The History Lesson

This post is less fun, but I felt it wouldn't be right to leave it out. Travel is about experiences, and this daytrip definitely fell under that category.

Pre-visit we are in high spirits!

Because we had only planned a few days in Germany, we had to get down to business right after our arrival in Munich. Our first stop was to visit an important historical site: the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial. After we dropped our luggage off at our hostel we caught the metro to the quiet town where the site is located. It took a while for us to find the route to the Memorial from the terminal, but eventually we arrived and got ourselves some electronic audio guides (3.50 EURO). 

A little ways off from the memorial site you can see these tracks.
The trains that ran on them were used to bring prisoners into the concentration camp.

It was an absolutely stunning day weather-wise, and though the memorial was relatively busy with tourists, it was a very quiet and respectful atmosphere. I had difficulty reconciling my knowledge of its nightmarish past with the bright sunny day, where the birds chirped and a soft breeze rustled the leaves. It was a weird contrast to experience.

The officer's houses were not far from the work camp.
In fact the entire camp was hardly 10 minutes walk from the town of Dachau.

Walking up to the front gates.

"Arbeit macht frei" 

Wrought into the front gates are the German words, "Arbeit macht frei", which mean "work will make you free", which was the propaganda for the labour and "re-education" camps. Every prisoner who came into Dachau, entered through these gates.

Their details were recorded, they were made to give up their valuables and to undress completely, their heads were shaved, and then they were disinfected, showered, and given a uniform with a different colored badge being awarded for every different "crime" (ie: being Jewish, a priest, a political prisoner, homosexual, etc).

The ditch and electrified barbed wire fence made escape almost impossible, even if it weren't for the armed guards.
To the left you can see the outlines of where the barracks used to be.

Prisoners were registered at the gatehouse. All the perimeters were patrolled by armed guards, and anyone trying to escape was shot on sight. Many prisoners intentionally threw themselves into the ditch or the barbed wire, choosing suicide over continuing to live inside the work camp

Prisoners barracks, and the "courtyard"

The courtyard was a prominent feature in the prisoners' life. Roll call was taken every day, and though it took hours, they were forced to stand there in all types of weather. This was also where the public executions took place. The original 34 barracks were destroyed after the war, but a model has been constructed to allow visitors to envision what it would have looked like.

Bunks inside the barracks.

As time went by, the barracks were packed well beyond their original capacity. Needless to say, conditions inside the barracks were atrocious. The camp was designed to hold 6,000 prisoners, but when the Americans liberated Dachau at the end of the war, there were over 30,000 prisoners inside. That doesn't include the many that had been recently executed, or died from starvation, disease, or exposure.

The building that used to have the kitchen, laundry, and showering facilities now serves as a museum. There is a lot of memorabilia and information. There are tour guides that will walk groups through which are great. I eavesdropped for a couple minutes on a group nearby, and then the guide yelled at me. So...no, they are not free :)
It was extremely interesting, but after a couple hours, it really becomes too much to take in...I felt drained afterward. It is very depressing.

Cells.

Behind the kitchen building, cut off from the rest of the camp, was the "bunker", which for all intents and purposes served as a jail. I was actually shocked that a concentration camp needed a jail, it seemed bad enough already. But worse things happened here. Rebellious and defiant prisoners were sent here, and often did not leave alive. I won't go into a lot of detail, but this is where prisoners were sent for solitary confinement, torture, beatings, and the infamous standing cells.

It is a very unpleasant place, and it gave me the creeps.

At the very end of my visit, I reached the crematorium. I almost didn't go in, because it is a really horrifying place. Ok, so the building is just a building. But terrible things happened there, and I felt sick just thinking about it.

The crematorium. 

I didn't take any photos once inside, because it felt disrespectful somehow. Walking through and reading the descriptions of what each room was used for, and the process used to execute countless prisoners was extremely emotional. Actually, writing this post and looking up details I had forgotten about the camp has been a bit depressing. It is that much harder when you are actually standing there knowing what happened in that exact spot.

"Never Again" The International Memorial

Having said that, I highly recommend visiting the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site. It is kept up very well, the museum is full of in-depth information, the staff are wonderful, and the bistro is a nice place to grab a bite to eat when you need some downtime from all the emotional upheaval.

It is a great place for some reflection on the past, and to pay respects to the thousands of innocents that died there, and in places like it. It is terrible to realize what humanity is capable of doing to its own kind. As I study Social Psychology in university this semester, it becomes clear that this is not an isolated phenomenon, but something that could happen anywhere to anyone, if there is enough fear and power at work. Dachau becomes a warning and a lesson against blind obedience to authority and pluralistic ignorance as a society.
I hope it is a lesson that will never have to be relearned.