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This was my first visit to a German concentration camp. When we set
out to visit a concentration camp, were were told of Flossenburg.
Next we spent time looking on a map trying to find the place.
After much looking, we found it. It is a small town nestled in
the hills near the eastern boarder of Germany, just outside of Weiden.
Flossenburg was the
main camp of a series of over a hundred in Bavaria. There were
over 30,000 deaths during the operation of the camp. Most deaths
were Turkish prisoners of war. Also, some well known German
military officers that did not agree with Hitler, or his party, were
put to death here too. After the war, the Turkish government
built a memorial church, and later a Jewish prayer room was built.
Once the prisoners were liberated, the American military used the camp
as a prisoner of war camp for German prisoners. I was really
touched by the impact of what went on here. We read about it,
but visiting the camp was overwhelming. A lot of the
buildings were gone, but the group managing the memorial have done a
great job of educating visitors. It was a train ride from
Vilseck to Weiden, then a transfer to a bus for a short ride. |
