Dachau

Two absolutely brain-washing week has passed since my return to Hong Kong. I still remember everything I saw in Dachau. Can any genuinely humane person forget what they saw? I don't think so.

The voice of my guide still rings in my ears: "Think of it as a conveyer belt. They enter into this door walking, they exit through that chimney. Custom made, specifically built, a death factory."

This is how he describes a gas chamber, where sick and old victims enter walking, instructed to take off their clothes for a shower, and entered a shower room which is air tight and releases cyanide gas. Dead bodies were then brought to the next room where the bodies are burnt, 2-3 at a time. They listened to the shower instructions in room 1, took off their clothes in room 2, died in room 3, bodies are laid at room 4, and room 5 is the crematorium with the chimney. All under one roof.

Perhaps this is the most fortunate way of dying in a concentration camp. At least you go unconscious before you cannot breath anymore. Most importantly, it's quick, and painless.

I cannot help but to find certain similarities between the Nazi's antisemitic regime and the current Bush administration in the US. At least their "War on Terror", which grants them supreme power to declare war against anyone/anything they label as "terror". Try to extrapolate this "war on terror" concept. Value-laiden non-objective labels are some of the most powerful means to get strong public support and at the same time do whatever you want. The label provides the reason, not the more objective situation; and people support what is called for because they believe in the value behind this label, which may or may not have anything to do with the more objective situation.

I may be oversensitive after my stay in Germany. However I must say I start to appreciate the democratic system and the rule of law.