Trip to Germany Day 1 Dachau Concentration Camp

Joseph and I just returned from the trip of my dreams!  We went to Munich,Germany, and the surrounding area, for a week. With travel we were only in Germany 5 days, but they were wonderful days.  The flights were long, but more manageable than I thought they would be.  We were tired, but I didn't feel the jet lag quite like I thought I would.  

Here's all about day 1.  We arrived in Germany about 10 in the morning.  We dropped our luggage off at our hotel, but couldn't officially check in until the afternoon.  We spent the day at the Dachau Concentration Camp with is just outside of Munich where we stayed.  Adolf Hitler was from Munich so this concentration camp was considered the model for all other camps that were set up.  This camp had all of the atrocities that you have heard about in the other camps.  There was a gas chamber but it was never used.  The guards found other ways to demean, demoralize and breakdown the prisoners in the camp.

The camp opened in 1933 and originally held political prisoners and religious leaders who were too outspoken.  The prisoners originally worked for a set period of time and where then released.  The death rate at the beginning was very low, but once WWII started the death rate increased until it was over 50% at the end of the war.  

The camp was designed to hold 5000-6000 prisoners, but by the end of the war there were 31,000 prisoners being held.  The camp truly shows mankind at its worst.

Joseph is taking the picture from the end of the train track where the prisoners would have walked from the train cars to the main gates.

This was the gate to the camp.  The words mean "Freedom through Work". 

Most of the buildings are just empty shells with plaques and pictures on the walls.  The buildings would have been full of prisoners being processed as they entered the camp.  Physicals, showers, and haircuts took up most of the room in the buildings.

This is a picture of the shower rooms with prisoners and the next picture shows the actual shower room.

We are outside on the large quad where the prisoners lined up for roll call. The buildings behind us were the museum where all of the new prisoner processing took place.

The barracks for the prisoners.  Each bed was designed for 1 person, but as more and more prisoners arrived the bunks held multiple people.

Twelve toilets for about 300+ prisoners.

This long rock slab shows the original foundation for the barracks.  There were two rows of probably 15-20 dormitories.

This was the walk between the two rows.

This sign shows what the rows would have looked like originally.

The crematorium.  This area was the first area that was memorialized for the prisoners of the camp.  The memorial was set up shortly after the war ended.

These ovens usually held 2-3 bodies at one time and took about 20 minutes.  I don't even like writing about this part of it.

These were fumigation rooms for the clothes that were removed from the prisoners.  

Different view of the quad.

This iron artwork is a tribute to those prisoners who were kept at this camp.

One last tribute.

This was a very interesting part of our trip, although not a favorite.  I was glad we could see this camp because it gave me greater appreciation for those who suffered here as well as at the other camps.