Global Teachers Germany 2017: Day Eight

Orientation | Day One | Day Two | Day Three | Day Four | Day Five | Day Six | Day Seven | Day Eight | Day Nine | Follow-Up

Day Eight

Day eight started with a sobering tour of the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site. Located outside of Munich, Dachau was the first concentration camp opened in Germany and was intended for political prisoners. The classification of prisoners changed in 1935 as new groups, including LGBT individuals and immigrants, were sent to the camp. The camp was liberated on April 29, 1945 and opened as a memorial site in 1965. Approximately 800,000 visit the memorial site each year. The Global Teachers delegation found the visit “powerful and emotionally challenging” and unforgettable.

Shane Dagenhart looked at the experience through a history teacher’s lens.

As a history teacher I always try and bring the past to life. I always try and put myself back into historical situations to have a better understanding of the events to help teach my kids. As I did that today, my heart broke. There were moments that I didn’t want to look back at this history. How could human beings do this to others?

North Buncombe High School teacher Ben Graham reflects on the emotions of not only traveling to Dachau with Global Teachers, but the feelings of traveling over all that he wants to bring back to his students.

In the afternoon, the delegation visited the Deutsches Museum, a museum that focuses on science and technology that hopes to “inspire people to play an active role in shaping the future.“

They even found a bit of North Carolina in the museum!