Located about 20km northwest of Munich lies the former concentration camp of Dachau. Established by the Nazis in 1933 the camp served to imprison people of different political stance (communists, social democrats, trade unionists), or anybody of different beliefs (jews, catholics, Jehovah's witnesses) as well as repeat criminal offenders, male homosexuals, gypsies, homeless, disabled, prisoners of war, and basically anybody else who did not fit the Aryan profile.
KZ Dachau was the first camp of its kind and its set up became a prototype for all later concentration camps. Also, it served as training facility for the SS guards. Here they learned their "tools of the trade".
Death toll was high. Many people suffered and died during its twelve (!!!) years of operation through forced labour, torture, execution, malnutrition, disease, suicide and medical experiments.
The camp was surrounded by barbed wire fence, a double ditch, a wall and several guard towers which made it impossible to escape. 32 barracks housed ten thousands of prisoners, and two crematories were built to dispose of the countless bodies.
Liberation of the few survivors came with the American allies in 1945.
In 1965 the memorial site was founded through the initiative of former inmates, which got supported and financed by the Bavarian state government.
Although the sun was out, its rays didn't really enlighten the place. The atmosphere was somber. We walked the walk of the prisoners. When we entered through the gate we fell silent, we walked past the gathering place, and along the foundations of the barracks.
The barbed wire fence is rusty but very much intact, the watch towers must have provided an excellent overview for the snipers.
The crematories left us with a lump in our throats. First, people would have to undress, and get rid of their few belongings, then they were sent into the "showers" (Brausebad), in order to be gassed. Actually in Dachau the gas chambers were never used for mass killings, but the set up had been designed and invented here.
Another way of mass killing was the shooting area, a special area with a "blood ditch".
Why could this happen, and how? We never got a satisfying answer out of our grandparents to these burning questions. "We didn't know." or "It wasn't us." were the stereotype responses.
There is nothing we can do to make this undone but it is up to all generations to follow keeping this memory alive, and to never let this happen again.
