germany

I’m staying in a very German small town called Irsee. There is a former monastery here that houses a yearly baroque festival which I am participating in. I’ve had masterclasses with Elizabeth Wallfisch, a fantastic baroque violinist.
Today we had a bit of time off before our concert and I went with a few friends to visit the euthanasia center. This probably sounds quite chilling, and it is. During WW2 Nazis used this monastery as a camp for sick and handicapped adults and children who they killed either by starvation or poison. We took in this building that had been used at one time for these ghastly acts, looked at the table that looked oddly like a butcher block with a grooves running to the sides and a drain in the middle. There were pictures on the wall of starving, naked children wailing in agony, one missing a hand. Outside there was a memorial, a sculpture with an inscription: “Let us cry out your pain.” There was a cursory explanation posted about the 2,000 people who had died here by the mass grave where they lie.
It was really overwhelming, especially because we went from this ‘euthanasia center’ next door to the beautiful baroque church of the abbey where a wonderful boys choir was singing, singing angelically. The history that you find on Germany is just so shocking, so horrible, and lies in a present that is so picturesque, so calm, so ordered. It is a very strange juxtaposition. I was left reeling today after experiencing the holocaust site and then the boys choir and church in rapid succession.