Buchenwald and Leipzig

This morning I woke up with a heavy feeling in the pit of my stomach. My excitement for the day was mixed with an ominous feeling of dread. I knew today’s visit to Buchenwald, a Nazi prison camp, might well be tough on all of us and, to be honest, I was incredibly nervous about the effect it would have on me. I was certainly thankful for the opportunity to visit it and realized its significant historical importance, but I couldn’t imagine myself being in a place so filled with manipulation, violence and death - man's inhumanity to man.

After watching a video we toured the extensive grounds of the camp, learning about the kinds of people who were imprisoned there. We continued our tour into the actual prison grounds, stopping at the guard tower where the clock has been permanently fixed at 3:15, the time the camp was finally liberated.

As we entered the grounds I was struck by the profound silence that permeated the entire place. It was truly a haunting experience and my sadness increased as we made our last stop of the tour at the crematory.

Although I knew this wasn’t an extermination camp, it was still horrifying to think about the senseless death that took place where I was standing. These ovens, to me, represented the very essence of the Nazis project: that certain people are by definition, superior and that certain people had no value, could be disposed of, like garbage, without a second thought. I began to feel sick just thinking about it, but appreciated everything I learned and everything I felt during that tour.

The bus ride to Leipzig afterwards was somber and silent, but we were soon filled with anticipation for our afternoon concert. We were to sing in St. Thomas Church.

In this church, Martin Luther preached in 1539, signaling the arrival of Protestantism in Leipzig. Bach's 12 children and the infant Richard Wagner were baptized in its the early 17th-century font, and both Mozart and Mendelssohn performed here.

Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels also stood before this same font as godfathers to Karl Liebknecht, who grew up to be a revolutionary as well.

Bach was choirmaster at this Gothic church for 27 years. The great music Bach wrote during his Leipzig years commanded little attention in his lifetime, and when he died, he was given a simple grave, without a headstone, in the city's Johannisfriedhof. It wasn't until 1894 that an effort was made to find where the great composer lay buried. Moved to the local church, it was destroyed by Allied bombs in December 1943. Bach subsequently found his final resting place in the most appropriate place: the Thomaskirche, where Bach served as choir master as well as organist. I was more than thrilled.

Of all the classical composers Bach is my favorite and I couldn’t wait to sing in the very Church he called “home.” After our quick “costume” changes in the bus we headed into the church for our 20 minute concert. The acoustics were incredible and I only wish we had longer to sing in that amazing building.

I know you want a closer look at the altarpiece.

After the concert and many group photos, we were shocked to discover that we had been singing directly in front of Bach’s grave. Speechless!

Reflecting on the talent of so many great German composers was a welcome contrast to the depressing history that we had recalled during the Buchenwald visit. After a tour of St. Thomas we continued on a city tour of Leipzig, ending at our restaurant for the evening.

We shared a wonderful meal together before getting back on the bus for our long drive to Berlin! We entered the city around 10 o’clock at night, but from what I’d seen already driving to our hotel, I had a feeling I was going to love Berlin. We checked into our incredible hotel rooms and went to bed excited for the BUS TOUR the next morning!