Friday, July 24, 2009

Part 2. Dachau Concentration Camp

While we were in Munich, we went to the Dachau concentration camp. This was the first and one of the biggest concentration camps and served as a prototype for the other camps that followed. I don't even like calling it a 'camp'...words can't describe it. I debated about whether to post about it. What you see here is nothing compared to actually being at the prison. I can not believe it happened only 70 years ago...and that the people in the surrounding towns and in Munich claim they had no idea it was going on.

The front of the main building which now houses a huge museum. We watched a 30 min. film in English of what went on at the camp...I had to close my eyes frequently.
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We also carried around audio guides that explained a lot about each part of the camp.
This station described the 'roll call' the prisoners went through every day.
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One of the many guardtowers where members of the SS watched 24/7 with guns.
If you stepped on the grass, you were shot.
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The barracks constructed were meant to hold 200 people, but towards the end of the war,
2,000+ people were crammed in each of them. These were portrayed in the movie
Life is Beautiful when the man is in the camp with his tiny son. That is still one of my
favorite movies.
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The entrance gate to the camp that reads "Work will set you free"
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1 comments:

Angela said...

Thank you for posting this. I'm sure it was very intense and difficult to be there. I felt intensity just from the Holocaust Museum in DC and you were at the real thing.

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