DACHAU Concentration Camp

"Work Sets You Free."  Main Gate, Dachau Concentration Camp.  This was the last site of freedom for the over 200,000 victims of Dachau.

Just north of Munich lies the sobering site of Germany's first concentration camp, Dachau.  On Monday we paid a visit to Dachau and left with a powerful impression of the horrors of Nazi Germany.

The main square of the camp, sitting under blue skies, a cool breeze, and bright green trees.  It is unbelievable to think that just 65 years ago it served as the first Nazi Concentration Camp.

Hitler took power in 1933, and Dachau opened just two months later.  It would serve as the model for all other concentration camps that followed - a vast system of main camps and sub-camps that totaled 10,000 by the end of the war.  I knew that the presence of concentration camps was strong, but I had NO IDEA that many existed... spread across all of Eastern Europe.  While people in the West typically only know the names of the largest ones, such as Auschwitz in Poland, it is almost incomprehensible to think about such a network.

  

A map of the Concentration Camp Network.

Over its 12 years of existence, Dachau would see 210,000 prisoners come through its doors.  At first, most were political opponents and 'enemies of the state,' but as World War 2 began it was extended to include Prisoners of War and later the groups they viewed as 'inferior' such as Jews, Gypsies, and many more.  Because it was on German soil, the camp was not as much of an 'execution' camp that others were - as Hitler did not want the Germans to know exactly what was going on, and thus carried out the largest mass murders at camps in Poland and other Eastern European countries. 

A Hallway in "The Bunker" - the worst area of Dachau where special prisoners were held.

As we toured the site, it struck us how clean everything was... The Nazi's made sure to use any tactics necessary to torture the prisoners, often using even a speck of dirt as reason for punishment.  The whole scene was almost surreal, as you could not believe that such a place could exist... especially when touring the gas chambers and incinerators.

Dachau also served as a major training center for the SS - Hitler's secret police service that ran the camps and also served as his personal body guards / police force.  Many famous Nazi's would be trained here, including the Warden of Auschwitz and those responsible for the "Final Jewish Solution" - which was the condemnation of European Jews by the Nazis.   

An historic photograph of the barracks at Dachau.

Restored version of what the barracks looked like.  Originally built to house 140 people per hall, at the time of liberation over 2,000 people were living in each one.

Dachau was finally liberated in April of 1945 by the US Army's 42nd Rainbow Division.  It was one of the first camps to show the West the atrocities of the Nazi Concentrations Camps - with over 30,000 people being rescued.  

In 1965, the Memorial Site was established, and today almost 800,000 people per year visit the site - including a MANDATORY visit by all German students.  It is important that we do not forget about this terrible moment in history - and that we learn from the past.

To learn more, visit the OFFICIAL SITE or the WIKIPEDIA ARTICLE.  

~ J. Twice