The German Transportation Museum

On Sunday, January 20th, our group toured the German Transportation Museum. This was one of the coolest museums I had ever been in. It was like the Air & Space Museum, but it had all forms of transportation - trains, cars, planes, and boats. It was fascinating to see the technological development of Germany (which was quite impressive) because I could compare it to America's history. The main reason we were there was to examine the involvement of the railroad corporations in the Holocaust. On display was a giant steam engine used during the late 30's through the war. Next to it was a typical cattle car that was used to transport Jews to ghettos and concentration camps. In a single car, the Nazis would cram roughly 100 people. Standing in the dark confines of the car, I was terribly disturbed by the thought of this. The cars were small and very dark. The only light came from one window, which would be covered up with barbed wire. Sometimes, when people realized what was about to happen to them, they would resort to tearing at the barbed wire with their bare hands to break it. If anyone made any sort of loud disturbances or were caught attempting to throw things out of the cars, soldiers would shoot the car. The journey from Berlin to the concentration camps in east Germany or Poland could take hours, if not days. People had to go to the bathroom and sleep standing up. In the winter, it was bitter cold. In the summer, the heat was choking and the smell was unbearable. It was very important to visualize this; it is impossible to imagine otherwise.