Dachau Concentration Camp

Believe it or not, visiting a concentration camp was very high on my list of things to do in Germany. I've always wanted to go to one, not because I thought it would be fun, but because I knew it would be an emotional experience.

Of course the things that we saw at the camp were memorials or reconstructions. Most of the original structures had been destroyed and torn down. It didn't matter though, the story was still there to be told.

The Mighty and the Helpless,  p. 71
 "...the room was tightly packed with military three-tiered wooden bunks...the beds resembled white oblong boxes. On them lay blue-chequred covers revealing on either side a uniform handwidth of white sheet...
...Take a look at how the squares on the bedcovers lie in perfect alignment, not a pattern out of true. Each bed is precisely the same in height and pity anyone who makes it a fraction lower. This is a crime to be punished. An immediate note is made to this effect...
...Everything here is trickery-devised to cause us torment. Frequently they come and rip the beds apart, flinging the bedding in all directions. It needs one of them only to be in a vile range or a drunken temper. If he finds a bunk badly made, the culprit's number is taken and reported, his punishment being an hour hanging at the stake by the wrist tied together behind the back..."

 These mark where the barracks stood...

The Infirmary
"The infirmary was continually extended in the course of the war. Located in barracks A and B were the administration office, the operating rooms, casualty ward, and the death chamber. From 1942, the SS conducted cruel medical experiments on the prisoners in the blocks 1, 3, and 5. These included malaria, phlegmon, altitude, and hypothermia experiments. Despite the infirmary wards being technically well equipped, the medical care of the prisoners was catastrophic. There was an appalling lack of medicines and dressing material. Those prisoners who themselves were doctors were permitted in 1943 to take care of their ill companions. For all those prisoners who could not be brought back to health quickly, the infirmary was a place of death."

 The Old Crematorium
"This crematorium was built in the summer of 1940, after the foreign prisoners arrived and the mortality rate greatly increased. A year later it was already working beyond capacity. The crematorium was in operation until about April 1943. During this period approximately 11,000 prisoners were cremated here."

 It was very sobering to walk these grounds, but it is very important that we remember what happened here. We must never forget.