The first thing we did today was hop on a bus and drive towards Salzburg. Along the way, we stopped at Mauthausen, a concentration camp from WWII that was comprised mostly of Polish prisoners of war. After we stepped off the bus, the first thing we noticed was the beautiful view of the rolling hills/mountains from the concentration camp. What a juxtaposition, I thought, of beauty and horror. It must also be interesting for the people living in the town to have a constant reminder of the atrocities that occurred in that very camp. There is no way to avoid it. I think this could have one of two effects on a town. I think in some places, without intentions to remember, people may become desensitized to it. It may also be an effective way to remind the people in the town and elsewhere of what humans are capable of, and prevent something like that from happening again.
Juxtaposition indeed!
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