Graublau
Speaking about the German concentration camps usually the term “places of horror” comes to people’s mind. Germany was the centre of a wide net of many camps like these spreading all over Europe. They all point out to the past, to the regrettable history of my country and to the suffering of an oppressed and humiliated people.
For a period of more than two years I was on my way to visit these places .
Some of these camps I visited only once and some of them attracted me more often.
It wasn’t always easy for me being there on my own, accompanied by my camera only. Sometimes the camera was like a shield, protecting me from the past. But sometimes the history of these places seemed to be so near that it nearly took my breath. Every step I made seemed to bring me closer to the people who had to suffer so much there. And coming closer to the past made me feel restful at last, seeing beauty where I shouldn’t be allowed seeing it.
My intention for taking photos at these places is not to apologize, because we can’t make undone what has happened there. In my eyes these places are like the soft skin of a healing wound that we should always take care of because it might burst again at any place in the world.
The photos I have taken are not a documentation, they are not even an attempt to explain what has happened there, they are just like the soothing gesture of a hand stroking the head of a dying friend.
Johanna Ulmschneider
Age: 25
Nationality: German
Place of residence: Berlin, Germany
