October 2, 2014
To be up and about at 5:00 a.m to reach the railway station! A bus to catch with our exchanges and teachers, what excitement!! Four days in Berlin! Wow! First halt en route was the Buchenwald Labour Camp, one of the largest concentration camps in Germany. Buchenwald – the forest of Beech trees. Our guide gave us an overview of the history of the place. We learnt about the atrocities meted out to the innocent inmates who were 95% non-Germans. We also viewed a documentary about Buchenwald, which brought home the condition of the prisoners as there were interviews of some survivors of the camp. We also saw the torture rooms and the gas chambers. A chilling and touching peek into the horrors of the Nazi regime! We then walked about the streets of Weimar,, the town of Goethe , Schiller and Adolf Hitler, clicking pictures in the sunny autumn afternoon with a slight chill in the air. After an adventurous journey driving through quaint German villages, we finally reached our overnight stay at Froschmühle. A beautifully located self-catering boarding house surrounded by tree clad mountains far from the maddening crowds. Bhavika Kashyap, Grade X
