Back in Middle School, the Holocaust was my first exposure to the worst of humanity. From an early age, it’s easy to view the world as morally black and white with most entertainment and courses emphasizing the good. Upon truly learning about the holocaust really changed my outlook on the true extent humanity can go to sustain a flawed ideology.
I reminisced over this feeling at Sachsenhausen. I learned of the Nazi’s exploits of feigning being a physician to mark which of the imprisoned had gold teeth to be harvest later for resources. I was shocked to learn this as its unfathomable that anyone would value a precious metal over human life.
Although the second world war was devastating, it lead to an awareness of anti-antisemitism and many other injustices leading to the development of the united nations to pursue a more peaceful world. These events opened the world to the worst of human nature and still does to younger generations decades later.