This is a somber but also celebratory post. This week 66 years ago was the week of many concentration camp liberations in Europe.

KZ Sachsenhausen, in Oranienburg, Germany, was freed a few weeks earlier on April 21, 1945. This gate has the words “Arbeit macht frei,” which means “Work will set you free,” is a saying that appears at some camps.KZ Gusen, outside of Mauthausen, Austria, was liberated by May 6, 1945. These crematoria are decorated because of the liberation celebrations in 2009.To find out more about the ceremony that took place at Mauthausen in 2009, which I attended for a history class, read this: Holocaust remembrance at Mauthausen.