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University Daily Kansan Monday, Oct. 12, 1964
Dachau Symbolizes Past
Tourists visiting Europe want to see the gay, happy places — Paris, Rome, Vienna, Munich. Here are the lively beer halls and sidewalk cafes; the wide boulevards and quaint alleys. Here also is the history of the old world.
The KZ (German abbreviation for concentration camp) at Dachau was the first of such camps to be built in Germany under the "Reich" of Adolph Hitler. It was instituted in 1933, of wood, stone, and metal. At first the camp was meant to house 6,000 "political" prisoners, but during most of its existence, more than 20,000 were kept within its walls and behind its rolls of barbed wire.
The town is Dachau. The memorial is the former Concentration Camp, Dachau. Here, set in the picturesque, rolling hills of southern Germany, the world's worst war atrocities were committed between 1933 and 1945.
BUT IN A SMALL TOWN about 16 miles northwest of Munich there is another symbol of old world history. However, the tourists aren't so anxious to see this monument.
THE INTERNATIONAL DACHAU Committee, made up of former inmates of the camp, with help from the Bavarian State Authorities is converting the camp into a memorial to those who lost their lives there. (According to the committee's figures, 29,438 persons died at Dachau during imprisonment or shortly after the liberation.)
The Committee, which operates out of Brussels, Belgium, already has converted the grounds into a lovely park, with trimmed lawns, flowering plants, and graceful trees.
But the original buildings are left as they were during the war.
THE VISITOR TO THE CAMP enters across a stone bridge and follows signs directing him to the camp museums.
Before the museum, nestled in a niche of pines, is the statue of a man. The man is depicted in large wooden shoes, long trousers, and a thin coat. He is very thin, especially about his face; his head is shaved. This man is a representation of what the typical inmate at Dachau looked like. He stands on a marble base, on which is carved (in German) the phrase: "To honor the dead; To remind the living."
BEHIND HIM, barely visible through the trees, is a small white shack with a tall black smokestack. This was the old crematorium.
Inside the shack, unnoticed since its use, are four heavy ovens; two large, two small. The floor is partially grated, and sitting in the rear of the room is a portable iron tub. Its use was to hold the wastes from the ovens. This building was not used after 1942 because it was not large enough to handle its job of disposing of bodies efficiently.
AS THE VISITOR LEAVES the old crematorium he is guided to the long, low whitewashed building which is the museum. Here all the records of the camp are on display, as well as many photographs, and scale models of "life at Dachau."
There are several rooms in succession which are display rooms, with showcases displaying the garments worn by the inmates at Dachau, and the utensils with which they were expected to function as efficient workers for the "Reich."
Suddenly, above a narrow doorway, there is a sign requesting silence.
THE NEXT ROOM IS WHITE. The floor is smooth brick, and in the center is a large drain. From the ceiling tiny valves extend. There are no windows in this room, and the doors are of heavy iron.
Standing in this room, the visitor can almost feel the air become closer and warmer. The stillness is oppressive; one wants to make a noise, but it dies in the throat.
Next to this "shower room" gas chamber is the new crematorium. Here are the four large ovens which handled the final stages of the extermination. It should be noted that sabotage prevented the gas chamber from being used, and most of the exterminations were carried out by shooting.
THE VISITOR LEAVES DACHAU with an empty sensation, yet an emotional one.
He may ask why, but the answer is painfully obvious—the fear of a government of its people.
The visitor walks back into the flowered meadows that surround the Dachau camp with a prayer in his heart that nothing like this will ever again blemish the reputation of man.
Bobbetta Bartelt
Goldwater Is an Issue
(Editor's Note; This article is one in a continuing series on vital issues in the 1964 Presidential election.)
Personalities are big issues in campaigns. Voters calculate the pros and cons on the basis of personalities. The 1964 campaign is no exception.
SEEKING THE desired title of "President," most candidates try to sell themselves to the voter. Sen. Barry Goldwater does not. This basic fact makes Goldwater one of the political curiosities of our time.
What kind of man is he?
what kind of man is he.
His ancestors passed on to Barry Goldwater a western heritage and a solid business. His casual manner and his urge for physical activity are an inherent part of the man. His interests range from skin diving, swimming and golfing to ham radios and airplanes. Democrats and Republicans alike are impressed with Goldwater's charm.
GOLDWATER IS SHY. He found it difficult if not impossible to match Gov. Nelson Rockefeller's side walk handshaking campaign during the primaries in New Hampshire. Somehow it is impossible for him to believe that anyone would want to shake his hand. Once he was encouraged to go into a restaurant to shake hands during the lunch hour, Goldwater remarked: "If somebody walked up to me while I was eating lunch and stuck out his hand, I'd put a hamburger right in his palm."
GOLDWATER, AS A POLITician, also can be unbelievably rude. He once arrived early to address a crowd at a college. Even though people were just beginning to drift in, Goldwater began his speech. The crowd had not arrived, but he was ready to speak. So, he spoke.
GOLDWATER IS NATURAL.
"The New Republic," admittedly one of the prominent liberal journals, said: "The man (Goldwater) we are dealing with is unassuming, modest, dedicated." Most political observers agree. His off-the-cuff remarks confuse the press and the voters. He does not kiss babies, shake hands or promise a "chicken in every pot." If Goldwater were really seeking the Presidency, he would have long ago become outgoing, more polite and more guarded in his public statements. Instead he has brought upon himself a continuous rainfall of criticism. Charges of inconsistency and radicalism are constantly directed against him.
With what is Goldwater concerned?
HE IS CONCERNED with his philosophy—conservatism. He is honest with himself. Does he want to go all-out and make five or six speeches a day? No. Does he want to shake the hands of 500 voters? No. He wants only to place before the American public "a choice" between conservatism and liberalism.
Is he succeeding? Goldwater is selling the conservative phi-
iosophy for which there obviously is voter support. He is placing his ideas before the public.
BUT WHEN NOV. 3 comes the choice will not be between two different political philosophies. It will be a choice of two personalities. The voters decide on men, not issues. In order to win the candidate must sell himself. Goldwater is not selling himself.
UNIT INSTITY Daily Hansan
Nancy Schroeter
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Subscription rates: $3 a semester or $5 a year. Published in Lawrence, Kan., every afternoon during the University year except holidays, vacations and examination periods. Second class postage paid at Lawrence, Kansas.
NEWS DEPARTMENT
Roy Miller ... Managing Editor
Don Black, Leta Cathcart, Bob Jones, Greg Swartz, Assistant Managing Editors; Linda Ellis, Feature-Society Editor; Russ Corbitt, Sports Editor.
EDITORIAL DEFARTMENT
Jim Langford and Rick
Mabhutt Co-Editorial Pat
Langford Co-
Mabbutt Co-Editorial Editors
DEPARTMENT
BUSINESS DEPARTMENT
Bob Phinney ... Business Manager
John Pepper, Advertising Manager;
Dick Flood, National Advertising Manager; John Suhler, Classified Advertising Manager; Tom Fisher, Promotion Manager;
Nancy Holland, Circulation Manager;
Gary Grazda, Merchandising Manager.
The People Say...
To the Kansan:
It seems to me that entirely too much has been made of the effigy-burning incident. This is a traditional way of expressing dissatisfaction with football coaches everywhere. Where the athletic establishment promotes vast student enthusiasm to match its vast expenditures of money and manpower, we can only expect that there will be keen disappointment when the effort falls far below expectations. The public deflation of overinflated personalities is an ancient and honorable American tradition; I can hardly imagine a more harmless method.
In a broader perspective, I think that the sorcheaded reaction on and off the hill is more of a sign of disturbance than the incident itself. It is the provincial righteousness syndrome — Kansas children mustn't go the way of their coastal counterparts, or we shall all be lost in a sea of immorality.
Much of the criticism has not been of the method chosen, but rather of the fact that the coach is being castigated at all. Cheer when Goliath beats his chest, but silence when he bumbles. Nonsense. It really isn't Un-American for the kids to boo the bumblers as well as cheer the heroes, local newspapers notwithstanding. Of course, I hope that they will graduate to more important issues in time, and concentrate more on ideas than people. In the meantime, we of the university should have a high tolerance for undestructive overexpression.
Richard B. Dyson Assistant Professor of Law
Poor indeed is the mind which is not capable of being enriched by some phrase of lasting truth. The ability to write what others feel is truly a gift. For a piece of well written prose is capable of restoring one's faith or soul or whatever, in spite of the many inanities of
Dear Editor:
college life. "Thoughts on Love" was such a restoration. Thank you, Rick Mabbutt.
Sincerely,
Patricia Young
Chicago senior
Sir:
Having attended five institutions of higher learning other than the University of Kansas I find myself rather puzzled by the Student Health "Service" rendered here by Watkins Memorial Hospital. Although this is only my second year at the University of Kansas I have yet to notice the seemingly flagrant inefficiency, incompetence, and discourtesy-as collectively manifested by Watkins Hospital—in other University realms. Perhaps this, the medical facet, falls outside the reaches of the normally good University Administration.
Maybe it is not common knowledge that at other universities students don't have to wait in line two (or more) hours to see a doctor; that having seen a doctor, the student (patient) can honestly say that his or her malady was given thorough attention by a reasonably able practitioner—one willing to give the patient credit for some knowledge of himself. Is it known that other university health services cooperate with those coeds who, through the use of modern late mid-twentieth century scientific methods, desire to protect themselves? Is it known that most university pharmacies regard students as customers—and treat them accordingly?
Recently the American Medical Association gave Watkins Hospital a pat on the back by renewing its accreditation for three more years. Wondering upon what criteria this revered organization based its decision—perhaps conservatism—one can only say that service rendered to patients must have been an insignificant factor.
C. G. Bryan
C. G. Bryan Lawrence graduate student
BOOK REVIEWS
THE AMERICAN HERITAGE HISTORY OF WORLD WAR I, by Gen. S. L. A. Marshall (American Heritage, $16.50, or $12.95 for pre-Christmas purchase).
An important new book for the general reader is this massive illustrated volume well-timed for Christmas sales in our affluent age. There is considerable timeliness, too, for newspapers and magazines are now emphasizing that this is the 50th anniversary of the start of World War I.
World War I to most students is either the forgotten or the unknown war. For this reason it is fortunate that American Heritage called on the man who has been called by Carl Sandburg "the greatest of writers on modern war." Gen. Marshall has written several volumes on wars, but this is his first on the War of 1914-1918.
There are more than 300 pictures, many of them in color, and many of them paintings, to illustrate this work. Museums were utilized, and maps were selected, 26 of them, to show key engagements and campaigns.
The story itself is told from the assassination at Sarajevo to the treaty of Versailles. The reader will find himself absorbed in a social, political and military history, for the autocracies of Europe were shattered by the war. It seems pertinent, in fact, to consider that the modern age began at Sarajevo and that World War II was merely a second chapter in a continuing war of the century.
Marshall shows the war against a background of international developments and domestic politics. There are 15 chapters to detail the vast and incredible tale.
- * * *
ABRAHAM LINCOLN: A DOCUMENTARY PORTRAIT THROUGH HIS SPEECHES AND WRITINGS, edited by Don E. Fehrenbacher (Signet Classics, 75 cents); THEODORE ROOSEVELT'S LETTERS TO HIS CHILDREN, edited by Joseph Bocklin Bishop (Signet Classics, 60 cents).
As writers and masters of the English language, Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt are in a select company that also would include Jefferson, Wilson and Kennedy. It is good that the amazing paperback industry is making available volumes like these, which otherwise would be the property of scholars for the most part. Now the public, if it chooses, can obtain and read these books.
The Lincoln book carries the thought of the wartime president from his earliest days in politics into the mighty war years. Documents therefore concern presidential power, national purpose, states rights and slavery. There are private letters and public papers which tell the story of Lincoln.
Roosevelt's letters are, of course, another matter. TR was an outgoing, witty, fascinating character who reshaped the presidency after its years of being in the doldrums. Sketches accompany the letters, which give a clear picture of Roosevelt family life: pillow fights, life at Sagamore Hill, wild animals, Christmas, Panama, the presidency, pets.