There were twelve German women and two of us standing in the rain in front of the Furstenberg Railway Station. A queue was forming for the only taxis to be found in Furstenberg. There seemed to be confusion among the Germans over who was going to take the taxis first. My travel companion and I were at a deficit of what to do. We could not speak German and had not booked a taxi. Fortunately, the kindness of strangers had come to our aid as the group’s self-anointed leader offered to take us in one of the taxis they were now bargaining for. All we could do was observe the procedures from a few feet away.
Several times the group glanced over at us. The leader, who had asked me a few minutes earlier if we were here for “the big day”, seemed to be referring to us in conversation with her female friends. We were more than glad to wait our turn. I was satisfied that she had offered us the opportunity to rideshare a taxi the 2.2-kilometer journey to Ravensbruck. The difference between a five-minute ride and trudging half an hour through a downpour was easy. I am not known for my patience, but I was ready to wait.

More than a memory – Commemoration ceremony at Ravensbruck
Living Links – The Human Connection
It turned out that the “big day” was the 78th Anniversary of the liberation of the Ravensbruck concentration camp put on by the Ravensbruck Memorial Museum. The events were held over several days and led up to the Central Commemorative Ceremony on this Sunday morning when one of the camp survivors, Ib Katznelson (ironically a man), would be speaking. Katznelson was imprisoned with his mother Karen in the camp. He was only two years old at the time. The problem for my friend and I was that the ceremony would almost certainly be in German. Thus, there would be no way for us to understand the proceedings. Nevertheless, the fact that we were visiting on this day of remembrance was cause for excitement and reflection. The anniversary commemoration was a reminder that as the years pass, there are fewer and fewer survivors of the concentration camps still alive.
Living links to one of the most heinous historical events in world history are dwindling by the day. The loss to history of survivors is incalculable. Despite all the archives, oral histories, documentaries, museums and historic sites, there is no substitute for the human connection. Very few of us will know when the last survivor who had firsthand experience of the horrors at Ravensbruck dies. And even fewer will realize what has been lost. It is said that time heals all wounds, but time also silences the voices of living memory. Not only are survivors of Nazi concentration camps dying out, but the opportunity to hear singular voices in a tragedy so vast is rare. The emotional excitement among the small group of Germans queueing for the taxis was palpable. Knowing that they, like us, had traveled by train on a Sunday morning under stormy skies to visit Ravensbruck showed commitment. Some things are too important to miss. For them, this had to be one of them.

Keeping history alive – Ravensbruck Visitor Center
Counted Out – A Mass Movement
Anyone who has come into even cursory contact with the history of Nazi concentration camps knows that the sheer mass of numbers is overwhelming. A little later this same day, I would receive the “Historical Overview and Map” brochure at the Visitor Center. The statistic given in the first three paragraphs of the opening section entitled, “The Ravensbruck Women’s Concentration Camp (1939 – 1945) include: 120,000 women and children, 20,000 men, 1,200 adolescent girls and young women, 20 workshops, 40 satellite camps. (Sarah Helm gives the figure as 130,000 in Ravensbruck: Life and Death In Hitler’s Concentration Camp For Women) Considering that Ravensbruck is nowhere near as infamous as many of the larger concentration camps, these numbers are difficult, if not impossible to comprehend. The vastness of the slave labor and killing apparatus set up by the Nazis defies the imagination. It is easy to see the Nazi’s malevolent intentions in those great masses of numbers. It is much more difficult to distinguish the individuals who make up those frightening statistics.
We should never forget that a number such as 120,000 begins with a single individual and then builds from there. It starts with one woman, or with one woman and her daughter, or three sisters, or an entire multigenerational family of women. Slowly, inexorably, the numbers add up. The mind can no longer keep track. Just try counting to 120,000 without stopping. It is impossible. Now try comprehending that each of the 120,000 women imprisoned at Ravensbruck were individuals who saw and suffered unspeakable indignities. The only way to comprehend the human beings behind the ghastly numbers is through the stories of survivors. Having them come back to speak at Ravensbruck allows a window into the past that will soon close forever. As the German woman said to me earlier, this was a “big day.” I might have added that it is a fast vanishing one.
Broken link – Barbed wire at Ravensbruck
Discriminatory Practices – Violence Against Women
The commemoration ceremony at Ravensbruck helps keep the past alive. That is good because Ravensbruck often gets overlooked. The truth of the matter is that if the camp had not been specifically setup to hold women as prisoners, it would be largely forgotten in the vast catalog of Nazi crimes. Ravensbruck’s outlier status as a women’s concentration camp (men were also imprisoned, but in a much smaller proportion) has given it a longer life in the historical consciousness than many camps of similar size. Females suffered just as gravely as males did in concentration camps. This is widely acknowledged at other camps such as Auschwitz. What makes Ravensbruck a subject of special interest is the focus primarily on females.
Coming soon: Confounded By The Germans – From Furstenberg to Ravensbruck (Northern Poland & Berlin #20)