Arbeit Macht Frei
Labor Brings Liberty
The entrance gate at Dachau.
Dachau Concentration Camp
I cannot put into words the extraordinary experience of visiting a concentration camp, such as Dachau. The only thing I can liken it to was our visit to the Holocaust Museum, in Washington, D.C. Visiting a museum is of course vastly different than walking the grounds of an actual concentration camp, but it took me weeks to recover from our time spent at the museum.
Tough lessons such as these are powerful and I think it’s something everyone needs to experience if at all possible. I truly believe we cannot move forward if we don’t understand, and hopefully learn from, the past.
A Guided Tour
We wanted to see/learn as much as possible on our visit to Dachau so we opted to take a small group tour. It was so small that it was actually just the two of us and our guide. We took the local train from Munich together. While touring, another English-speaking couple asked if they could join us. It all worked out well.
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Trying to remember all that we took in is nearly impossible. The experience will stay with us for a lifetime in the same way certain exhibits at the museum will never leave my mind’s eye. Struggling to find the words, I thought it best to let the photos tell the story.
Munitions Factor to Prison Camp
Located outside of Munich, Dachau was a munitions factory converted to a prison camp just weeks after Hitler became Reich Chancellor. Initially, it was a prison camp for German political prisoners and members of the clergy who spoke out against the Nazi regime. As the years passed, more groups were imprisoned such as the Roma Gypsies, Jehovah Witness and homosexuals. As the persecution of Jews grew, Jewish men were brought to Dachau.
The number that stands out in my mind is 78,000. In 1944, 78,000 prisoners passed through Dachau.
Our guide, Jon, showing us a powerful image of the vast number of camps throughout Europe. Each word/shape you see represents a camp.
A Training Camp
Dachau was a training camp for young impressionable men recruited into the SS. The men were broken down and brainwashed in order to carry out the duties of the job. The job. Many SS who were captured after the war justified their actions by declaring they were just doing their job.
Breaking the Human Spirit
In the photo below, look closely and let your eyes see the bare wood rectangles inside each arch. Across the span of each arch, there was a solid wood beam with iron hooks. As punishment, the prisoners were chained by their wrists and hung on the hooks – with their arms above their heads – for a minimum of one hour.
As each prisoner arrived he was taken to the showers and all body hair was shaved. It was all about humiliation and breaking the human spirit.
The shower room. The showers were on the left side of the hall.
A Picture is Worth 1,000 Words
Inside the shower room was also this…
I think this image speaks for itself. Prisoners were required to count to 25. Many of them did not speak German, so if they couldn’t count correctly, the beating would start over. (This is a replica.)
The vast open roll call yard where prisoners were made to stand at inspection for 1 hour in the morning and 1 hour in the evening in all weather. The building to the left housed the admitting rooms for the prisoners, the shower room, the kitchens and the laundry. Each prisoner was given 1 uniform, which looked like striped pajamas, a cap and a pair of slippers with wooden soles.
A replica of a barrack.
A replica of the sleeping cots inside the barracks. This is phase 1 the early years of the camp. Notice there is room for a table and benches.
As the number of prisoners increased the sleeping cots and the number of men sharing the cots increased. This is phase 2 of the camp.
500 Men
Another number that will stay with me forever is the number 500. In phase 3 of the camp, 500 men slept in this room. It is the same size room as pictured above in phase 1.
500 men slept in this room. It’s an image that will never leave me.
Foundations mark the placement of the barracks.
Marks the placement of Barrack 30.
Why Remember Dachau?
Why remember Dachau? Because Dachau was the first; it was the model of organization and routine for all camps. Dachau was the training camp for SS soldiers. Dachau was a forced labor camp where prisoners were literally worked to death.
“The number of prisoners incarcerated in Dachau between 1933 and 1945 exceeded 188,000. The number of prisoners who died in the camp and the subcamps between January 1940 and May 1945 was at least 28,000, to which must be added those who perished there between 1933 and the end of 1939, as well as an uncounted number of unregistered prisoners. It is unlikely that the total number of victims who died in Dachau will ever be known.” The United State Holocaust Memorial Museum
The building on the right was the bunker. It was the prison inside the prison.
This was especially difficult to witness – the bunker. Pure evil. Pure hell.
A Day at Dachau
There was more, so much more. We were at the camp for nearly 5 hours, but I’m thinking you’ve seen enough. As odd as it sounds, I see our visit to Dachau as a gift. We gave ourselves the gift of knowledge and there is no book learning that can compare to walking in the path of those who walked before us. It is critical for us to remember, to witness and to share the knowledge.
Carmelite Convent
I’m going to leave you with this photo of the Carmelite Convent which sits adjacent to Dachau. The order of the convent serves to bring peace to places where unspeakable deeds were committed. To reconsecrate the ground.
The entrance to the convent grounds is through a former guard tower.
To learn more about Dachau you can visit the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Although you can tour the Dachau Memorial on your own, as I mentioned we chose to go with a guide. Thank you, Jon, for your insightful and articulate tour. Visiting the memorial with a guide was the right choice for us and if you find yourself in Munich, I encourage you to visit Dachau. Take a walk in the path of those who walked before us and bear witness.
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What a fantastic article – thankyou for writing this post. I would truly love to have the opportunity to experience a day at Dachau, as you mentioned, because I see a visit to these kind of camps as a gift. I think it’s incredibly important to have these experiences to have the knowledge and learn from our history by acknowledging the past.
We must remember and not repeat.
We’ve never been to a concentration camp but we really feel it’s such a valuable educational experience. Thanks for sharing the harrowing details of your trip. Hopefully, future generations will be shocked into not repeating the mistakes of their ancestors.
Gran Canaria Local recently posted…La Flower
Absolutely harrowing. This reminds me of how I felt visiting the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum in Phnom Pehn. It’s not an easy thing to face the horrors of our past but it is so important to know them and try and learn from them.
Charlie recently posted…Burma with blisters: Trekking to Inle Lake
Absolutely, agree. Very difficult places to visit but I’m so grateful for the experience.
What a experiencie… I’ve never been there but it is heartbreaking. It is important to remember what hate can lead to. really good post!
sara recently posted…Vuelos Baratos a Ibiza de Mayo a Octubre 2015
Thanks so much, Sara, for the kind words about the post. We didn’t plan to visit Dachau but when we arrived in Munich and realized it was so close and we could go with a guide, we knew we had to go, and we’re so grateful for the experience
I had to force myself to read this post. The subject matter is so dark and evil, but you handled it well and it is important to never forget this history lesson, lest it repeat itself.
Priscilla recently posted…Chef Jean-Luc Rocha Hotel Cordeillan Bages
I’m glad you were able to read it, Priscilla. It was one of the most difficult posts I’ve written as I too found the subject matter so dark, but I knew I wanted to share it with our readers.
The ghosts are everywhere.
Especially in the bunker – that was probably the most difficult building to walk through – you could feel the suffering.
Dachau, and all the other concentration camp memorials, are important reminders of past atrocities. They are hard to take, but as you said something to learn from.
Corinne recently posted…San Francisco Street Art
Definitely, a powerful learning experience. I tell myself that we’re not suffering and the least we can do is make the time to remember those who did suffer so much.
I visited few camps in my life and it is heartbreaking every time I go there. It is important to remember what hate can lead to. I like your post very much!
Agata recently posted…Travel with Books
Thank you, it was a difficult post to write. I wanted to share what we experienced, but didn’t want to overwhelm my readers. I agree it is very important to remember and to bear witness.
Powerful post Patti. I totally agree that it’s important to visit these places to remember what happened and to understand how these horrific acts can be prevented in the future. This experience reminds me of our trip to the Killing Fields in Cambodia, which was a worthwhile, but difficult experience.
Amy recently posted…Celebrating TET in Vietnam
I was thinking the same thing, Amy and I remember reading your post about the killing fields. The horrendous acts that have taken place in history, and sadly, are still taking place have to be witnessed so they’re never forgotten.
Oh Patti, a chilling experience. So appalling and sad. I read a book about life in a concentration camp 6 months ago and your photos look like the images the book created in my mind. I still think about that book often. Like Gaelyn, I don’t know if I could I could visit a camp either.
Tracey recently posted…Hipmunk City Love: 5 Ways Families Can Save on Travel to Miami Beach
Agreed, Tracey. It is appalling and it was not only difficult to see, but finding the right way to write the post was difficult too. One thing we did learn was that the German people have found a way to memorialize but move on from this small portion of their country’s history. We also took a walking tour of Munich’s city center – nearly 3 hours – and between the two experiences we gained a clearer perspective of the events that took place.
It is appalling what was done to the people in concentration camps. And although learning from history is important I don’t think I could visit a place like this.
Gaelyn recently posted…In and out of Joshua Tree with stops along the way
It is difficult, Gaelyn, no doubt about it. We processed for a day before making the decision to go and we have no regrets. It just felt as if we needed to see it, to get a better understanding of the big picture, of how it all began and move forward.
Patti, your post makes my stomach turn – in spite of the fact that I have visited the United States Holocaust Museum in DC and Bergen-Belsen and read many books on the subject. Thank you for helping to make it “real.” It’s unbelievable to me that there are some who will say the Holocaust did not exist.
Thank you, Sally. It was a difficult experience but one we will always remember and I think that’s the main point, that we must remember and witness to negate those who try to say it never happened.
I visited Dachau a very long time ago. A visit brings the horrors to life in a way unlike any other. I cannot imagine the suffering the prisoners endured.
Have you read A Train in Winter? Interesting to get the female perspective of women in the French resistance.
Leigh recently posted…A Rocky Mountain House Weekend of Luxury & Adventure
I haven’t read that book, Leigh. I will take a look, sounds interesting.