Floßenbürg, Germany

It is hard not to remember the horrors that occurred during WWII when they are in your backyard. Not far from where we live is the Floßenbürg concentration camp.  Floßenbürg was primarily used as a labor camp to mine for granite.  The prisoners who were held here were persecuted based on their nationality, ethnicity and political beliefs.

The camp initially held 400 inmates; toward the end of the war 100,000 prisoners were crowded into the main camp. There is still a somber feeling of all the horrific things that happened here.

You enter through the headquarters where records were kept.

 The prisoners would go through roll-call daily.  It was also a central spot for hangings, shootings and beatings.

After the war, lots of concentration camps were destroyed, including parts of Floßenbürg.  Today they have marked out where the barrack-style buildings once stood.

When the inmates arrived at the camp they were taken to be barber where their heads and bodies were shaved by other prisoners.

The prisoners weren't given a choice about being washed- sometimes the water would be ice cold, and other times it would be scalding hot.  They were humiliated as they stood together to be cleaned.  

The washing room:

 I spent lots of time in the museum reading about victims and survivors.  There was a great educational video to watch with survivors. 

It is hard to believe that such a beautiful place could have such a horrific history.  There were watchtowers all over.

I visited the "Valley of the Dead" were the killing grounds and the crematorium were.

Such disturbing feelings.

Visiting Floßenbürg was very humbling, and it's disturbing to see what went on at a "low-key" concentration camp. 

To lighten the mood I took a hike up the castle ruins.

 These hills have so much history

Lots of development has happened