Union Solder after Release from Andersonville 

In late 1863, the confederacy began to construct prisoner of war camps to house union soldiers. Often these soldiers were exchanged, like property, in bargains. The camp was built in Andersonville village by W. Captain Sidney Winder. Ironically, the camp was built by slaves in such a way that the tight fitting pine-log buildings gave no view of the outside world. Small gates were also erected around parts of the camp and anyone prisoner found near them would be shot. 

Originally, the 16.5 acre prison was supposed to house about 10,000 prisoners. Despite another 10 acre expansion (using prison labor), Andersonville became severely overcrowded. By February of 1864, 33,000 union soldiers were kept in this horrible place. The summer months were treacherous and men suffered from malnutrition, disease, and dysentery; furthermore, polluted water sources caused even more death. Confederate soldiers had to mass graves just to dispose of the bodies. 

The union won in the end of course, but at what cost? Matthew Brady, a famous photographer of this era, took numerous pictures during the civil war. Many of them were portraits, however, one I saw in class today really caught my attention. 

Nobody would think that Americans could do such grotesque things to their fellow countrymen; however, war causes panic and cloudy judgement. Think about if photography didn't exist during this time...this unique form of art told so many stories and without Matthew Brady the world might never know the true horrors of the Civil War. 

This particular picture reminded me of a war that came less than a century later. In World War II, jews, gypsies, homosexuals, and other minorities were kept in concentration camps (also known as death camps). This era of "racial cleansing" came to be known as the Holocaust. Like this union soldier, survivors of death camps were skeleton like. 

It's curious how history repeats itself. Nonetheless, people around the globe are allowed to visualize these atrocities because of photography. This form of art has completely altered human psyche. When images like these are thrown into the face of someone ignorant, their lives are changed and they become a little more knowledgable. It's this knowledge that can save us from repeating history. 

http://militaryhistory.about.com/od/civilwar/p/andersonville.htm

http://www.corbisimages.com/images/Corbis-PG9343.jpg?size=67&uid=2969dd2c-9752-4673-a968-68578e4e69ef

http://www.eliewieseltattoo.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/EW_buchenwald-prisoners_cropped.gif