All Around the World with the Most Travelled Indian – 10
By Nitin Gairola
Dark Tourism is when tourists visit places which have a grim story, whether in the past or are going through one presently. Hence, these tourists instead of wanting to see the fun side of a holiday, want to see the real side of life as well, which at times, may be dark. This is not a new fad but an ever-growing tribe among travelers who want to visit disaster sights or areas in crisis, and I have been guilty of it, too, from time of time, since I want to see the real world with all its warts and freckles, and not pass through it with rose tinted glasses covering my eyes.
I feel some of the reasons for people’s fascination with dark tourism could be the desire to see a reality that’s different from their own and thereby understand the diversity of the world or to realise first hand that life in the 21st century is not all roses or even to remind themselves that the dark history of mankind should never be repeated. Finally, it may be to put in perspective that despite all the issues in world currently, humanity has never had it better than now in terms of individual freedoms, economic development, connectivity and lack of oppressive regimes, violence or racism and how privileged we are to live at a time like this.
So, after soaking into the deep culture and history of Rome & the Vatican, my partner Richa and I wanted to understand the history of World War-2 (1939–45) better. We had actually planned our visits to Germany and Poland around the dark tourism of the War. A part of our Japan itinerary for later in the year was also reserved for World War-2 tourism as well and this was to be an evolution of our travel preferences and approach from here on. We wanted to seek the more honest and true side of the destinations, too, and if it was dark, then so be it.
We thought it would be one thing to read about the concentration camps in Germany and Poland or the Hiroshima atomic bomb site in Japan and quite another to see the camps or the impact of that bomb – both physical and psychological, with our own eyes. And how right we were about this, as no brochure can prepare you for what will hit you in these places, as long as you have the context, the perspective, an imagination and some empathy of course. In fact, to my sheer surprise, very recently a Bollywood movie was released which not only was themed around dark tourism, but depicted the dark tourism of World War-II itself. In this movie called ‘Bawaal’, the protagonist couple visit beaches of Normandy in Northern France where the brutal D-Day landing of the allied forces had taken place in 1944, the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam and the Auschwitz concentration camp near Krakow in Poland.
Our experiences across Berlin and Sachsenhausen concentration camp (Germany) were very moving and in Warsaw (Poland) we even saw the re-enactment of a WW-II battle scene for the public. Hiroshima in Japan was another level of emotion as we were fortunate enough to meet an atomic blast survivor, one Mr Kato, who was very old (naturally) in 2011 when we sat with him on a cold November day. I didn’t ask his age but he appeared to be no less than 80 years old (and probably more) and so he was at least a teen on that fateful morning at 8:15 a.m. on the 6th of August, 1945.
He clearly remembered the blinding light and the horror he saw in the aftermath of the blast and that took the wind out of both of us that day. It was a very sad moment for us but this is what dark tourism is – It’s unfiltered and it’s honest and sometimes unpleasant but this interaction was unforgettable and can’t be easily described in words.
Some students nearby were holding a peace prayer and with the dark clouds above, the mood was very somber but I felt there was hope, as long as the Hiroshima Peace Memorial serves as a reminder to the dark side of human nature and ensures we don’t allow such a thing to happen again. We can only hope I suppose.
(Nitin Gairola is from Dehradun and has travelled the natural world more than almost any Indian ever. He has set world travel records certified by India Book of Records, has written for Lonely Planet, and holds National Geographic conservation certifications. He is also a senior corporate executive in an MNC and, in his early days, used to be a published poet as well. More than anything else, he loves his Himalayan home.)
