cream. We were stuffed.

Old town we walked in 1 and
2 blocks behind the first row

Off we went to the evening show, which was again packed, although lots of people left during the show. It was a dance/music group from Quebec, doing some songs, tunes, and dances from historical Quebec. It was a fun show, and seemed to be very much enjoyed by those who stayed for the whole thing. It went overtime, which may have been why some folks left early. There is another dinner sitting at 8:00.

Then, back to our room, finish our suitcases and get them out into the hall, and get ready for disembarkation tomorrow morning. When we got to our cabin, our room steward, Jules, was coming along, so I made sure to get a picture of him.

We are scheduled to meet at 8:15 to get off the ship and to our bus. We have another tour of Quebec City, and a drive to the airport where we will pick up a car for our drive to Montreal.

Day at Sea - Saguenay River Fjord Park

Well, we gained an hour overnight, moving from Atlantic time to Eastern time. So, we got an extra hour's sleep. It didn't feel like it, but we did. We took our time for breakfast, although we maybe shouldn't have. It seems that lots of people go for breakfast around 9:00. There was nowhere to sit, so we joined another couple at their table.

After we ate, we went to a show in the Princess Theatre where the Head Chef and the Maitre d'Hotel did a culinary show. The talk was fun as they made fun of each other, the Chef did most of the preparation of a 4 course Italian meal. The desert was created by one of the pastry chefs, and this is the one where the Head Chef had some fun. The pastry chef was creating a Black Forest Cake, and the Head Chef basically emptied a bottle of Kirsch throughout the building of the cake.

Town at the Beginning of the Saguenay River

Colours are Really Out

All in all, it was an enjoyable hour. We decided not to go on the tour of one of the galleys because we had done a tour on one of the other ships we had been on. So, it was back to our room to read and watch some football game replays. We were sitting there as we were watching and reading, and we heard a boat come near. It was the pilot for our tour up the Saguenay River Fjord National Park.

Snow on the Mountain

We pulled our chairs in front of our window, and sat to watch the scenery go by. The leaves had mostly changed colour, and there was lots of yellow on the hills. Every once in a while there was a red tree, but most of them were yellow. This is a fjord, so the sides were quite steep and rocky. The water was deep. There was some commentary on parts of the tour, but in our room, we couldn't hear it very well. I called customer service to ask about getting the sound into our cabins, and they directed me to the TV channel with the camera showing where we were going. That is the channel the commentary was on.

Statue on the Cliff

It was interesting, but the main point was as far as we went up the river. It was a 9 metre statue overlooking the river. The person giving the commentary called it "Our Lady of Lordes", but the information on the internet calls it "Notre Dame du Saguenay". Either way, it was pretty impressive. The story he told about it was that some fellow in the late 1800s fell through the ice and would have drowned, but he didn't. He said some prayers and was able to get out of the water and he survived. Later, he had an artist build the statue and it was erected overlooking the river. I don't know if the story is true, but it is a good one.

A Couple People at the Statue

Then it was time for dinner, so down we went. We were more hungry tonight, so it was easier to choose. Great food again. At the end, there was the Baked Alaska parade, which was their farewell parade. We had this experience on our last cruise too, and this one was also good. We didn't get any Baked Alaska, but we did have fun.

Then, off to the show so we could get seats. As usual, the place filled up by showtime. Tonight it was a Musical Showtime starring Tom Franek.  He is a piano player who had a very entertaining and lively show. We really enjoyed it.

Then, there was the comedian from last night playing in the lounge that was near the stern of the ship. We got there after it started and stood at the back of the room, but he was pretty funny. His name is Tom Briscoe from New York. He is a pretty funny guy.

Then back to our room to write and to get ready for bed. Tomorrow we arrive in Quebec, and we have to gather for our tour at 8:40.

Charlottetown, PEI

We were up at 6:00 this morning. Our ship was scheduled to get in to Charlottetown at about 8:00, and we were scheduled to be ready for the tour at 8:40. It was still dark when we got up, but we could see lights of what we thought were the city, off in the distance ahead of the ship.

Weather Near the Ship

We went to the buffet for breakfast, and headed back to our room about 7:40. At about 8:00, the captain came on the blower and informed us that the weather conditions were supposed to deteriorate over the day as a cold front moved through, and it would be too dangerous for us to go into Charlottetown. That plan was to sail onward while they tried to decide on some sort of alternative, although there are no alternative ports around.

So, now what? We were already up, showered, and fed, so what were we going to do now. We decided on doing some laundry, but lots of other people thought of doing that, too. When we took our clothes to the laundry, there were no empty washing machines.

Meanwhile, the weather did get worse. The clouds got lower, the wind came up, and the water got rougher. There were lots of whitecaps, and it was cold. Throughout the day, the temperature seemed to get colder. The forecast was to only go up to 6 degrees, and it seemed like that part was true. There were lots of clouds, lots of rain squalls around us, although I can't say that there was any where our ship was. It was generally pretty miserable.

The cruise director and his crew were working on coming up with a revised schedule of activities, and they managed to come up with a pretty full day. We didn't attend any of the activities, although I had planned to go to a lecture about navigation. I was reading, and forgot about it until it was almost over, so I didn't bother going.

Tonight was formal night, so we decided not to go to that, either. We didn't have formal clothes, and didn't feel right about going to the dining room with all the folks all gussied up. So, we ate in the Horizon restaurant, at the buffet.

Then we went down to the theatre early for the show. We thought nobody would be there when we arrived at about 6:35, but there were already lots of folks there. The shows have been really good, and the theatre has been full most nights, so I guess people wanted to ensure they got seats. It is quite something.

This show was a musical with dancing. The cast is very good, and the show was very high energy. The singers are really good, and the dancers do a great job. We have very much enjoyed this group of artists in the 3 different shows we have seen so far.

Then it was back to our cabin to read and to watch the football games.

They have managed to find another activity for us to go to. Tomorrow, when we get into the St. Laurence Seaway, we are now supposed to go into the Saguenay River Fjord to have a look at some falls. We should pick up our pilot around noon, and then go into the fjord. It should be interesting to see.

Apart from that, tomorrow is supposed to be a day at sea, so we won't be at a port until the day after tomorrow, when we reach Quebec City. We move our clocks back an hour tonight, so then we will only be 3 hours ahead of Kamloops' time.